Each organization has its own unique culture, particularly in nonprofits. When managing a nonprofit, it's important to acknowledge what values are really important to the organization, what behaviors typically occur and what behaviors are really treasured. Lack of understanding about culture is one of the major reasons that organizational change efforts fail. If your nonprofit is very new, it might yet not have a recognizable culture. This is true for organizations as well.
Organizations have life cycles.
This is often forgotten when trying to work with organizations. Describe the concept of organizational life cycle. Pose them in the newsgroup soc.org.nonprofit or to circle members if applicable. Send your comments to Carter McNamara . Plan to polish these statements later on during strategic planning.