As nonprofit leaders, we like to focus on the good and the positive. We follow our overly positive missions. We emphasize our well-meaning constituencies and our selfless donors. We embrace the positive change we are bringing to our communities, our nation and our world. However, defining the opposition is equally vital for impact.

In doing so, we overlook one essential component of nonprofit success—a component that may seem contrary to our focus on the good: Our ultimate achievement, our ultimate impact, depends largely on the villain we share the stage with and how we go about defining the opposition.

Ultimately, nonprofit leaders are storytellers, weaving tales of those in need, the assistance they desire and how we are meeting those needs and changing the world for the better. Overcoming challenges is a key part of that story. But positioning our work against a villain is a nonnegotiable for success.

Just take a second to look at some of the great stories out there. Leia, Luke and Han would not have become saviors of the galaxy without the Dark Side and Darth Vader as villains. Batman would just be another well-meaning billionaire with great toys without the Joker. Dorothy and her friends would have just been on a nice walk through the countryside were it not for both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wizard of Oz (yes, I said it), as villains. Harry Potter would have been just another mediocre student with great friends were it not for Voldemort and his minions. Every great story with a hero arc demands a villain as the foil to the hero, demonstrating the importance of crafting a narrative and defining the opposition for nonprofits. That villain helps us see the hero as noble, helps us see the work as necessary and helps us see the impact we are having. Yes, our communities need heroes. But successful heroes demand great villains.

Why? Villains represent why our mission is necessary and what we are fighting for. Defining the opposition allows villains to stand as symbols of our need to exist. Whether we are confronting the villainy of poverty, hunger, child abuse, cancer or a host of other damaging forces, the villain is an example of why we are doing what we are doing.

Read the full article about defining the opposition for nonprofits by Patrick Riccards at Forbes.