Mission or Money: What Matters Most?

Catherine B. Chapman, CFRE
Fullanthropy | Philanthropic & Nonprofit Management Consulting

Walk into any newsroom before the broadcast and you are likely to hear a producer dictating the story lineup based on the journalist’s adage, “If it bleeds, it leads.” In other words, the most important stories involve some sort of tragedy, the more dramatic, the better. Sadly, many in the nonprofit sector have pilfered and modified this concept to believe that their most compelling story is not the difference they make, but one based on their own lack of resources.

Mission and money are both critical elements of any successful nonprofit organization. Mission is the reason the nonprofit exists, while money affords the organization the ability to carry out that mission. Even though both are necessary, mission is more important because a great mission will always inspire others to take action and give. One of the best demonstrations of this concept is the Super Bowl. Although the NFL depends heavily on revenue from television coverage and premium advertising rates, the most important aspect of the Super Bowl is the game itself. If people did not care about the game, the network coverage and those rates would not exist. In the same way, the cause drives the money, not the announcement of a need for money.

When a nonprofit focuses on a lack of money instead of mission, it actually decreases its likelihood of funding. Believing and convincing others that you are poor is the surest way to remain poor. Psychologists refer to this as self-fulfilling prophecy. Donors are looking to the nonprofit sector for hope and solutions to the problems that business and government could not easily solve. They want messages of hope and impact, not more gloom and doom. Focusing on lack slowly tears down an organization by demoralizing the staff and board members who became involved to make a difference and instead find themselves feeling like well-heeled beggars looking for a handout to keep the most basic services operational.

The best way to channel more funds to your organization is not focusing on the blood or the lack of resources, it is focusing on the impact and the changes your nonprofit is making for the better. Prospective donors want to envision themselves as the heroes investing in the change they want to see in the world. When your staff and board focus on that change and the impact you are making toward it, the money will flow. Mother Teresa said it best: “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come….”

Leading your campaign for dollars with the harsh realities you are trying to solve may attract a moment of media attention, but it will not provide the sustenance your organization needs to create real, meaningful change. For that, you need to lead with your mission and the impact you make with the resources, however limited, that you have. That is the real story for raising more money.

The Fullanthropy Perspective: Mission Leads. Money Follows.

At Fullanthropy, this principle is foundational. We do not chase the money. We build the organizations the money cannot resist, organizations whose missions are so clear, whose impact is so compelling, and whose leadership is so focused that donors find their way to them naturally. The Mission pillar of the CLAIM Your Legacy™ framework exists precisely for this reason: when mission leads, everything follows.

Ready to build the organization the money cannot resist? Let’s talk.