Two Essential Cultural Facets Every Nonprofit Should Embrace
- Tom Iselin
- Mar 20, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
This video and blog provide an overview of two key "facets" required to build a a healthy organizational culture -- "safety" and "voice."
Two Essential Cultural Facets Every Nonprofit Should Embrace
Today, I want to highlight two additional facets that I believe every nonprofit should incorporate into its culture: Safety and Voice.
Why Culture Matters So Much
Culture answers the fundamental identity questions of a nonprofit:
What does it mean to be part of this organization?
What does it mean to be on this board?
What does it mean to be on this staff?
A well-defined culture creates a unifying force—an ethos that binds the hearts, minds, and actions of everyone connected with your nonprofit. It shapes how people behave, communicate, and collaborate.
Your mission tells people what you do.Your vision tells people where you’re going.But your culture tells people who you are.What you stand for.What you believe.
If your team doesn’t collectively know who they are or what they believe, fulfilling your mission becomes nearly impossible.
Two Powerful Cultural Facets: Safety and Voice
Last episode, we explored facets that symbolize a Get It Done culture—excellence, teamwork, accountability, honest communication, and impact.
Today, we’re adding two more that are foundational to any healthy, high-performance culture.
Facet #1: Safety
No matter what type of culture you’re building, safety should be a primary facet.
People want to feel safe:
Intellectually
Physically
Emotionally
Creatively
They also want to feel valued and respected.
An unsafe culture—where people fear embarrassment, judgment, conflict, ridicule, or hostility—causes people to withdraw, shut down, and disengage. Productivity decreases, tension escalates, morale drops, and collaboration deteriorates.
Your goal is to create a culture where people feel free to:
Be themselves
Share ideas
Make suggestions
Admit concerns
Let their personalities shine
When people feel safe, they contribute more, innovate more, and bond more deeply with the mission.
This is one reason why defining culture early matters so much.If you hire or nominate people who are rude, disrespectful, oppressive, or judgmental, your culture becomes unsafe—and it’s incredibly hard to fix because changing someone’s nature is nearly impossible.
Facet #2: Voice
Everyone—staff, board members, volunteers—needs to feel empowered to express ideas, concerns, solutions, and preferences.
When people feel heard, they participate more enthusiastically.When they feel silenced, they disengage.
Cultures suffer when organizations elevate tyrants, bulldozers, micromanagers, or “know-it-all” leaders. These personalities squelch curiosity, shut down dialogue, and crush morale. The result?
Resentment
Division
Negativity
Apathy
High turnover
To prevent this, prioritize leaders who are:
Selfless
Compassionate
Collaborative
Open-minded
Skilled listeners
Establish systems that encourage open communication. Invite feedback. Value input. Ask great questions. Create psychological and emotional safety so people feel their voice matters.
When people feel heard and respected, they become powerful allies in fulfilling your mission.
Takeaways
A well-defined culture provides identity, direction, unity, and mission-driven energy.
Two essential facets for any nonprofit culture are Safety and Voice.
Safety empowers people to be themselves, share ideas, and collaborate without fear.
Voice ensures people feel heard, valued, and respected—leading to stronger engagement.
Toxic leadership suppresses both facets, resulting in negativity and division.
Hiring and nominating compassionate, selfless leaders reinforces a healthy Get It Done culture.
Summary
To build a Gold Standard, Get It Done nonprofit, you must intentionally create a culture rooted in psychological safety and empowered voice. These two facets give people the freedom to contribute authentically, collaborate openly, and support one another enthusiastically. When people feel safe and heard, your mission accelerates, your teamwork strengthens, and your culture becomes a powerful force that drives everything your organization accomplishes.
Tom Iselin
Rated One of America’s Best Board Retreat
and Strategic Planning Facilitators
About the Author
Tom Iselin is recognized as one of America’s leading authorities on high-performance nonprofits. He has built nine sector-leading nonprofits and two software companies, written six books, sits on multiple boards, and has been rated one of America’s Best Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Facilitators. His work on nonprofit strategy, board leadership, and culture has been featured on CNN, Nightline, and in Newsweek.
Tom is the president of First Things First, a firm specializing in board retreats, strategic planning services, fundraising strategy, and executive coaching for nonprofit CEOs.
Board Retreats & Strategic Planning
If you’re looking for a board retreat facilitator or strategic planning facilitator who has been in the trenches and understands real-world nonprofit challenges, Tom can help your board gain clarity, build alignment, and create an actionable plan that improves performance and impact. His sessions propel organizations to the next level of performance and impact . . . and they're fun!
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