Abstract
This article argues that nonprofit organizations frequently suffer from a type of conflict that is unique to the sector. The author calls this tension mission mirroring and defines it as the phenomenon that occurs when an organization becomes enmeshed internally in the same conflicts it was founded to deal with externally. The author’s aim in this article is to illustrate how mission mirroring occurs, how it is often misunderstood and misinterpreted, and how the failure to recognize it for what it is only aggravates the problem. His ultimate hope is that this article will allow nonprofit leaders to view internal conflicts of individual organizations from a broader, sectorwide perspective.
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