Planning and Structure

Ways to Use Organizational Core Values

Once your organization articulates its core values, look for opportunities to elevate them in the people, decisions, partnerships, and funding of the organization. You should also add considerations that align with your organization’s culture.

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Board

• Recruitment, engagement, graceful exit process
• Defining and understanding the organization’s diversity and inclusion commitments
• Defining and understanding the organization’s equity commitments
• Reflected in board job descriptions
• As a framework for key decisions
• Criteria in board evaluation

Planning

• As the litmus test for all strategic and annual goals
• As the litmus test for public policy priorities
• As context to develop programs and services

Leadership

• As a frame for financial decision-making
• Context for operational policies
• Basis for a conflict-of-interest policy
• Basis for key decisions

Fund development

• Context for the organization’s relationships with donors
• An opportunity for alignment with the donor’s values.
• Context for all organizational messaging and positioning
  • Don’t ‘check your values at the door” in the name of money or relationships

Staff and volunteer team

• Recruitment, engagement, graceful exit process
• Defining and understanding the organization’s diversity and inclusion commitments
• Defining and understanding the organization’s equity commitments
• Reflected in staff and volunteer descriptions
• As a framework for key decisions
• Criteria in annual evaluation