Giving Compass' Take:

• The author lays out various ways that an organization can specifically outline policies and be held accountable for leadership, incorporate DEI practices, and make sure it has equitable revenue models. 

• How do those four attributes strengthen organizations? 

• Read about some ideas on how to strengthen nonprofit blogs. 

Those of us in the social sector are painfully aware that toxic individuals and cultures are not just a function of the private sector—unfortunately, our sector has had its own share of recent scandals. Which raises the question: What if all social impact organizations held their leaders and staff accountable not only for what they accomplish but also for how they accomplish it?

Based on decades of experience leading and advising social impact organizations, I believe there are four questions leaders should ask:

  1. Are your organization’s values and cultural norms explicitly stated? Whether or not they are written down, every organization has implicit values and a culture defined by its leaders. If you have not yet created an explicit values statement, it’s time to do so—and it doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve worked with a number of clients to create statements that can serve as an internal North Star and help anchor organizational culture.
  2. Do you have policies in place to ensure that everyone, especially top leadership, is held accountable? There are several practices that can help you assess whether your organization’s values are truly reflected in the behaviors of leaders and staff.
    1. Board assessments
    2. Performance reviews
    3. Bonuses
  3.  Does your organization have policies in place to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at all levels? In this day and age, the integrity and performance of our organizations is predicated on how well we walk our talk, and uphold our mission and values, in everything we do.
  4. Does your revenue model take into account fair and equitable employee compensation? Nonprofits often reconcile their budgets by never facing the hard questions of employee overwork and underpay.

Read the full article about strengthening organizational culture by Alexa Cortes Culwell at Stanford Social Innovation Review