Nonprofit Culture
When we want people to understand our mission and vision or want people to understand our true differentiation from the competition, we get anxious. We want them to know NOW!
But how long does that take? Months? Years?
Culture, on the other hand, doesn’t take that long. In fact, it literally takes no time for someone to know your nonprofit culture. People evaluate your culture in seconds, even though it could take months for them to grasp your mission…your TRUE mission.
But culture? Seconds! Wow.
Anything anyone in your organization says or does is interpreted as nonprofit culture. Someone calls your main line and the next available employee answers the phone. Your employee isn’t as pleasant as they should be. After that encounter, the caller will tell others about their experience. It might go something like this, “Oh, they are really rude at that place.” The next comment might be, “Oh yeah, I heard that they are all arrogant at __________.” (You can fill in the blank.)
When a new employee enters the work environment and starts to meet the other staff and before the introductions are finished, that new employee will have formed an opinion about your nonprofit culture. They will form this view even if you don’t believe it is an accurate assessment. THEY believe it, so it is accurate, and that’s all that matters. This could even be the same new employee that is still asking obvious questions about vision and brand identity weeks after their starting date.
More troubling is when someone from your organization goes out to meet with a prospect or donor connection and that someone is late to the meeting. They are also ill-prepared for that meeting and make excuses for their behavior. The prospect judges YOUR culture as lacking attention to detail, irresponsible, inconsiderate and the list goes on. They will say, “How could anyone allow someone like this disrespect us?” You are ALL being judged. That’s CULTURE!
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – unknown*
*Often and probably erroneously attributed to Peter Drucker
Written by: John J. Corcoran
President & CEO
