Avoid These Trust-Killers: Pitfalls for Nonprofit Leaders

Trust is the foundation of any successful nonprofit. It strengthens relationships, improves collaboration, and ensures that everyone—whether employees, board members, or volunteers—feels connected to the mission. Building and maintaining trust becomes even more critical in the nonprofit world, where teams are often mission-driven, and resources are limited.

Establishing trust is a key component of effective leadership, from staff to volunteers and the board of directors, but unfortunately, many nonprofit leaders make some common mistakes that lead to erosion of that trust.

The Three Types of Trust

Three key types of trust are essential to building strong, healthy relationships within any organization: disposition-based trust, cognition-based trust, and affect-based trust. Each plays a distinct role in how individuals relate to and rely on one another.

1. Disposition-Based Trust: This type of trust is rooted in personality and personal experiences. Some people are naturally more inclined to trust others, while some are more skeptical. Disposition-based trust influences how quickly employees, volunteers, or board members are willing to extend trust to you as a leader, especially if they don’t know you well yet.
2. Cognition-Based Trust: This form of trust is built on what people know about you—your competence, reliability, and fairness. It develops over time as people observe your actions, how you handle challenges, and how you interact with others. For nonprofit leaders, cognition-based trust is often established through your decision-making skills, transparency, and ability to meet the organization’s goals.
3. Affect-Based Trust: Affect-based trust stems from emotional bonds and connections. It’s less about logic and more about how people feel about you. This type of trust is based on relationships and whether others think you genuinely care about them, their well-being, and their contributions. For nonprofit leaders, empathy, appreciation, and kindness build this emotional trust.

Common Mistakes in Trust Building for Nonprofit Leaders

Despite the importance of trust, nonprofit leaders sometimes stumble in building and maintaining it. Here are some common pitfalls that can erode trust:

• Lack of Transparency: Whether it’s about finances, decision-making, or organizational changes, when leaders are not open with their teams, it creates an environment of uncertainty and suspicion. Even if there are good reasons to withhold information, the lack of communication can lead to a breakdown in trust.
• Inconsistent Behavior: Trust is damaged when leaders fail to follow through on commitments or apply policies inconsistently. If board members, volunteers, or employees see that some individuals are held to different standards, it can erode cognition-based trust. Following best practices of equity theory, and understanding the concepts of justice, can help leaders exhibit consistent and equitable behaviors.
• Not Valuing Stakeholder Input: When leaders dismiss or overlook the ideas, feedback, or concerns of stakeholders, including employees, volunteers, and board members, their contributions are not valued. This can weaken both cognition-based and affect-based trust.

How Nonprofit Leaders Can Build Trust Across Teams and Stakeholders

Now that we’ve defined the types of trust and the challenges leaders face, let’s dive into actionable strategies for building trust within your nonprofit organization.

1. Establish Transparency as a Core Value

Transparency fosters both disposition-based and cognition-based trust. Share information openly, ensuring informational justice, with your staff, board members, and volunteers. Whether it’s about financial challenges, changes in strategy, or major decisions, make sure stakeholders understand the “why” behind your actions. Transparency signals honesty and can help to alleviate concerns before they arise.

Practical Steps:

• Regularly communicate updates on organizational goals, budget performance, and any changes in policies.
• Create spaces for open dialogue, such as town hall meetings or regular email updates where questions and concerns are encouraged.

2. Demonstrate Consistency and Fairness

Consistency builds cognition-based trust by showing that your actions are predictable and fair. Make sure your decisions and actions align with the organization’s values and are applied equally to everyone, from the newest volunteer to the board chair.

Practical Steps:

• Set clear expectations for all team members, including board members and volunteers, and ensure those standards are consistently upheld.
• Follow through on commitments and promises. If circumstances change, be upfront about why you can no longer meet a commitment.

3. Foster Genuine Relationships

Affect-based trust is all about connection. Nonprofit leaders who build emotional bonds with their teams and stakeholders create a stronger sense of loyalty and trust. Show genuine care for your employees, board members, and volunteers, and make time to connect with them on a personal level.

Practical Steps:

• Take the time to get to know your team and stakeholders. Learn about their motivations, interests, and challenges.
• Express appreciation regularly. A simple thank you or recognition of someone’s hard work goes a long way in building emotional trust.

4. Engage Stakeholders in Decision-Making

Including others in the decision-making process not only strengthens cognition-based trust but also shows that you value their input and expertise. Employees, board members, and volunteers often have unique insights and ideas that can benefit the organization. Engaging them in the process fosters a sense of ownership and commitment to the nonprofit’s success.

Practical Steps:

• Seek input from diverse stakeholder groups before making major decisions.
• Involve board members and key volunteers in strategic discussions to show that their perspective matters.

5. Create a Culture of Accountability

Accountability helps sustain trust. When everyone is accountable for their actions—leaders included—trust flourishes. Make sure that both successes and failures are owned by the team and that mistakes are met with solutions, not blame.

Practical Steps:

• Set up mechanisms for feedback and reflection. For example, after major projects or events, hold debrief sessions to identify what went well and where improvements can be made.
• Lead by example. As a leader, hold yourself accountable when things don’t go as planned and share how you’ll improve in the future.

6. Foster Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is the foundation of building trust. Leaders can bolster trustworthiness by demonstrating integrity, competence, and benevolence in their actions, a topic discussed at length in this article.

Building trust within your nonprofit is not just about being reliable or competent—it’s about fostering emotional connections, ensuring transparency, and involving stakeholders in the decision-making process. As a nonprofit leader, you have the opportunity to strengthen your relationships with employees, board members, and volunteers by intentionally cultivating trust through consistent actions, transparent communication, and genuine engagement.

By understanding the different types of trust and actively working to build it, you’ll create a stronger, more cohesive organization that’s equipped to achieve its mission and make a meaningful impact.