David Inoue
If you’re not familiar with the movie “Reality Bites,” it was a mostly forgettable movie set in the early to mid-1990s to capture the malaise that many Gen X young adults found themselves in at the time. The movie highlighted issues of LGBTQ identity, even as JACL was itself debating the issue as an organization. At that time, JACL was also arguably at one of the highest points in our history. Redress had passed just a few years earlier, and our hopes were to expand membership by as many as 1,000 new members. And yet, we faced a budget crisis, with the board calling for drastic measures to address a projected deficit expected to be $187,000 for 1994 and as much as $280,000 for 1995.
For 2025, we find ourselves in a very similar place. Despite some significant gifts to end 2024 and begin 2025, we are expecting to end 2024 with a deficit of $180,000 and a similar deficit for 2025, even with the large gift received, which cannot be counted on for future revenue. Just as in 1994-95, there were concerns about what might be called soft revenue, or nonguaranteed. Going forward, beyond 2025, soft revenues in the budget combined with underestimated personnel expenses creates a permanent deficit of $500,000.
We rely significantly on our investment savings and withdrawals from funds such as the Lifetime Membership account and the Legacy Fund endowment as some of that guaranteed money. We are grateful to our corporate partners, some of whom have supported JACL for decades and provide a clear stream of funds. Membership revenues have remained stable in the face of declining numbers of members, and we are grateful for those who join at our premium levels, especially the 44 individuals and couples who support JACL as Millenium Club members.
Among the challenges we face are the anti-DEI movement, which has had a chilling effect on corporations that support organizations such as our own. As we seek reassurances from our corporate partners, engaging new partners or expanding funding from our current partners becomes more challenging.
The revised membership classifications effective at the beginning of this year will hopefully infuse more funds as members choose to join annually at the Bronze, Silver or Gold levels or commit to a Lifetime Membership at the newly created Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond Life Membership levels.
Ultimately, we need to recognize that while our strength as an organization is in our membership and the local connections our chapters and individual members have with other community partners and their local and federal policymakers, revenue will not always be able to remain as stable as it has for the past several years.
We need to transform into a more philanthropically oriented organization, increasing money received through donations, whether it is through the support of our existing members or finding individuals who might not choose membership but value the work that we do.
Perhaps you might want to support the Pacific Citizen, one of the oldest continuously published Asian community newspapers. Or maybe it is because of programs for youth such as Kakehashi or our fellowship programs. Or maybe you, yourself, are an alumnus of our Leadership Summit, which will be convening in Washington, D.C., this month to train another cohort of JACL members on how to engage in advocacy nationally, locally and work in alignment with our community advocacy partners. Or maybe you want to see JACL take a leadership role in D.C., such as with our recent lawsuit to stop the actions of Elon Musk and DOGE that are decimating our government and its ability to serve the people of America.
At its March 1 meeting, the national board made the decision to trim $350,000 in expenses. At this level, these cuts will severely impact our ability to accomplish many of the things just listed. Staff will be affected.
We need your support now, more than ever. If you value the work that JACL does as an organization, please go online to www.jacl.org/donate to declare your support for JACL and the work that we do.
Reality bites, but it doesn’t have to bite as much with your support.
David Inoue is executive director of the JACL. He is based in the organization’s Washington, D.C., office.
