In the face of additional, proposed funding cuts by the state and federal government, nonprofits are increasingly asserting their position as vital players in the economy; bonafied employers, tax payers, serious businesses. This is certainly a vital activity, communicating the criticality of the services our organizations provide to the broader community, and our resulting economic impact. Indeed, our work is serious, and any cuts will have a dramatic effect on the communities in which we operate.

At the same time, there can be a danger when we take ourselves too seriously. As we promote our professionalism, there is the risk that we abandon one of our assets: the willingness to allow monsters into our midst. By monsters, I mean those that have a different perspective; individuals that are playful, people that operate on the edge, unafraid to try things.

If we are to work ourselves out of this financial mess, we will need all the creativity and new ideas we can find. Often the wildest, most monstrous ideas, are the ones that save the day...

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Free money and the state of happiness. That was at the center of Michael Norton's experiment. How would an individual's happiness be affected if they were given money, and either spent it on themselves or gave it away to someone else.

Norton traveled the globe and found that no matter what the location or culture, when money was given to individuals to spend on themselves, it didn't impact their happiness. But when they were instructed to give the money away, at the end of the day, they were happier than when they started out.

So when we ask people to support our cause, we can naturally tell them about our great works, our mission and how it changes lives; but we can also share that giving away their money will make them happier. Perhaps even share this video...

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We can blame it on the for-profit sector. When it comes to standard practices, they set a compelling example when it comes to public relations: talk only about what good is being done and pretend that organizational shortcomings do not exist.

In the effort to prove their value and to stand out from competing organizations, nonprofits can be drawn into the same game as their corporate counterparts of over-promotion, hyping accomplishments and masking their failures. At a typical gathering of nonprofit leaders, I often overhear CEOs and E.D.s talking about their great works, how they are meeting objectives, achieving their mission.

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In Chris Anderson's ground breaking book, The Long Tail, he explained how our culture and economy is increasingly moving away from a small number of mass marketed products and services, to a huge number of niche and micro-niche offerings. The lesson for organizations and individuals alike is that by attempting to appeal to the masses, we often wind up positioning ourselves to attract no one.

Nonprofits especially can fall into this trap: they believe that any type of individual could be a supporter or donor, and so they package their message that neither eliminates nor attracts a particular cohort. In attempting to appease everyone, their message is safely average (read sanitized and boring).

Why not instead embrace that your organization is not the right mission for everyone; in fact purposely exclude groups or segments. As Anderson points out, we can either create noise (something everyone will ignore) or instead, generate signals to attract those we truly want and need involved in our important work...

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Now that I've moved on from actually working in the nonprofit sector, I find myself observing nonprofit leaders from a different vantage point. What I've come to appreciate is how they see their roles as leaders, and in particular, how they utilize the power inherent in their position.

Some individuals are quite charismatic; they embrace their authority, not so subtly declaring that they are the one in charge, the decision maker, the one with ultimate control. They can be very confident in directing others, wielding their power to get the necessary work done.

Other CEOs and Directors have a different perspective of the responsibility and authority placed upon them; they often accomplish their works by yielding their power. They allow others to take risks, fail occasionally, bask in the limelight, and leave room for learning, for their people and for the organization as a whole.

True, each leader's actions may yield the same results, but how staff members, volunteers and supporters come to view the concept of power can guide the organization on a different path; ideally the path of living out their mission to empower others...

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