When the Messenger Doesn’t Match the Mission: A Call for Integrity in Nonprofit Leadership

It’s one of the most painful things that can happen to someone who works in a nonprofit organization or donates to one: discovering that the values an organization claims to uphold are not lived out behind the scenes.

You join a nonprofit team or donate to a nonprofit because of its mission. Maybe it’s about empowering women, expanding access to mental health care, or tackling racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. You believe in it. You want to be part of it. But then, over time—or sometimes sooner rather than later—you start to feel the dissonance. You see the signs: this organization may not be exactly what it claims to be.

Maybe it’s a male leader who speaks over women during meetings, or who makes inappropriate jokes but calls it "humor." Maybe it’s a white American founder at the helm of a nonprofit serving people in Africa. Maybe decisions are made in ways that silence staff with lived experience. Something about the dynamic feels off, probably from the beginning, and begins to feel even more questionable as you get to know the organization and its leadership: too paternalistic, more concerned with looking good than with doing good, too centered on control.

Eventually, the questions become impossible to ignore: Can a nonprofit truly be impactful if it is harmful to the people working inside it? Can an organization really do good work if it looks down on the people it serves? And the answer to those questions is clear: Absolutely not.

This isn’t about one organization, although I’ve seen these dynamics firsthand (and recently, at that). It’s about a pattern. It’s about the leaders who are charismatic on a TEDx stage and in donor meetings but abusive in a Zoom room or in an Uber back to the office after an event. It’s about the boards that look the other way because the money is coming in. It’s about the nonprofits that put marginalized people in their marketing materials but not in leadership positions.

Donors and Job Seekers: Trust Your Gut

If you’re a donor, and something doesn’t sit right with you, trust that feeling. Ask questions. Look deeper. If you find yourself wondering why a white man is leading an organization that claims to support Black women, dig into that. Ask why. Ask who designed the programs. Ask who is making the decisions, who is on the leadership team, and whether people with lived experience are shaping the work in meaningful ways, not just as program staff with directives from senior leadership or as figures on a webpage. If you feel a disconnect between the story being told and the people telling it, don’t brush it off. Sometimes, the most ethical thing you can do is to pause your giving until you get real answers. Financial support should never be unconditional, especially when there is a possibility that an organization may exploit or harm the people it’s meant to serve.

If you’re a job seeker, and something feels misaligned in the interview process, listen to your gut. The mission might be beautiful, but if you feel small in the room with the founder, that’s a red flag. Don’t be afraid to ask direct questions: Why did the last person leave this role? How long did they stay? How many people have held this position in the last few years? Pay attention to the leadership team: Who rose to the top? Who left before getting a chance to? Look at who has tenure: Who gets promoted? What do the people who’ve stayed there the longest have in common? Are they all white? All male? All straight? Are they all neurotypical or non-disabled? And if so, think about what that tells you about the organization. Think about what that tells you about the value the organization sees (or doesn’t see) in people like those it serves. You deserve to work somewhere that not only pays you for your time, but also hears your voice, cares about your safety, and wants to see you thriving.

Why Integrity Matters in Mission-Driven Work

In the nonprofit sector, integrity isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a requirement. Mission-driven work is built on trust. Donors give because they believe in the cause. Communities engage because they believe you’re on their side. Staff work hard and log long hours because they believe the mission matters. When leaders don’t embody the values they promote, that trust erodes…and, eventually, so does the impact.

Founders and executives must be especially accountable. If you're leading an organization focused on maternal health, but your own staff don’t have access to protected and paid parental leave, or if positions are “eliminated” during employees’ maternity leave, that’s not just an oversight; it's hypocrisy. If you claim to want to improve people's mental health, but you bully your employees and create a toxic workplace, you’re a direct contributor to the mental health crisis. If you talk about dismantling systemic racism but ignore or silence the perspectives of Black or Brown staff or supporters, you’re perpetuating harm.

Nonprofit leaders must center the communities they serve, and not just in messaging, but in actual decision-making power. This means listening to community members, inviting them into conversations about strategy and vision, compensating them for their expertise, and taking their feedback seriously. It means letting go of ego and control and building structures where leadership is shared.

Integrity is not about being perfect. It’s about being accountable, transparent, and humble enough to change. That’s what builds real impact. And that’s what the nonprofit sector desperately needs more of.

IMPACT REQUIRES ACCOUNTABILITY

We need a reckoning in the nonprofit space. Mission-driven work is not a free pass for ego-driven leadership. Our beloved sector has far too many toxic founders and executives. We even have a term for one of the more common patterns of toxicity: “founder’s syndrome.” But we can no longer turn a blind eye to the workplace harm and dysfunction that not only drives away talented employees but also actively undermines the missions we care about so deeply. In fact, many would argue that the bar should be higher in our organizations than it is in the for-profit sector.

As nonprofits, we are entrusted with people's time, stories, money, and hope. Organizations must be willing to reflect on who holds power, whose voices are valued, and whether their internal culture matches their public values. This includes asking hard questions about racial and gender dynamics, as well as nationality, socioeconomic power, ability status, and other intersecting identities that shape who leads, who is heard, and who is harmed.

If your public narrative is about healing or safety or empowerment, but your internal culture is toxic, the truth will surface. As it should.

Because we deserve better, and so do the communities we serve. The people who trust us with their stories, their resources, and their hope deserve to know that the values we speak are also the values we live. A call for integrity in nonprofit leadership isn’t just about ethics — it’s about effectiveness, credibility, and the future of our work. Without it, even the best mission is just a slogan.