In our work with hundreds of nonprofits, we’ve found that having a strong vision and mission statement results in smarter decision-making, easier marketing, and greater alignment across leadership, staff, and other stakeholders.
Research backs this up. Our motivation—including our connection to why we are doing something—can make a significant difference in achieving our goals. Our WHY is what drives us forward.
So let’s take a look at what goes into a powerful nonprofit vision and mission statement—and dig into three exercises to help refresh yours.
Elements of a Powerful Nonprofit Vision and Mission Statement
The distinctions between vision and mission are essential because they determine how your “ambassadors”—from board to staff to donors or investors—connect with the community.
Vision statements describe where we are going, while mission statements explain how we are working to get there.
Positive first impressions matter and most ambassadors tend to lead with “what we do” instead of “why we exist.”
To break it down further:
Your nonprofit vision statement should:
- Inspire
- Explain WHY your organization exists
- Focus on the future
- Describe what the community will look like in the future if you are successful
Your nonprofit mission statement should:
- Inform
- Explain WHAT your organization does
- Focus on the present
- Describe how the organization engages the community in the present
Keep in mind that you and your leadership need to get clear and aligned on all of these points before you start wordsmithing. Your vision and mission statements should provide a foundation for all the work and words your organization creates today and going forward. Unified leadership within the organization is easier to achieve when each component of an organization’s strategic plan (goals, strategies, actions) aligns with the organization’s approved vision and mission.
If you’re struggling with defining your vision and mission, give the visioning exercise (below) a try.
Apply the Three Cs of Good Messaging
Once you have the core elements of your mission and vision statements, it’s time to get to work making them ready for public consumption.
To refine your vision and mission statements, we recommend using what we call the “Three Cs” of good messaging.
Your vision and mission statements should be:
- CLEAR: Make your vision and mission statements “T-shirt worthy.” If your vision and mission can each fit on a t-shirt and make a powerful statement, people are more likely to remember and share it.
- CONCISE: Limit your mission statement and vision statements to 35 words or less each.
- COMPELLING: Craft a message that resonates with your neighbors, not just donors or a small sector of the community.
Knowing for certain whether you’ve hit these three Cs isn’t always easy—especially when you are deeply involved in and passionate about the work. Working with a facilitator can be incredibly helpful, which is why Funding for Good facilitates visioning sessions as part of our strategic planning services.
5 Questions to Assess Your Nonprofit’s Vision and Mission Statement
Many nonprofit vision and mission statements suffer from a few common challenges—such as being too long, being unclear, or focusing more on tasks vs impact.
Use these five questions to diagnose what is and is not working in your vision and mission:
1) Can your board/staff quote your nonprofit vision and mission statements verbatim by memory? If not, why? Is either statement too long or complicated?
2) Does your board/staff often “rephrase” the vision/mission statements? If yes, why? Perhaps, the current vision/mission statements too formal, outdated, unclear, or lack-luster.
3) If a stranger asks you WHY your nonprofit organization exists, could you respond using only your vision statement as written? If the answer is no, is it because the statement is worded in such a way that it only resonates with one specific sector of the community? Does it fail to inspire a stranger to engage in your cause?
4) If a stranger asks WHAT your nonprofit organization does, could you respond using only your mission statement? If no, is your statement too restrictive or too detailed? What information is missing or misleading?
5) If you share your nonprofit’s vision/mission statement with a stranger, does it inspire them to say, “Wow… tell me more!” Or do they look confused and ask, “Ok, but what exactly do you mean?”
If your answers to the questions reveal your current vision and mission statements need to be updated, you are not alone. And revitalizing your vision and mission statements doesn’t have to be a long and painful process.
Exercise: Conduct a Visioning Session
To revamp your vision and mission statement, we recommend organizing a visioning session. This is one of the first things we do with our strategic planning clients, and it is an incredibly popular part of our services. (Check out our in-depth guide to learn about the full strategic planning process for nonprofits.)
The goal of a visioning session is to get your board and staff leaders to:
- Agree on the future impact the organization strives to achieve. (Aka: the VISION).
- Clarify what the organization does in the present (Aka: the MISSION).
- Review core statements to determine if they are current and relevant.
- Assess current realities and needs of the community the organization was founded to serve, and ensure the vision and mission still align.
- Modify existing statements or craft new statements if needed.
- Approve statements that best define the organization’s purpose and scope.
Before your visioning session, challenge your leadership team to complete this simple investigative homework assignment.
- Ask each board and staff member of your leadership team to complete an internet search for “the best/most impactful vision or mission statements.” Encourage them to examine vision and mission statements from both businesses and nonprofit organizations.
- Instruct them to select two samples that resonate.
- Ask them to evaluate and share what about the content and writing was impactful.
This “prep work” can help leaders get inspired and look beyond current or past challenges that can sometimes make visioning difficult. It’s also often a great reminder that short and simple is the most effective approach to messaging.
If you’re uncertain about leading a visioning session yourself, our board and leadership training and facilitation services might be a good fit for your needs.
After the visioning session, but before your team approves new vision and mission statements, consider taking the top two or three options for a test drive. Request feedback from clients, stakeholders, or strangers to determine which “message” resonates most and is easiest for your ambassadors to use.
Exercise: Test Drive Your Vision and Mission Statements
Test-driving your vision and mission statements in day-to-day life will help you quickly spot what’s working and what isn’t. Here’s an example of how to do that with some sample mission and vision statements.
Imagine yourself in the following scenario:
You are unloading a cart full of groceries for the nonprofit food pantry where you are a board member. At the check-out counter, the stranger in line behind you comments: “Wow, you must be feeding an army.”
You might consider three possible responses:
- Dismiss: You laugh off the comment and say, “Yeah, something like that.”
- Educate with your mission statement: You slip your nonprofit’s mission statement into the conversation: “Yes. I’m a board member for a local nonprofit called Helping the Hungry, and we address food disparities by hosting a food pantry for families in Davis County.”
- Engage with your vision statement: You inspire the stranger to consider ways they might engage by leading with your vision statement: “Actually, I’m a board member of Helping the Hungry, and our vision is to eradicate hunger in Davis County. We can use all the help we can to make sure none of our neighbors are hungry!”
You might notice that leading with the vision statement allows you to share the IMPACT your organization creates, while leading with the mission emphasizes the TASKS your organization completes.
Next Steps and Resources
Your nonprofit’s vision and mission statements should not just be hanging out on your website. These core messages should be in constant circulation. Ultimately, they serve as the central message to inspire, educate, and engage your community.
Remember that:
A nonprofit’s clients, staff, board, and volunteers are ambassadors for the organization. One of the most effective “tools” you can equip them with is a simple yet powerful message they can share on your behalf—a stellar vision and mission statement.
For more resources on refining your vision and mission, check out our article on vision and mission statements as they relate to your strategic plan.
