Core Pinciples

The Microphilanthropy Blog discusses a successful meals distribution program in Canada. The principles that a recent study determined make this program work are exactly ours:

Santropol Roulant's Nine Core Principles of Engagement

People as gifts - Each person who comes in contact with Santropol Roulant is seen as a whole person with many dimensions that, when given space to flourish, feed the organization's vibrancy, capacity to innovate, and overall effectiveness.

Relationship-building - Creating the space and skills for healthy interpersonal and group communication are essential and highly productive aspects of our organizational life.

Comfort with change - We embrace change and uncertainty as opportunities to learn and evolve. For a youth-run organization such as Santropol Roulant, staff and volunteer turnover are necessary and positive elements of our organizational rhythm.

Cultivating individual learning and organizational creativity - We value personal growth, curiosity and play as essential to Santropol Roulant's dynamism and productivity.

Collaborative leadership - We strive to be deeply participatory, sharing decision-making and leadership in a way that contributes to everyone's learning and growth while we deliver on our mission.

The importance of space - We pay attention to the state and arrangement of the physical space as it affects the way people relate to the organization and each other.

Gravitational structuring - We invite people to involve themselves in the tasks, projects, conversations, and decisions that they are drawn to based on their own interests and curiosities.

Coherence - We aim to live our deepest values in all our relationships: with clients, staff, board members, volunteers, funders, partners, neighbours, etc.

Community building - We strive to become a living expression of the change we want to see in the world, rather than simply an instrument for that change.

I hope that we can become as successful.