Passion and Purpose

My husband jokes that every time I go on an evaluation consult, I find myself a new job. And you know what? He's exactly right. It never fails that I go home and announce, "Today I met these people who are doing the neatest project! I would love to do that!"I think it's because every time I meet with a grantee, I discover a new organization or a new group of people that is passionate about its work. I am a complete sucker for passion, so I can't help but want to jump on board.

Passion is contagious. Passion can motivate and inspire. It can create momentum and change. It helps to overcome resistance and build connections. And, I've learned in my current job (where I get to do neat projects with passionate people) passion is key to a successful grant project.

How do I know this? You told me so. The Health Foundation recently completed our 2009 Sustainability Survey. In that survey, we asked past grantees to talk about the things that made their programs successful and to give advice to others who are doing similar work. Of course, they say money is helpful. You've got to pay the bills.

But even in these crazy economic times, most of our grantees noted that their strongest assets were not those of the financial variety, but their people. In our conversations with grantees, we learned that having passionate people-- employees, leaders, stakeholders, and advocates--is key to having a strong program. A grantee who responded to the survey said it better than I ever could:

You really need staff and your clinical director on board, and it's good to involve your whole clinical staff in the process. Take a really long look at your staff . . . You can have all the money in the world and the best plan, but if you don't have the right people, it doesn't matter.

But it's not enough to hire passionate staff. You've got to do something to keep them that way. And (let's be honest with each other) sometimes the daily grind of saving the world becomes . . . a daily grind (or a giant pile of paperwork!). Richard Perry, at Fundraising Success gives a few tips to help us fall "back in love" with our work. Richard points out that an organization with passionate employees gives them space for all the different things--celebration, fun, frustration, and disagreement--that go along with their passion. Successful organizations create an environment where staff can take ownership of the work they're doing and where they're encouraged to embrace the organization's vision as their personal one. They give people ways to fall in love with their work again and again.

What do you think of Richard's suggestions? What else does your organization do to help you rekindle the flame?