Keep your mission statement and values simple and clear. When you get off track or lost, go back to your mission statement and remember the mission and why you do what you do. Make it visible in your building, on your website, and clear in your elevator pitch.

As a Christian based non-profit working with married and engaged couples our organisation values are rooted in prayer. My best advice with prayer is from Pete Grieg: Keep it Simple Keep it Honest Keep it Up

✅ Defina claramente os valores e integre-os em todas as operações. ✅ Promova a liderança pelo exemplo e incentive uma comunicação aberta. ✅ Reconheça aqueles que exemplificam esses valores e faça avaliações contínuas.

Non-profits must do everything to achieve their mission without compromising on their core values. It's crucial to revisit these values during strategic planning to ensure they align with current realities and reflect the organization’s evolving culture and work. Leaders must also embody these values daily and reinforce them in town hall meetings, setting a strong example. This will set the tone and cascade across the organization. Visual reinforcement, such as displaying values prominently on office walls, keeps them top of mind. Finally, providing an anonymous reporting mechanism for any violations can ensure accountability. If core values are not being adhered to, this can easily cascade into other aspects of the organization.

Recently, I advocated for disabled family caregiving spouses who sought equality in receiving family caregiver support payments from the State of NH DHHS. One thing I found was that individual staff at DHHS had strong values and ethics, but face significant administrative and gatekeeping barriers within the agency to act on those values. While there were overall "PR" statements for various divisions and bureaus within the NH DHHS that could be called organizational Mission or Values Statements, there was no well defined mechanism to encourage or allow front line staff or decision makers to act on them. NPOs must invest the ability in staff roles to act on a values basis if the words are to be actionable.

Choose core values carefully with action verbs. 'Play fair.' 'Protect kids.' Throw away any current values such as Integrity, Communication, Respect, or Excellence. They may sound fine but they have been tested and found wanting. They are the Values of Enron, which lost $74 billion to shareholders. 2. Have staff memorize them. Repeat one together at each meeting 3. Give written warnings that tie to core values. We hire for skills and fire for values. 4. Ask applicants if they can live with them during job interviews 5. Give prizes for staff use of core values. Core values make the culture of the agency. It's a key leadership task to nurture and protect

Maintaining non-profit values requires intentional effort. Drawing from Agile, continuous feedback loops and regular check-ins ensure daily activities align with core values, fostering transparency and collaboration. Psychological safety, as Amy Edmondson suggests, allows staff to surface issues without fear, keeping values like inclusion and respect intact. Conflict resolution is key—addressing it early prevents values from becoming abstract. Leaders should model value-driven behavior, and ongoing reflection keeps values actionable and aligned with mission and culture.

Reinforcing organizational values in a non-profit can be challenging but crucial for maintaining alignment. Start by embedding your values into daily actions—integrate them into decision-making, meetings, and communications. Leadership sets the tone, so model the values consistently to inspire others. Celebrate values-driven behaviors publicly to keep them top of mind, whether through recognition programs or internal newsletters. Regular reflection is key; assess if your programs align with your core values and adjust as needed. With these steps, you create a culture where values are lived, not just stated.