The people in most not-for-profit organisations are powerfully motivated, attracted and retained by a commitment to purpose and mission rather than financial reward. It’s the stuff than many a commercial organisation would buy if you could bottle it.

It is generally true for those paying off mortgages, educating kids and managing the household budget, working for a not-for-profit is truly about heart ruling head in career choice.

It is a wonderful attribute, as long as it doesn’t translate into critical thinking and analysis in organisational decision making, where the heart may lead, but the head should rule.

Passion for the cause can easily get in the way of making the best choices in not-for-profit organisations. Emotional responses to identified needs can result in an unsustainable flight path for both the organisation and the causes it supports.

Sustainable organisations rely on many things. While not-for-profits can usually tick the box on staff commitment and alignment to strategic goals, they must also strive for commitment to proper attention to financial and risk management and to strong governance.

Board and executive commitment to these fundamentals will directly influence the organisation’s capacity to deliver on its goals with impact.

The purpose of this article is not to enter chapter and verse into guiding finance, risk and governance principles. Information on that can be found in any number of places.*

For not-for-profits, the constraints applied by finance, risk and governance matters on the volume and scope of worthy activities can be blamed for compromising the scale and impact of organisational programs undertaken.

This is where matters of the heart can run into conflicts with the directives of the head, unless the board and executive effectively and transparently communicate priorities and nurture team commitment to evolving and implementing a sustainable business plan.

Effective internal communication therefore becomes the fulcrum around which boards and executive must achieve alignment across motivation, strategy, capability and the oft jarring constraints of governance and finance.

A grander articulation of this defines the communications challenge. The underlying alignment, particularly for not-for-profits, traverses elements of emotion and logic - of heart and head.

When Ben’s (fictional name) pet idea is spiked at the board table, when Sophie’s passion project scope is reduced, it’s an arrow to the heart - and most likely diversion of time and attention to a less attractive or motivating pursuit. This is more so if the decision is out of the blue. There has been no previous internal transparency about the broader considerations and constraints faced by the organisation.

Strong alignment is therefore about continuous conversations - a rolling narrative about emerging issues and challenges. It is about paving a pathway so all stakeholders within the organisation, from field staff to directors are on the same journey.

Not only does it save heartache and headache, but it nurtures trust across the entire length and breadth of the organisation, mutual understanding of why and how decisions are made.

This is something of an anathema to those who lived the experience of the favoured post-World War II, top-down approach to management. This was born out of the idolatry attached to political leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and military heroes like Montgomery and Patton. Blokes (notably ‘blokes’) who got stuff done. Not for them explaining to the men why they had to hold the beach or storm the city!

Inattention to effective internal communication on strategy and priorities can effectively morph into a remarkable resemblance of wartime leadership. It might still get stuff done, but will result in casualties along the way - loss of commitment, lower staff retention and poorer outcomes for both the organisation and the causes it serves.

While the heads must rule, the hearts must be nourished, as they are the pump that powers the energy into which under-resourced not-for-profits or charities must tap to produce outcomes positively disproportionate to their size.

Sharp minds rely on big hearts and they are plentiful in the not-for-profit sector. Teams that communicate and journey together understand that matters of the heart can be fulfilled in multiple ways for the benefit of their common cause.

Photo: by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

* With membership of the Institute of Community Directors (ICDA) now free in Australia, it’s worth signing up for access to an excellent array of educational resources on these topics. Another good source is the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), although the joining and membership fees for this is reasonably expensive.