Nonprofit Leadership Lessons from the Campaign Trail
A hand displays multiple “VOTE” stickers.
In 2024, I was asked to present at a conference and share a theory I have been utilizing my entire career. Here’s the premise: driving change inside nonprofit organizations and winning support for new initiatives or new ways of working is substantially similar to trying to get people to vote for you in a political campaign. Why not borrow their strategies and tactics?
When I was reviewing my presentation, I realized that maybe the audience for this theory shouldn’t just be nonprofit leaders, but political leaders themselves who have maybe forgotten some of the fundamentals of their craft. Here are some of the key takeaways from my slides:
When seeking support from staff for your new idea, always remember:
All politics is personal. Understanding what motivates people, their hopes and also their fears, is the key to winning their vote. Once you know what they care about, something you can do by listening to them, you can show them how what you are offering is really in their best interests. Proactively answer this question: What will this change mean for me and my job?
Use plain language. You can’t get support for your work if people don’t understand what you are talking about. Avoid jargon and techno-speak. Talk like a real person, and real people will believe you. Not everyone is an expert on your plan, so take the time to teach and explain.
Build your coalition. Remember: You don’t need to win every vote; you just need enough votes to win. Think about the key people in your organization that you really need to get on board, by role or function. That is your coalition, and you should focus your outreach on them, not wasting time on people who will never support you or who you don’t need.
These strategies aren’t a silver bullet—your idea still needs to be a good one. It has to resonate, inspire, and offer a vision people want to rally behind. But even the most powerful ideas will fall flat if you ignore the fundamentals of trust-building. In today’s climate, where both political and organizational leadership are falling flat, the lesson is clear: you have to put in the work to build sustainable support for your vision of change.
