This past April, how did you file your taxes? Did you mail them or e-File? How did you pay your last parking ticket? Find your last job? Watch a funny cat video?

I'm betting the answer is the same for all of these: online. Even phone calls aren't phone calls anymore; increasingly they are Voice over IP calls that happen over the internet.

This all works because the Internet is one thing above all else: OPEN.

Because the Internet is open, our nonprofits can share knowledge, empower people and make our communities better places. Of course, while open is good for you, me, and the work we do in the social sector, it's not always good at padding the bottom lines of the telecommunications industry. An internet that can be throttled is an Internet that can make them more money.

It's no surprise that giant phone and cable companies like Comcast and AT&T have made moves to control the Internet. It's clear they want to dismantle Net Neutrality. Now, they've sent a battalion of lobbyists to Washington to convince the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to abandon Net Neutrality and maintain only minimal oversight over our most important communications channel.

It's not just Net Neutrality that's at stake. If the FCC does not clarify its authority over the Internet, it can't successfully implement the National Broadband Plan -- the plan to connect rural and low-income communities to broadband. Specifically, Genachowski’s plan to transform the Universal Service Fund into a "Connect America Fund", which will shift tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to funding the construction of broadband networks in rural America, could be at risk.

If the FCC doesn't succeed in reasserting its authority, we may lose our open Internet -- and millions more will just lose out on the Internet, period. We need clear rules of the road that will preserve the Internet and its potential to continue to fuel innovation and economic growth, and allow non-profit organizations to work for social change.

Nearly 2 million Americans have told the FCC and Congress to protect Net Neutrality, and thousands have come out in support of the FCC's move to reclassify broadband. But now we need your voice! Here are three way you can help:

• If you can speak for your organization, sign the Nonprofit Letter to the FCC.
• You can support the cause by signing the individual letter of support.
• Tell your friends and colleagues by sharing these links through email, Facebook, and Twitter.

This blog post by Holly Ross was originally posted by NTEN.