30 Inspirational Quotes for Nonprofit Leaders

Leadership is about finding your unique blueprint and expressing that courageously, confidently, and vulnerably.

Leadership really comes down to two fundamental things and if you get them right, then you’re 80 percent of the way there. The first one is establishing the vision for a team; the second one is establishing a culture for your organization that helps contribute to mission success.

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

“We care a lot about the product or mission, which is extremely important, but I love focusing on understanding the people behind it. When you take care of yourself as a leader, when you understand who you are—what makes you tick, what energizes you, what keeps you up at night—and when you understand your team and say ‘what do you need to accomplish the goals that are set in front of you?’ … and can truly understand them, you have an opportunity to really make a difference.”

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

I would ask you to question who’s at the table and who’s not at the table and to think about those voices that aren’t represented when you’re making decisions.

It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute that gives meaning to our lives.

I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change…I’m changing the things I cannot accept.

You fight for what’s right, you set that vision of where we could be—and then you go after it yourself.

There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.

A few people of integrity can go a long way.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

Don’t tell us all the reasons this might not work. Tell us all the ways it could work.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We try to come alongside people and interact with our supporters so that they know that we see them, we’re with them, and we’re in this together.

When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it also helps us develop inner happiness and peace.

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.

The more you care, the stronger you can be.

“When the president of the United States and politicians in positions of power stand up and make LGBT people feel less-than, or make them feel their rights are being taken away from them, that has a significant impact on their self-worth. That’s our reason to be here: to say, ‘No matter what anyone in Washington says, you are worthy, you are loved, you have dignity, and you are who you are and who you love does not lessen you as a person.”

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Change depends on ordinary people who have the courage to say, ‘Enough is enough and no more.

In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.

Fear is useless. What is needed is trust. As social innovators we’ve got to be tenacious, gritty, and courageous. We deal with cynicism and rejection, especially when what we’re working on is important. So we can never give up. Ever.

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

You must give some time to your fellow man. Even if it’s a little thing, do something for those who have of help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. For remember, you don’t live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here, too.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.