As community activists and organization leaders, Nonprofit Quarterly readers probably have a lot to say about the various proposals for a purported financial sector “bailout” currently being debated on Capitol Hill. It is truly a bipartisan issue — liberals and conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, and libertarians are debating the pros and cons of the largest federal intervention in the financial system since FDR’s Banking Act of 1933. We want to hear what you have to say about this debate.

Here at NPQ, we’ve written about the “financial sector meltdown ” for its impacts on philanthropic grantmaking and nonprofit budgets. But the real import is much larger: What will the bailout mean for our economy and our communities? Is it the right thing or the wrong thing to do or something in between? How will our communities, our constituents and stakeholders, not just our nonprofit organizations, fare as a result of various bailout ideas? Based on what you see and know, watching what’s happening with mortgage foreclosures and bank failures, looking at the shaky footing of the nation’s largest insurers, seeing the nation’s largest brokerage houses collapse almost overnight, what do you think should be the preferred response of Congress, the Administration, and perhaps the two major party presidential candidates to the prospect of a financial sector bailout?

And then back to our beat — charity and philanthropy: What should the nonprofit sector do, locally, regionally, and nationally, to make sure our voices are heard on what could be not only the largest federal government intervention in the economy in modern history, but the most threatening economic climate since the Great Depression?

We want to hear from you! Tell us what you think about the bailout ideas. We need the nonprofit sector lens on the societal issues of our day, not just nonprofit-specific issues. Send us your responses (please limit responses to 500 words and let us know if you will allow us to post your response on the NPQ Web site).