Our response to these attacks has to be two-fold. We must be clear ourselves that Mission comes first. Bob Payton said it very clearly and succinctly in Taking Fundraising Seriously . Every professional fundraiser knows this and every nonprofit executive knows this. We must be able to demonstrate clearly that we are adhering faithfully to our mission and that what we are trying to do is serve others.
Mission is first.
We all know it. There are several reasons. Good organizations revisit their mission statements regularly. The congressional actions I discussed earlier will cause many organizations to revisit their missions. I understand that many are already engaged in such efforts.