After serving thousands of nonprofit ministry organizations over the last 40 years, we've discovered something troubling: the biggest barrier to mission success isn't lack of funding or donor interest - it's leadership dysfunction that organizations refuse to acknowledge.
When we meet with nonprofits claiming they have "fundraising problems," we consistently find the real issue is leadership. There's no shortage of money, mission urgency, or donor desire. What's missing is the kind of vision-forward leadership that creates environments where people can do their life’s best work.
In fact, we as leaders often (unintentionally, we believe) make it harder than it should be on our people to get good quality work done. And, in part, we believe this comes from a misunderstanding of how to think about your people.
At DickersonBakker, we believe deeply in the idea that talent matters most.
And if you believe in that idea - it means that, first and foremost, your role as a leader is to serve your people well and to curate an environment where they can grow, thrive, and create value for your end beneficiaries.
The Service Profit Chain Reality
Harvard Business School's Service Profit Chain research proves something we should intuitively know: when employees feel well cared for and valued, they provide better service to customers. In our sector, that means better care for the people we serve, which drives stronger donor relationships and increased revenue.
Yet, we often treat this backwards. We say we care about serving others while paying our staff below living wages because it's "good work." Or worse, we allow toxic behavior to fester in our organization because the person behaving poorly “delivers results.”
That's complete nonsense. If we can't figure out how to deliver services AND take care of our people, we need to do some serious self-reflection.
The Uncomfortable Conversation Deficit
One of our sector's biggest challenges is that because we're in the business of caring for people, we want to be liked. And we mistakenly think that the goal is creating a “nice” work environment. We avoid conversations that create tension or friction, even when that's exactly how problems get resolved.
We tell our team at DickersonBakker that rather than create an environment that's “nice,” we want to create one that's “kind.” You might not understand the difference quite yet.
We’ve found that "nice" cultures are those where people don’t address problems head-on. Instead, they stuff them down, sweep them under the rug, and ultimately let them fester below the surface so that they can keep peace in their day-to-day efforts.
This often results in distrust, gossip, and an environment where high performs opt out because the way we behave doesn’t align with their expectations.
A culture of "kindness", on the other hand, is one where we address issues directly, with humility, and in the spirit of serving one another. We embrace uncomfortable conversations in the short-term, so we can develop and foster healthy relationships with one another and create an environment where people feel safe in the long-term.
The Hard Truth
Leadership in nonprofits isn't about having all the answers or being the most dynamic person in the room. It's about serving your team, creating clarity around expectations, and having the courage to address problems directly and swiftly.
The organizations making the greatest impact aren't led by the most charismatic people - they're led by those who understand that everything emanates from taking care of the people who do the work.
Organizations that lean into people-centered leadership are retaining staff even when competitors offer higher salaries. People will often turn down more money to work for amazing bosses and teams, because no amount of compensation fixes toxic culture.
Your mission deserves that kind of leadership. Do you have it?
We Can Help
Having the right people in the right roles is critical and we'll work with you to ensure that your staff and volunteers are well-trained and appropriately gifted for their roles. If necessary, we'll work with you to recruit additional members to your leadership team. We specialize in matching mission-driven professionals with organizations where they can truly make a difference. We can help you too. Email me at andrew@dickersonbakker.com, or call or text me at 612.201.1967 if you want to talk about how we can improve your organizational effectiveness and outcomes.
