ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the ways in which ideas, beliefs, and values manifest both in how nonprofit workers think about the mission and their work, as well as in the behaviors that come from ideas, beliefs, and values. In the nonprofit world, there is often a belief, an assumption that we are operating from the same values in the same priority order; we think people engaged in nonprofit work tend to fall into the Self-Transcendence quadrant, focusing on benevolence and universalism. In nonprofits, we are in the business of relationships, and good relationships have trust as a foundation. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the additional step of staff development of a Process Statement–an agreed-upon understanding of how the work is done, or the means and how those means are reflective of the mission/world we want–is incredibly helpful both inside the organization and when conveying the organization'?s purpose and work to stakeholders.