A slide picturing a pressure cooker blowing off steam drew nods from many of the hundreds of nonprofit organization representatives eating breakfast Tuesday at the Kansas City Convention Center.</p><p>The nonprofit world isn&#x92;t all touchy-feely do-gooders providing social services financed by effusive donors. It&#x92;s hard work, both within and without the organizations, to maintain enthusiasm for the mission and keep the workplace humming.</p><p>That&#x92;s why remarks from three co-founders of 501MissionPlace.com settled well along with the quiche and sweet rolls. John Haydon, Rob Hatch and Marc Pitman focused on the human side of nonprofits &#x97; the importance of taking care of the nonprofit staff.</p><p>The three men, each with backgrounds in running or consulting with nonprofits, were keynote speakers at the annual Philanthropy Midwest Conference, which attracted about 400 registrants on Monday and Tuesday.</p><p> The event, presented by Nonprofit Connect and UMKC&#x92;s Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, dealt with &#x93;igniting the fire within,&#x94; said Michelle Davis, executive director of Nonprofit Connect.</p><p>Haydon, a social media strategist and founder of Inbound Zombie, urged nonprofit leaders to listen to their front lines and avoid top-down or closed-group decision making. </p><p>Giving staff and the clients they serve the ability to have input turns them into better advocates for the organization&#x92;s mission, he said.</p><p>Hatch, a former executive director of the Child Health Center in Maine, emphasized the need to take time for reflection &#x97; to assess &#x93;how are we doing?&#x94; &#x97; and to understand the strengths and passions of the people who work in the organization.</p><p>&#x93;It&#x92;s important to take care of ourselves,&#x94; he said, stressing the need to hire and train the right people.</p><p>Pitman, founder of FundraisingCoach.com and author of &#x93;Ask Without Fear,&#x94; advised people to remember that &#x93;not everybody sees the world through the same lenses.&#x94;</p><p>That&#x92;s easier said than done, Pitman acknowledged, and said that&#x92;s why the three men began the 501MissionPlace online community for nonprofit workers to share thoughts and learn from each other.