In the P.S. to his post Big Can Be Beautiful Too, Tom, commenting on readers’ remarks notes, “I thought the key takeaway was about organizational culture — it starts at the top and, irrespective of the size of the organization, can be stifling or inspiring.”

Nothing more aptly illustrates this than the release last week by WikiLeaks of the Democratic National Committee emails. Apart from the anti-Bernie fingerprints from some DNC staffers that sent many Sanders supporters into paroxysms of protests during the Democratic Convention, there are dozens of emails clearly demonstrating the contempt held by some DNC staffers for their own donors.

As I scrolled through the email leaks it was clear why Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Party’s Chair, should, and did, resign. She had created — or just as bad — at least tolerated a culture of contempt. Contempt toward the Party’s rules of neutrality. Contempt toward its processes. Contempt for its donors and volunteer leadership.

My point is not political. It’s to use the WikiLeaks/DNC fiasco as one more example that the digital world and the internet are tearing down old hierarchies and facades — exposing the hypocrisy that is inherent in the way so many organizations and their leaders behave.

The digital transformation is far more than a technological gimmick to be assigned to a webmaster or online team, while old-fashioned business-as-usual, top-down mindsets prevail, hidden from public view.

Those organizations and their leaders who pretend to be paragons of openness and virtue to their donors and members while behaving quite the opposite as they ignore the needs and desires of their constituents are doomed. They will be exposed by an increasingly open and transparent flow of information.

And they mess up the world for the rest of us.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to learn and change. Every time we seriously seek to understand our donors’ experiences, and then act inside the organization to heed what we learn, we’re moving in the right direction.

Why? Because by focusing on the importance of creating experiences that give our donors and other stakeholders a voice and control — rather than trying to control them — we are advancing toward an open and sustainable future. To a culture that is inspiring, not stifling.

Does the leadership and culture of your organization stifle or inspire donors?

Roger