Navigating communication in a volunteer-run organisation is complex. Differing expectations, limited time, and competing priorities can quickly create tension.
Building a shared vision is never a simple task, especially in an organisation like the Australian Multiple Birth Association (AMBA), where every contributor is a volunteer and every decision carries the weight of representing thousands of families. Over its five decades, AMBA has achieved a great deal, but it has also wrestled with challenges that speak to the heart of how communication and alignment shape a mission’s success.
By early 2020, those dynamics were under a spotlight. AMBA had entered a period of significant change. A strategic restructure was underway to address deep-rooted realities: shifting expectations from families, outdated operational models, and increasing pressure on volunteers. The directors facilitated a restructure workshop in February 2020 that brought together state and territory committees, club representatives and board members to tackle these issues head-on. It was a day marked by robust debate, uncomfortable truths and a shared desire to build something more sustainable.
The session exposed a tension that had been simmering for years — the gap between big-picture strategy and the resources needed to deliver it. AMBA operates as a “working board,” meaning directors not only set strategy but also carry out much of the operational work. That dual role creates both opportunity and strain. On one hand, it keeps leadership closely connected to the day-to-day realities of clubs and families. On the other, it means strategic ambitions can be constrained by the limited time and capacity of volunteers. Many transformative ideas were identified, but their execution often stalled without the necessary hands or hours to make them real.
The workshop also surfaced a shift happening across the multiple birth community itself. While demand for local support remained strong, traditional governance-heavy club structures were becoming harder to sustain. Many parents wanted to contribute but weren’t willing or able to commit to committee roles. At the same time, several clubs were struggling to remain viable, and some faced closure. The message was clear: AMBA needed to evolve its model to ensure families continued to receive support, even if that meant doing things differently.
This discussion opened a broader conversation about communication - not just how AMBA speaks to its members and clubs, but how people within the organisation talk to each other. The restructure process revealed that communication breakdowns were rarely about a lack of goodwill. They were more often about assumptions, incomplete context or competing priorities. Volunteers interpreted information through the lens of their own club’s needs, while board members were often working from a national perspective. Those differences sometimes snowballed into misalignment and mistrust.
This was particularly evident during moments of heightened change, such as shifts in program delivery or strategic priorities. For example, as AMBA explored new ways to support families through education, advocacy and community initiatives, some clubs worried about losing autonomy or being left behind. These concerns were not unfounded. They reflected the real anxiety of volunteers trying to serve their local communities amid shifting expectations and limited resources. Yet from the board’s perspective, these changes were essential to ensure AMBA could continue delivering meaningful outcomes in a changing environment.
Bridging those perspectives required more than announcements or updates. It called for deliberate, two-way communication and a willingness to sit with disagreement. The restructure workshop modelled this approach. Conversations were candid and, at times, uncomfortable. Ideas were challenged and refined. Participants were encouraged to question assumptions and to consider how decisions at one level of the organisation affected others. That process didn’t erase differences, but it built a foundation of mutual understanding that could support future collaboration.
It also prompted AMBA to examine how it communicates its broader purpose. Since its founding in 1974, AMBA’s mission has been to enable positive health outcomes, awareness and equality for multiple birth families through advocacy, education and community. But the world had changed dramatically since those early days. Families’ needs had evolved, and so had the landscape of nonprofit leadership. To stay relevant, AMBA needed to clearly articulate why it existed, what impact it sought to make and how every part of the organisation — from the boardroom to the playgroup — contributed to that mission.
The process of refining AMBA’s mission and values became an important step in strengthening alignment. The introduction of a new values framework in 2018 provided a shared language and set of expectations across the organisation. Values such as honour integrity, imagine possibilities, inspire action, respect unity and serve families offered more than words on a page - they became a guide for behaviour, decision-making and relationships. They also shaped initiatives like re-framing the AMBA Appreciation Awards, where eligibility and selection criteria were rewritten to reflect those values and celebrate volunteers who embodied them in their work. This shift reinforced the idea that communication was not just about what AMBA said externally but how it lived its purpose internally.
Despite these efforts, communication challenges continued to surface — especially as the realities of running a volunteer-driven national organisation grew more complex. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified those pressures. AMBA and its member-clubs had to quickly rethink how to deliver programs and maintain community connections. Some clubs hesitated to charge membership fees during the disruption, while others questioned how to demonstrate value in a rapidly changing environment. The board, meanwhile, warned of the risks of undervaluing services and eroding the organisation’s financial base. Tensions like these were not signs of failure but evidence of how communication gaps could widen under pressure if not actively addressed.
The restructuring conversation also highlighted a fundamental question: what does success look like for AMBA in the long term? The organisation had to balance its grassroots origins with the demands of a modern nonprofit sector. It needed to find ways to attract skilled people, invest in data and research, and build stronger partnerships — all of which required sustainable funding. Yet many volunteers were uncomfortable talking about money, viewing financial growth as separate from AMBA’s purpose rather than central to achieving it. That mindset needed to shift, and communication was key to shifting it.
Looking back, one of the most valuable lessons from this period is that communication is not just about clarity, it is about connection. It is about creating the conditions where people can understand not only what is happening but why it matters and how they fit into the picture. For AMBA, that has meant investing time in context-setting, inviting honest feedback, and recognising that disagreement, when handled constructively, can strengthen rather than weaken alignment.
It has also meant accepting that communication is an ongoing process, not a one-time solution. Misunderstandings will happen. Perspectives will differ. Priorities will sometimes clash. What matters is how those moments are handled - whether they lead to entrenched divisions or become opportunities to recalibrate and move forward together.
AMBA’s journey through restructuring, strategy shifts and communication challenges is still unfolding. The work of building alignment in a volunteer-led organisation is never truly finished. But each conversation, each moment of friction and each effort to listen more deeply brings the organisation closer to a shared understanding of who it is and what it stands for. And that, more than any single decision or initiative, is what will sustain its mission for decades to come.