Missions in Jeopardy- An Introduction

Take a second and think about your favorite non-profit organization.  What attracts you to them? What elements of the organization do you respect and celebrate? For me it is all about mission. I am attracted to organizations that have a strong mission that is clearly reflected in the organizations’ work in the community. Although this is the goal of all non-profit organizations, with a changing philanthropic industry and though economic times it is no longer that easy. Foundations do not want to support ongoing programs and donors all seem to get excited about the newest trend and do not want to donate to organizations working on basic issues like adult education and literacy.  These real financial limitations are forcing organizations to bend their missions by providing a new set of services, serving new populations and overextending staff. But why does it have to be like this? What can non-profit organizations do to protect their missions?

Throughout this blog I am going to work to answer these questions by highlighting organizations that are asking themselves these hard questions and working to change the industry.  What is your organization doing? How do you think we can work to change the industry in order to protect each of our missions?