The Michigan Court of Appeals recently vacated a ruling of a trial court that granted summary judgment in favor of a local church that had been sued by an employee for age discrimination. The trial court had refused to hear the case based on its understanding of the First Amendment and its interplay with employment in religious institutions; however, the appellate court ordered the trial court to hear the case and apply the law consistent with Winkler v. Marist Fathers of Detroit…

Most pastors or social entrepreneurs don’t start a church or a nonprofit organization out of a burning desire to draft, adopt, and follow exciting policies. But, having good policies provides protection and stability, allowing the organization to fulfill its mission…

In nonprofit organizations and churches, Board members have a fiduciary duty of care to oversee the financial management of the organization. This doesn’t mean that the Board must approve every purchase order or walk through every receipt—that would be too cumbersome a process and would likely intrude on the responsibilities of the senior leader and staff…

I’ve always loved a good atlas. As a kid, I spent hours looking at maps, including the Rand McNally Road Atlas of the United States. That atlas shows you states, counties, cities, interstate highways, state highways, county roads, lakes, rivers, populations, and so much more. There’s nothing wrong with modern apps that help plot a course, but there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned atlas for a road trip…

Military historians and experts coined the term mission creep to describe military operations that started with one purpose, but drifted to another—think Korean War. The war started to protect southern Korea from invasion from the north; however, the mission crept from protecting the south to re-uniting the Korean peninsula. Of course, the existence of North and South Korea remind us that the mission crept to failure.

Today, mission creep describes any organization or policy that gradually creeps in a new direction—often fueled by a perceived opportunity or crisis.

A nonprofit’s mission explains why it exists.

A nonprofit’s goals details the path it intends to take to fulfill that mission.

But, what about core values? For too many nonprofits, a list of core values is an afterthought, thrown together because some consultant said the nonprofit needed to adopt them. Too often, core values are like the middle child—crammed in between the mission and goals, feeling misunderstood and left out.

Learn how to protect your non-profit’s core values.