Why Values are Important for your Nonprofit

Welcome to this week’s discussion on Why Values are Important for your Nonprofit. In past Podcasts, we have taken a look at different elements that may not seem to directly relate to grant writing, but are essential in grant success. These different components of your nonprofit all lead to funding success, as they help to advance your nonprofit organization. Foundation and Federal Funders, alike, look at each of these pieces when analyzing your nonprofit organization for funding. They want to ensure their funding will be spent wisely and appropriately while making a lasting impact.

Topics for these important components have included:

• Volunteers (and a FREE sample job description) 
• SWOT Analysis 
• Mission & Vision 

What Values Mean for your Nonprofit Organization

Values are the brick and mortar foundation for your nonprofit organization, even if you have not put them to pen and paper yet, they are the centerpiece of what guides your nonprofits thoughts, decisions, and actions. You want to ensure that your board, staff, and volunteers all align with your organization’s values to avoid future pitfalls and misdirection of the organization.

If you have not yet identified your organization’s values or need clarity, then bring your team together and start to build a word chart that describes the organization. Some sample words to get your team started could be:

• Innovation
• Commitment
• Reliability
• Loyalty
• Honesty
• Creativity
• Optimism

Questions as nonprofit leaders to consider, are these in line with our branding? Are they guiding the branding we need? Do we reflect these values in our decision making? Are we ensuring our values align with new employees, volunteers, board members?

Values become the philosophy of your organization and should be something you share with the greater community, make sure they are visible on your social platforms, and be sure to share them with your partners. Don’t overlook the importance of Values for your nonprofit organization.

Let’s connect, I would love to hear about the values of your organization and how they influence the culture of your nonprofit.