Defining Your Non-Negotiables: A Guide for Social Impact Leaders

Ever since DEI has re-entered the chat (this time as a political lightning rod), I keep returning to one question: What hills are organizations willing to die on?

As a marketing and communications strategist who has spent the last several years helping nonprofits build and refine their brands, it’s gut-wrenching to see organizations scramble to rewrite their public narratives in real-time. Some are sanitizing their websites, others are sidestepping conversations they once championed.

Why? Because the national dialogue on DEI has turned into a high-stakes game of “for or against,” and, understandably, many are likely hoping they can sit this one out.

But here’s the real question I challenge organizations to ask themselves: What do we value?

Values Shouldn’t Be a PR Move

Values aren’t meant to shift with political winds or funding cycles. If they do, they were never values to begin with.

To be clear, executive orders, funding threats, and shifting donor priorities are clear and present dangers. But when organizations quickly or quietly erase past commitments in the name of self-preservation, it signals something worse than political caution: inauthenticity. Once your authenticity is in question, so is your brand reputation.

How to Choose Your Hills Wisely

If you’re leading a social impact organization, I recommend some deep self-reflection. Before making another strategic communication decision, spend time asking yourself three critical questions:

• What values are so core to your mission that altering them would fundamentally change who you are?
• What beliefs would you stand by, no matter the financial or political pressure?
• Are your staff and key stakeholders aligned?

In other words, to build a brand that can weather controversy or backlash – particularly around DEI – isn’t just about crafting the right message, it’s about confirming the strength of your foundation as a whole. If the above questions feel out of reach, or fuzzy at best, start by conducting a cross-functional audit of your organization’s values, culture, and internal practices. Invite participation from all corners and levels of the organization to help ensure stated values are lived values. 

Standing Firm in the Gray Areas

It’s one thing to articulate your values, another to live them when the stakes feel high or hard to pinpoint. I recall this being put to the test in a moment when an organization I worked with was made an offer of financial support from a public figure whose viewpoints often stood in direct conflict with the internal culture and stated values of the organization. Rather than make an immediate decision, we paused to assess and pressure test alignment internally. 

Would accepting this support require the organization to change who or how it served, how it speaks about its mission or core audiences, or compromise core values in any way? The answers were no. So we moved forward; sure of our stance even though the moment felt tense. 

We didn’t stop there. We made a deliberate choice to put our values and mission on full display, including the very principles that ran counter to this person’s publicly shared perspectives and actions. It was a very real reminder that values aren’t meant to be performative. They’re meant to be clear, consistent, and courageous enough to stand firm, especially in rooms where others may not fully agree.

Own Your Narrative or Someone Else Will

If your organization doesn’t define its non-negotiables, the world will define them for you. And trust me, public perception is rarely kind to organizations that dodge hard conversations.

So, decide now. Which hills are you willing to die on? And conversely, which ones aren’t worth the fight? In today’s landscape, the most powerful messaging isn’t just about what you say, it’s also about what you don’t easily back down from.