How Would You Define Your Nonprofit’s Culture?
In today’s post-pandemic world, we often talk about the importance of company culture, especially in the workplace. Now more than ever it seems, leaders need to ensure healthy culture and optimal team environments for a host of reasons, not the least of which is recruiting and retaining strong talent.
Nonprofit organizations are certainly no different, but you do face unique challenges when striving for a healthy culture. After all, nonprofits rely on philanthropic support to drive mission impact. And to achieve philanthropic support, nonprofits lean on volunteer leadership to connect people to their mission in a way that encourages investment. While motivation may not be to make a profit, you still exist in a competitive market for funds. Add to that the need to effectively steward donor relationships and dollars, a high staff turnover rate, and in many cases incredibly challenging mission work, it’s really no surprise that nonprofit cultures can be tough to navigate. Unlike for-profit companies who readily invest in marketing and sales teams, nonprofit organizations often embrace a mindset of scarcity leading to unrealistic budgeting and high expectations of too few.
Therefore, nonprofit leaders and development professionals have an important opportunity to help set, or re-set, the culture at your organization. I argue that embracing a culture of philanthropy is often overlooked but critically important and is one approach to a healthier culture.
At M. Gale, we believe that people are a nonprofit’s most valuable asset. All your people (board, staff, volunteers, donors, partners, etc.) help drive mission impact, so it should go without saying that relationships are at the heart of what you do. A culture of philanthropy helps create a foundation to better understand, empower, communicate with, and genuinely engage people on behalf of your mission.
A few important definitions:
Your Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes your organization.
Philanthropy, from the root word philanthropia, means love of humankind, and is generally defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others.
A Culture of Philanthropy is one in which everyone has a part to play in promoting and raising resources for your organization – and where relationships are ultimately valued more than money. You read that right. A culture of philanthropy values people and relationships more than money.
When embraced well, this culture permeates at all levels and can drastically impact team morale by providing clearer understanding and opportunities for collaboration that ultimately lead to greater revenue generation. Take a look at this chart.
Does your organization currently embrace philanthropy, or just one aspect of it, fundraising?
Or, does your culture look completely different?
Over the coming weeks as fall events, communications and fundraising appeals launch, I challenge you to seriously consider the culture in your organization. How would you define it? When you look at your team and how you operate, what are the values you see in action? How are staff members who are not in fundraising actively engaging in advancement? If the answers don’t completely line up to where you want to be, consider how embracing a culture of philanthropy could help.
M.Gale is available to help you design and implement your Culture of Philanthropy strategy. To discuss how to get your process off the ground, reach out to me at Laura.Hutyra@MgaleAssociates.com.
Results-driven leadership is the name of the game for Laura Hutyra. As Vice President and a seasoned fundraising executive, Laura helps nonprofit clients throughout Texas and beyond solve challenges and meet their mission, while also leading the team in collaborative projects and operations to grow the company.
