Just like in any long-term relationship, your connection to your nonprofit’s mission can experience highs and lows. The passion and drive that once fueled your work may now feel routine or even exhausting. This Valentine’s Day, let’s rekindle the love! Here are three ways to reconnect with your mission and bring renewed energy to your work.
1. Take Your Mission on a Date
No, we don’t mean bringing your laptop to a candle-lit dinner. A great date is about creating new experiences, deepening connection, and seeing the person (or in this case, your mission) in a fresh light. How can you do this with your work?
Engage in meaningful conversations with leadership, your team, and even yourself about why your mission matters and how it’s evolving. Try something new in your role—pursue a new strategy, initiate a creative collaboration, or explore innovative approaches. Step outside your routine and experience your nonprofit’s impact from a different angle. Visit a program site, shadow a colleague, or connect with the people your organization serves.
Just as new experiences in relationships foster excitement and growth, innovation in your nonprofit work can reignite your passion and commitment. Moses Lee, in Innovation: The Promise of Successful Nonprofits, highlights how embracing change keeps organizations relevant and thriving. He identifies three types of innovation that can bring fresh energy to your mission:
- General Innovation: Implementing new tools, strategies, or processes to improve efficiency and engagement.
- Transformational Innovation: Making significant changes to your organization’s structure or approach to better serve your mission.
- Groundbreaking Innovation: Pioneering entirely new methods or ideas that set a new standard in the field.
By treating your mission like a relationship—one that benefits from fresh experiences, creative approaches, and thoughtful evolution—you can ensure your work stays meaningful and impactful. Read more about nonprofit innovation here.
2. Remember Why You Fell in Love with Your Mission
Think back to when you first started working in the nonprofit sector. What values and ideals drew you in? What inspired you to dedicate your time and energy to this work? Reflecting on your initial motivations can help you reconnect with your purpose and gain clarity on what still drives you today.
A great resource for this is Values: Connecting To What Matters, a practical guide that helps individuals align their actions with their core values. It reminds us that staying connected to what truly matters helps create a fulfilling and sustainable career in mission-driven work. Read more here.
3. Incorporate Play into Your Workday
We’ve all heard the saying, “Couples that play together stay together.” The same applies to your work! If your days have become a repetitive cycle of meetings and tasks, adding a sense of play can make a huge difference. Play fuels creativity, builds stronger teams, and makes the workday more enjoyable.
Consider fun, lighthearted activities like:
- Team-building games that encourage laughter and connection. Our Chief of Staff, Taylor Strange, once led a game where team members paired up, sat back-to-back, and attempted to describe and draw simple images without using descriptive words. The results were hilariously abstract, but the exercise brought a sense of joy and camaraderie to the workplace.
- Creative brainstorming sessions that allow space for unconventional ideas and spontaneous collaboration.
- Movement breaks, art activities, or storytelling exercises that spark imagination and relieve stress.
Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, emphasizes that play is essential for mental flexibility, social connection, and overall well-being. He describes play as “an investment rather than an expenditure” because of its many benefits—including boosting creativity, trust, and resilience.
Fall in Love with Your Mission Again
This Valentine’s Day, take a moment to reconnect with the heart of your work. Whether it’s through meaningful conversations, remembering your core values, incorporating play, or embracing innovation, there are countless ways to reignite your passion for your mission. Your nonprofit’s work is vital, and the love you pour into it makes all the difference.
So go ahead—fall in love with your mission all over again!