{"id":542,"date":"2012-02-19T15:25:29","date_gmt":"2012-02-19T22:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=542"},"modified":"2012-02-19T15:25:29","modified_gmt":"2012-02-19T22:25:29","slug":"prophet-profit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2012\/02\/prophet-profit\/","title":{"rendered":"Prophet & Profit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>It is no secret that leaders of non-profit organizations feel an overwhelming pressure to \u201cbe more entrepreneurial\u201d in a fast-changing and increasingly competitive world.<\/p>\n

Yet, the notion of \u201cchasing dollars\u201d stirs up deep anxieties. At best, non-profits search desperately to find the capacity and expertise needed to research, evaluate and pursue a new ventures. At worst, non-profits worry that the pursuit of $ opportunity necessarily undermines its sacred commitment to mission.<\/p>\n

How do we NOT feel trapped between the rock of fundraising and the hard place of sustainability as we balance two competing roles: to be a \u201cprophet<\/a><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 that is, to lead from a position of vision, and to pursue \u201cprofit<\/a><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 that is, to lead from a position of value.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s non-profit organizations are challenged to not only pursue both<\/strong> but to integrate them into a cohesive and workable whole.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the spirit of the subject, I’m tempted to throw “Thou Shalt” in front of these – but I claim no divine inspiration for this and Cecil B. DeMille could hardly have created an epic out of something so basic as what I offer as THE THREE SUGGESTIONS to integrate Prophet & Profit:<\/p>\n

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  1. Primacy of MISSION<\/strong> \u2013 While an organization\u2019s mission IS its foremost priority, it is vital to be open to changing the tactics (even radically) which pursue it.<\/li>\n
  2. Consensus of PURPOSE<\/strong> \u2013 Tapping the expertise & goodwill of stakeholders, staff and constituents is the unique strength of every non-profit organization. The presence of strong and deep roots is the necessary foundation for continually striving to achieve great heights.<\/li>\n
  3. Viability of PLAN<\/strong> \u2013 Orienting and adjusting to the needs of a fluid and fast-changing environment is every company\u2019s greatest challenge. It should also be its greatest opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A non-profit organization that can conceive of only one way to pursue its mission will neither live long nor prosper.<\/p>\n

    # # #<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It is no secret that leaders of non-profit organizations feel an overwhelming pressure to \u201cbe more entrepreneurial\u201d in a fast-changing and increasingly competitive world. Yet, the notion of \u201cchasing dollars\u201d stirs up deep anxieties. At best, non-profits search desperately to find the capacity and expertise needed to research, evaluate and pursue a new ventures. At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-strategy","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}