Nonprofit leaders are chosen not just for charm or smarts, but even more so, for upholding the organization’s Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies (VMGS) and core values. To drag the organization outside of these guiding parameters can be one of the worst transgressions a CEO/Executive Director can commit, wasting manpower, time and resources while failing to advance its key progress benchmarks.
There are several reasons why mission drift may occur in an NGO’s lifetime. Foremost among these is chasing after ill-fitting funding. Without a good fundraising plan and a fundraiser to lead the charge, a nonprofit may end up reconfiguring programs while trying to implement mismatched grants. It is the responsibility of the nonprofit leader to ensure this does not happen, being the organization’s overseer and executive decision-maker. The judgement call to craft and submit a grant proposal or not ultimately lies with the NGO head, even with favorable advice from other senior officers.
Another reason is the vanity of some non-founder leaders who want to be seen as innovators, i.e., of having created something distinctive from the original contribution of founder-leaders. They want to leave their mark on the organization for posterity, and be lauded as having stretched the possibilities of the organization’s program potential. This is especially true of CEOs/Executive Directors who are planning to apply later on to a bigger NGO or a C-Suite corporate role, when they need to show off their innovation credentials as proof that they are exemplary program developers.
Lastly, there is the whimsical NGO leader who is easily impassioned by side-issues that are very close to their hearts, especially when personal friendships are involved. At the risk of skewing the organization’s priorities, they would insert action elements (such as events) in the strategic plan or in particular programs just to ride on a popular thematic issue, hoping to create a buzz that would liven up their fame or create conditions for their friends to jump in. Such impulsive actions contain liberal doses of FOMO (fear of missing out) and can be hard to resist due to the excitement of the moment.
The question that should always be asked under such circumstances is this: “Is that action aligned with our mission, and will it help support that mission’s realization?”
If the answer is an uncertain “Maybe,” or worse, a categorical “No,” then you have an instance of mission drift waiting to happen. Whatever the reasons behind it, everyone in the organization should speak out, and seek to include the Board in the conversation. If the Board does not put a stop to it or even approves it, then the leadership failure becomes generalized and should be put to a vote in a General Membership Assembly. In the absence of such a body within the organization, then an appropriate regulatory government body such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should be called upon to step in and decide on the legality of the matter.
Mission drift can be lethal to NGOs due to the scarcity of their resources, being nonprofits competing with each other for precious funds. Allowing a drift to occur is therefore a critical issue of leadership and governance, and must be confronted decisively before it even starts. If necessary, the CEO/Executive Director should be subjected to a comprehensive performance evaluation, or asked to resign if the mission drift has already resulted in concrete harm to the organization.