TIPS: Changing the Conversation

Through TIPS, we change the conversation related to non-profits and public space. Kim Klein presents information, workshop, and tips about how to talk about public space, the commons, and the relationship to non-profits and advocacy.

The title of this project is a play on words: it is a redemption of the words TIPS from the ill fated TIPS program introduced by John Ashcroft in 2001. This domestic spying initiative asked neighbors, meter readers, and mail carriers to report any suspicious activity they spotted as they went about their daily life. The public was outraged by the idea and the program was dropped.

What is public space? Public space is anything that belongs to the public, and is financed by the public for the use of the whole public. For example, public schools, parks, ball fields, and the like which are free and open to the public; museums, theaters, swimming pools, tennis courts, which may charge a nominal admission but which are subsidized by the public through taxes and are supposed to serve a broad swath of the public; and of course, police and fire protection, and emergency room care. "Public space" also includes fresh air and fresh water, access to a wide range of information through the airwaves, and access to the political process through voting.

This public space is rapidly being privatized. In order for "public" schools to have art and music programs, and sometimes even libraries, parents must raise the money privately. In order for national and state parks to balance their budgets they must charge admission fees; ditto for museums and artistic venues. And the list goes on. Nonprofits bear the brunt of this privatization as we must raise money privately to continue our work for the public good.

The Indispensable Public Space

The Building Movement Project uses the shorthand “TIPS” to describe all our work related to exploring, enlarging, understanding, preserving and illuminating public space.  This curriculum explores our complicated relationship to taxes, and thus, our very mixed feelings about how “public space” is to be financed.

MINI-CURRICULUM I: Talking About Taxes
A series of exercises to help understand the complexity of our relationship with taxes [ Read More ]

The ABC’s of U.S. Tax Policy: An Historical Perspective
From the days of George Washington to that of the present Administration, taxes have been a subject of national controversy. [ Read More ]

April 2005 - For the Sake of Our Children
[ Read More ]

January 2005 - Quiet, please!
[ Read More ]

October 2004- The Power of Fundraising in Determining the Future of the Nonprofit Sector
[ Read More ]

January 2004 - Yes, Virginia, Taxes Are a Good Thing
[ Read More ]

May 2003 - Privatization of Public Space
[ Read More ]

April 2003 - Welcome to TIPS: The Indispensable Public Space
[ Read More ]