Susan G. Komen for a Cure, one of the nation’s leading fundraising organizations has taught us a few things about non-profit organizations and women’s access to health care. Here are 12 important lesson’s we’ve learned from Komen’s recent mistakes.

1. Don’t hire someone whose political agenda could hurt the people your mission is designed to help.
2. A non-profit organization that is not political or religious in nature should not become political or religious at a later time. It’s against the law. Putting a different spin on it does not change culpability.
3. A non-profit organization who develops ties to a specific political party does so with the expectation of losing many – possibly more than half – of it’s supporters, including not only those who donate financially, but also those who organize and participate to raise money to help further the agenda of the organization. People are willing to participate and sacrifice for a cause that has touched their hearts. When there appears to be a shift in that agenda, supporters feel betrayed that the reason why they were there in the first place has become secondary to the new agenda.
4. When a non-profit organization takes aim at a partner who has been steadfast, supporters will believe it necessary to choose sides, often with the partner who just got dumped. Contributions to the finger-pointing organization will immediately decline, while contributions to the other organization will increase.
5. When a non-profit organization discontinues a long-term good relationship with a partner for political reasons, they immediately come under public scrutiny which will likely result in a very public audit. 
6. Public trust for an organization whose mission becomes clouded with a political agenda will be greatly affected. Trust may never full return, no matter how sorry the leaders are. 
7. Non-profit organizations who share a common goal should stay committed to that goal, regardless of the political persuasions of all involved.
8. Politics have no business in women’s health.
9. Women need to stop letting the issue of abortion divide us to the point where we hurt each other by refusing to provide important health care services because legal abortion is provided within the same organization. We need to stand together so that our rights are never diminished or taken away.
10. There are much better ways of addressing the needs of women than by removing health care from those women who can’t otherwise afford it.
11. People who come together under a common cause must be reminded of what will happen to those it servers should that organization no longer exist.
12. The mission should always always always be at the forefront of everything a non-profit organization does. Never lose sight of the mission. Staying focused on the mission is the number one most important thing a non-profit organization will ever have in the relationship it has with its supporters.