Marshall McLuhan’s phrase, “the medium is the message”, is common fare to anyone in the communication sector. While the sentiment may be obvious today (after 45 years of that critical perspective influencing culture), it holds additional significance for non-profits.

As non-profits grow, inconsistency is a common mistake. If the core of your organisation is built on principles of social justice, for example, you had better be certain to practise social justice in all aspects of internal business, or your message will not ring true. Similarly, organisations devoted to collaboration and communication, transparency, development or education must foster these internally.

The largest barrier to such consistency is growth. An organisation will generally start with an intrinsic shared vision, as a small group of passionate individuals devoted to a cause. As organisation size increases, employees specialise into key areas, with distinct responsibilities and budgets; by extension focusing on narrower goals and losing some perspective of the overall vision.

A regular “vision audit” can help to avoid this issue. To consider your organisation’s consistency of message and medium, apply the following process:

1. Look at the original and current mission statement/s for your organisation, and any founding documentation. What was your organisation founded to achieve? Try to reduce these documents to a list of principles, or an all-inclusive “mission”.
2. Map out your organisation structure, including all staff, boards and voluntary personnel.
3. How does each function of your organisation structure implement the mission?
4. How does your organisation structure realise/enforce the mission internally?
5. How are staff kept aware of the mission?
6. Where does your organisation fail to reach the ideals of the mission, and how can it improve?
7. Are any of the functions in your organisation underutilised? For example, could an office with an existing external function also be used/applied internally?
8. What concrete actions can guide your organisation towards your mission in the future?

The final consideration is key. Concrete actions should be measurable, specific changes that will realign your organisation structure with your mission. For an organisation focused on transparency and accountability, such resolutions might include:

• Making financials and annual reports available on the organisation website.
• Using clear, published salary brackets and reimbursement structures for all staff.
• Providing staff forums and detailed processes for responding to grievances.

If your organisation can make an honest effort to internally realise your mission, your message will be intrinsically supported, and far more difficult to debate or ignore.