 | When you pursue excellence, money always happens. When you pursue money, excellence never happens. When we seek to make our organizations the very best they can be, someone will eventually ask, "how can I help?" When we twist and turn our organizations to make them fit funding guidelines, invent programs to get a grant, and/or sacrifice our mission to the whims of a prospective donor, we lose both our mission and our chance for sustainable funding. The task before us, then, is to develop excellence in organizational structure, program design, delivery models, board governance, managerial practice, and fundraising. We will carry our message and invite investments from all who will listen, but we won't chase after percieved opportunities that might be harmful to our organization. Excellence creates greatness and we know three fundamental principles of greatness: Greatness isn't a factor of size. Grassroots organizations can be great, community-based organizations can be great, even multi-billion dollar corporations can be great. Greatness is the art of doing the right things right.
Greatness isn't a dream. The difference between a goal and a dream is a plan. If you're moving toward greatness, you must have a plan that outlines actions that can be measured in cost, attempt, individuals, space, and time.
Greatness does not just happen. If we are to be great we must seek greatness: we must plan, act, and evaluate results. |