International Day of Charity: The Impact of Leading with Love

September 5 is International Day of Charity, observed on the anniversary of Mother Teresa's death and in recognition of the role charity plays in alleviating suffering and strengthening communities around the world.

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For those of us who have built our careers around doing good, her words offer a powerful question.

We spend a lot of time measuring what we accomplish. We count people served, dollars raised, programs delivered, grants secured and outcomes achieved. We set ambitious goals because the needs are great and there is always more work to be done.

 

But in the middle of all that activity, how often do we consider how much love we are putting into the work?

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Are we moving through our days with love and service as an intention, or are we simply hoping to make it through another day of competing priorities, urgent needs, funding pressures, staffing challenges and an inbox that never seems to get any smaller?

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For many nonprofit leaders, the answer is probably a little of both. Putting love into the work doesn't mean caring more or giving more of ourselves when so many people in this sector already give enormously. It means allowing our love for the mission to influence how we lead, how we treat people and how we build the organization entrusted with carrying that mission forward.

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Love may be difficult to capture on a dashboard, but we can see it throughout an organization.

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Remember What Called You to the Work

 

Most of us didn't choose nonprofit work because we dreamed of managing budgets, completing grant reports, navigating compliance requirements or worrying about whether there would be enough money to meet the next big need.

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We came because something mattered to us. Maybe it was a personal connection to a cause or community. Maybe we saw something that needed to change and wanted to be part of the solution. Or maybe, like me, there was simply something deeply fulfilling about being part of something bigger than myself and knowing that my contribution ultimately helped make someone's life a little better.

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You may spend the day writing a grant, reconciling a budget or preparing for a board meeting, but somewhere on the other side of that work is a person who benefits because you showed up and did your part.

 

That connection can be easy to lose when the work becomes demanding and the mission begins to feel like an endless list of things that need to get done. Servant leadership invites us to stay connected to the people behind that list.

 

Get closer to the programs. Listen to a client's story. Celebrate an outcome with your team. Take a moment to remember who ultimately benefits from what you are doing.

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That connection can be a source of fulfillment that sustains us through the challenges, renews our energy and strengthens our commitment to the cause.

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What first called you to this work, and where do you still experience that connection today?

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Put Love Into the People Who Carry the Mission

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If we value the mission, we have to value the people carrying it. ​Nonprofit employees often give an extraordinary amount of themselves to their work. They build relationships with clients and community partners that take years to develop. They understand the nuances of the communities they serve, carry institutional knowledge and become trusted representatives of the organization.

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That commitment should never be taken for granted. Putting love into the people who carry the mission means paying employees fairly and providing meaningful benefits whenever possible. It means paying attention to workloads, investing in professional development, creating opportunities to grow, listening and recognizing good work.

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This is especially important in a sector where passion can sometimes be treated as part of the compensation package. Caring deeply about a cause does not make someone's financial needs any less real, and commitment to a mission shouldn't require continually sacrificing personal well-being or financial stability.

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There is also a practical reason to make this investment: retention is mission critical.

When a great employee leaves, the organization can lose years of institutional knowledge, trusted relationships, program continuity and momentum. The remaining team absorbs additional work while leadership invests time and money recruiting, hiring and training someone new.

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Fair compensation, supportive leadership and opportunities to grow are investments in organizational capacity and continuity.

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Investing in your people is an investment in your mission.

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Put Love Into How People Experience Your Mission

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The people we serve should be able to feel the values behind our mission in the way they experience our organization.

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People come to nonprofits at many different moments in their lives, sometimes under particularly vulnerable circumstances. How they are welcomed, spoken to, listened to and included matters.

Listen rather than assuming you know what people need. Ask for feedback. Include people with lived experience in conversations about programs and services. Recognize that the people closest to an issue often have valuable insight into how it can be addressed.

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See people for more than the need that brought them through your doors. Someone experiencing homelessness is more than their housing status. A family visiting a food pantry is more than a measure of food insecurity. A young person struggling with substance use is more than a program outcome.

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That same dignity should carry into fundraising and storytelling. Personal stories can help supporters understand why the work matters, but someone's most difficult experience should never simply become compelling content. Protect privacy, seek meaningful consent and allow people to be represented as whole human beings.

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Ask yourself:

Would you want to be treated the way people experience your organization?

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Put Love Into the Relationships That Sustain the Mission

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No organization carries its mission alone. Donors, volunteers, board members, funders, community partners and advocates contribute time, resources, relationships and belief in what you are trying to accomplish.

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Those relationships deserve to be nurtured beyond the moments when we need something.

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Thank people when there is no ask attached. Tell a donor what their generosity made possible. Let a volunteer know how their time helped. Share successes with board members and community partners. Take time to understand why people care about the mission in the first place.

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This is how we build a culture of philanthropy. People become ambassadors when they feel that they belong to the mission. They talk about the organization, make introductions, volunteer again, continue giving and find new ways to contribute because they understand that their involvement matters.

Stewardship is more than good fundraising practice. It is an opportunity to honor the people who choose to carry the mission with us.

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Try this: Reach out to three people who have helped carry your mission this month. Thank them, share something meaningful about the impact they helped create, and ask for absolutely nothing.

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Put Love Into the Organization You're Building

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Loving the mission also means building an organization capable of carrying it forward. ​It can be difficult to prioritize infrastructure when the needs in front of us are so immediate. When every dollar could fund another meal, workshop, counseling session or person served, investing in financial systems, technology, fundraising capacity, staff development or reserves can feel far removed from the reason the organization exists.

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But capacity is what allows compassion to continue. A strong mission needs a strong organization behind it. Understand your finances and plan beyond the next grant. Diversify revenue so the loss of one funder doesn't jeopardize an entire program. Build reserves. Invest in fundraising before there is an urgent funding gap.

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Passionate nonprofit leaders can become indispensable without intending to. They hold the relationships, history, processes and knowledge that keep everything moving. Servant leadership asks us to share that knowledge, give others opportunities to lead and prepare for leadership transitions before they become emergencies.

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These investments help ensure that the organization people rely on will still be there when they need it.

 

If you weren't there tomorrow, would the mission have what it needs to continue?

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Perhaps one of the greatest acts of servant leadership is building something that doesn't depend on you to survive.