Giving Compass' Take:

• Sara Dowdy, writing for Forbes, explains six ways to be a responsible leader in the nonprofit field and shares her people-focused approach.

• What barriers are there for good leaders in nonprofit organizations?

• Read about why nonprofit leaders need to embrace risk.

People are looking for a community and a cause to get behind. In a day when we are so connected, yet so disconnected, people long for community. They want to feel connected and have a purpose. Your NPO can be that community and that purpose. You just have to show people how and why.

  1. Tell your story and why you’re doing what you’re doing. Your story and why you got involved is one of the biggest assets you have. People want to follow other people, not a brand or a company.
  2. Treat rejection as a sharpening stone. Every time you are rejected, your next attempt will be with a sharper intellect and a better understanding.
  3. Be proud to ask for funding. You are giving people an opportunity to develop merit in their own life. Donations are not handouts; they are rewarding to those who give them.
  4. Measure your success but not in money raised. Instead, measure success by the people who you got to speak with about your organization and what you are doing.
  5. Treat businesses the same as you would a person you respect. That is all a business is, a place with people. People are the most important asset that your NPO has.
  6. Write down three reachable goals every day -- and meet them. This is the last and most important step for me. For example, I might commit to walk into 10 businesses and pitch the managers for $100, read three chapters of a book in an area I need to grow as a leader and adopt an attitude of gratitude for the day.

Read the full article about nonprofit leadership by Sara Dawdy at Forbes