
The year we adopted our first daughter, I participated in a Run-for-One fundraiser for Children's Hope Chest, an amazing organization I had the privilege of serving as a board member. I visited one of the orphanages we helped in a remote region of Russia and I met a boy named Yuri. Hearing his story. Knowing he would not be adopted, yet knowing that was exactly why we were coming alongside him and hundreds of other orphans motivated my participation as a board member. I put his face on my Run-for-One shirt as I ran the Rock-n-Roll half-marathon. When I was in pain and didn't want to run another mile, I thought and prayed for Yuri. Because I made a promise to him, that he would not be forgotten.
I once had an employer tell me I cared too much about the “one” and that I didn't keep the mission of the organization at the forefront. Now the “one” in this case referred to the very individuals for whom we existed. From this person’s perspective, focusing on the one would discount the opinions of other stakeholders, especially those who funded the mission because their investment is what would ensure sustainability. I struggled with this comment for years. It made me question my allegiance to the organization, an organization I cared deeply for, a mission I cared deeply for. And yet, in hindsight, I would still posit that it was precisely because I cared for the one, that my allegiance to the organization was greater. And it is the one who should be at the center of our decision-making. How does this connect to board governance?
A board’s primary fiduciary responsibility is to steward the mission. And that mission reveals a promise being made. When I think about some of the organizations I’ve been involved with over the years, I am in awe of the promises they have made:
to provide a safe home environment that inspires and provides resources to pregnant women
to build a more welcoming community through song
to equip first-generation-to-college high school students with the resources, connections, and skills they need to get in and stick through college, and launch careers
to incite public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences.
to empower orphaned and impoverished children
Promises like these are the heart of nonprofits. And nonprofits are at the core of our civic society. They contribute to the common good. Look at the LA Fires. The government can’t meet all the needs. But scroll through the news and you see nonprofits, churches, neighbors all pulling together, as they serve a cause greater than themselves. They are love in action.
And why? Because of the one. Because of the neighbor they know who is hurting, who lost their home. Studies have shown that people are more likely to give to one person, rather than many and twice as much if their gift serves one person, rather than a group. This is why politicians will talk about “refugees and immigrants” rather than Wali or Mary or Yuri. It’s much easier to dismiss a group, than it is an individual.
As many nonprofits now reel from the impact of this week’s executive orders on the very work they do serving the most vulnerable in our world, boards must revisit the promise they made to the one they are serving. Is that one at the center of your decision-making?
Who is your Yuri?
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