Better Non-Profit Communication Starts With Better Conversations
Judith E. Glaser, founder of the Creating WE Institute and author of Conversational Intelligence, noted that many of our conversations miss their mark. That's worth considering in a non-profit organization, where almost everything we accomplish depends on effective communication.
Boards and Executive Directors need to communicate. Leaders need to engage their teams. Staff need to work across programs. Volunteers and community partners need to understand each other.
The quality of those conversations shapes team culture, trust, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness.
Glaser's three levels of conversation offer a useful way to think about how we communicate.
Level One: Transactional Conversations
Transactional conversations are about telling, asking, and exchanging information.
"The Board package needs to go out Thursday."
"Can you send me those numbers?"
Sometimes people simply need clear information or direction.
The challenge comes when we use transactional communication for conversations that require something deeper. If a team member raises a concern and we immediately tell them how to fix it, we've communicated—but we may not have understood the issue.
Sometimes we need to stop telling and start asking.
Level Two: Positional Conversations
Level Two conversations are about advocating, influencing, and persuading. They're common in non-profits. A Board member advocates for a direction. A manager recommends changing a program. Staff have different ideas about priorities.
These conversations have a purpose. The risk comes when being right becomes more important than being curious.
We may ask questions, but are we genuinely interested in the answers—or waiting for an opportunity to explain why our idea is better?
When people repeatedly feel unheard, it can affect trust, engagement, psychological safety, and team culture.
Level Three: Transformational Conversations
Level Three conversations create space for curiosity, exploration, learning, and co-creation. Instead of entering the conversation knowing the answer, we explore what's possible together.
We listen, ask questions we don't already know the answers to, and allow different perspectives to influence our thinking.
Try asking:
What are you seeing that I might be missing?
What possibilities haven't we considered?
What would success look like from your perspective?
These conversations are especially valuable during strategic planning, organizational change, community engagement, complex problem-solving, and collaborative decision-making.
Which Conversation Does the Situation Need?
Non-profits need all three levels. Sometimes leaders need to provide clear direction. Sometimes people need to advocate for an idea. And sometimes everyone needs to put existing positions aside and explore what's possible together.
The skill is recognizing which conversation you're having—and whether it's the conversation the situation actually needs.
A simple operational decision probably doesn't require an hour of co-creation.
But a major organizational change probably shouldn't be communicated entirely through a memo telling people what's going to happen.
Conversations Shape Team Culture
Organizational culture isn't created only through policies or values statements. It's created through everyday conversations.
What happens when someone disagrees, makes a mistake, raises a concern, challenges an assumption, or suggests something new? Do we defend? Dismiss? Tell? Persuade? Or get curious?
Those interactions teach people whether it's safe to speak, to question, to disagree, and to contribute.
Get Curious About Your Conversations
Track your conversations for a day. Notice when you're telling, when you're persuading, and when you're genuinely exploring.
Then ask:
Did the conversation accomplish what it needed to?
Did I listen to understand—or respond?
Was I genuinely curious?
Did the conversation build or reduce trust?
Better non-profit communication isn't about making every conversation transformational. It's about becoming more intentional about how we communicate and creating more opportunities for conversations that build trust, stronger teams, collaboration, and shared understanding.
Because better organizational cultures are built one conversation at a time.
If your non-profit's culture were judged entirely by the conversations people have every day, what would those conversations say about your organization?
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Angie McLeod, HIP Strategic Consulting is skilled Facilitator and Business Strategist who uses Conversational Intelligence tools and techniques to help her clients improve their communication and planning processes.
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1 In Conversational Intelligence terms this is called double-clicking on an idea. Check out Marshall Goldsmith’s 3.5 –minute video “Double-Click Leadership” with Judith E. Glaser to understand how you can apply this tool in your conversations.
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