Nonprofits are like Tofu

Despite all the wonderful, impactful work that so many nonprofits accomplish, the sector is often criticized for being messy, inefficient, dysfunctional, and the list goes on. But are nonprofits really any more dysfunctional than your average organization, and if so, why?

I’d argue that nonprofits are a lot like tofu; they take on the qualities of their respective environments. They are a reflection of the leadership, culture, values, and behaviors they are marinating in.

So, how do you season yours wisely?

Leadership: Start with your nonprofit’s leadership. Your leadership doesn’t necessarily create your culture, but it shapes it, and can transform it. The nonprofit sector is filled with sensitive, caretaking personalities who will work tirelessly for the causes they believe in, but the same individuals can struggle to communicate effectively, ask critical questions, and express challenges and concerns. In order to create cultures where people feel safe doing these things, leaders must make people feel secure, seen, heard, and respected. This doesn’t just apply to the Executive Director. This applies to every single manager at your organization. When leaders embrace honesty, vulnerability, and empathy, they set the tone for the entire organization.

Culture: Inspired cultures are borne from strong, courageous leadership, a shared vision, a commitment to building trust and intimacy, a clear understanding of expectations, responsibilities, and opportunities for growth, and a steady stream of messages and signals that communicate who your organization is and what they are trying to achieve. As Daniel Coyle writes in The Culture Code, these small messages create a larger framework that connects the group’s identity and expresses a core value: “We are in this together.”

Values: Your company’s values are the fundamental principles that guide its decision-making.  They aren’t just a statement on your website or in onboarding materials. Your values must be embedded in the way you hire, the way you communicate, and the way you make decisions. When your values are clear, and every member of the team is held accountable to the same standard, employees feel empowered to make decisions, engage in healthy discussion and debate, and play a critical role in the growth and success of your organization.

Behaviors: Behaviors are where the rubber meets the road. You can create the most inspired values statement to ever grace the walls of your company, but if you aren’t clear on how those values translate into everyday behavior, and what the consequences are for deviating from that behavior, your culture is bound to suffer.

The reality is that there are challenges that every nonprofit is likely to face -- it’s just the nature of the industry – but when you focus on creating the right environment, you’ll spend less time putting out fires and more time advancing the programs and initiatives that serve your community and inspire your staff, volunteers, and donors.

Feel like you’re already prioritizing these areas but not seeing the results you’d hoped for? Get in touch! Sometimes, we need a fresh perspective in order to view an existing situation in a new light.