--- title: "The Leadership Gap in the Nonprofit Community" id: "13704" type: "post" slug: "the-leadership-gap-in-the-nonprofit-community" published_at: "2012-10-08T11:58:58+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-17T17:39:19+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/08/the-leadership-gap-in-the-nonprofit-community/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/08/the-leadership-gap-in-the-nonprofit-community.md" excerpt: "Do nonprofits need to work harder on building awareness for their missions — by doing a better job of explaining what they do?" taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Advocacy" - "AssociationsNow" - "Leadership" - "nonprofit" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » The Leadership Gap in the Nonprofit Community Not long ago, I was speaking with nonprofit advocate [Dan Pallotta (opens in a new tab)](http://www.danpallotta.com/) about a topic that seems to come up more and more lately: Whether the nonprofit community needs to do a better job of standing up for itself. > Rarely does a week go by when I don’t see a Tweet from an association leader mentioning how hard it is to describe his or her job to people. I’d take it a step further, actually, and say the community needs to do a better job of simply explaining what it does. Skeptical legislators are [calling hearings (opens in a new tab)](http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=303615) about the Form 990, citing concerns about “compliance and transparency issues.” Rarely does a week go by when I don’t see a Tweet from an association leader mentioning how hard it is to describe his or her job to people. And Pallotta thinks the nonprofit sector suffers from a visibility problem so pronounced that we need something pretty close to a soup-to-nuts revision of federal nonprofit regulations. (More on that soon in *Associations Now*, but in the meantime I recommend his recent *Wall Street Journal* essay, [“Why Can’t We Sell Charity Like We Sell Perfume?” (opens in a new tab)](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444017504577647502309260064.html) ) And more: Last month Independent Sector released a report on nonprofit advocacy titled [Beyond the Cause (opens in a new tab)](https://www.independentsector.org/beyond_the_cause) , which dedicated a lot of space to the sector’s need to better advocate for itself. In a Chronicle of Philanthropy [story on the study (opens in a new tab)](http://philanthropy.com/article/Nonprofits-Need-a-Strong/134540/?cid=pw&utm_%20source=pw&utm_medium=en) , Independent Sector CEO Diana Aviv noted a leadership gap in this area, and that a central organization needs to champion nonprofits instead of playing defense. (Disclosure: ASAE is among the organizations those interviewed for the study identified as “leading efforts on sector-wide issues.”) Why isn’t it happening? Part of the answer is tucked into page 126 of the 268-page study. Describing how interviewees explained the leadership gap, the report says: Several CEOs of membership organizations noted the challenge of creating a fine balance between developing a broad consensus and moving forward with fewer supporters but a more potent message. One senior leader suggested that “exaggerated fears of negative consequences” can hold membership associations back from bold leadership. That probably sounds familiar. Too risky. Too much potential for blowback. Too much difficulty in building consensus. Yet — and this is familiar too — there are plenty of risks in doing nothing and avoiding the question. So how urgent do you think it is for the nonprofit community —and the association community in particular — to begin boldly advocating for itself? And how can it best do that? (TMG archive photo) [Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Tags: [#Advocacy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/advocacy/) [#Leadership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/leadership/) [#nonprofit](https://associationsnow.com/tag/nonprofit/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [PodcastNavigating Tax Reform: Advocacy for Associations and NonprofitsDecember 19, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/12/19/navigating-tax-reform-advocacy-for-associations-and-nonprofits/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Powering Advocacy-Why PACs Matter for AssociationsNovember 20, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/11/20/associations-now-presents-powering-advocacy-why-pacs-matter-for-associations/) - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: National Adoption AssociationOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-national-adoption-association/) - [VideoASAE Legislative 2025 Fly-InApril 4, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/04/04/asae-legislative-2025-fly-in/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2012%2F10%2F08%2Fthe-leadership-gap-in-the-nonprofit-community%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !