Why is it important for Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) to communicate who they are through their Mission Statement? Because the various constituencies, especially prospective donors, are being bombarded by a multitude of messages from other worthy causes.  You only have a small amount of time – a few seconds, to get your core message across.

Mission statements usually have three criteria working in varying degrees which 1. Establishes boundaries, 2. Motivates board, staff, volunteers and donors, and 3. Helps in the process of evaluation.

1. Establish boundaries — The “bounds” of the service delivered in reasonable terms regarding types and numbers of people and geographic limits. Describes WHY the organization exists, not what methods are used. Defines clearly the “business” the organization is in. Basically, the organization asks itself, “What is our reason for existence?”
2. Act to motivate board, staff, volunteers, and donors — In designing or revising the mission statement, all constituencies must have input. Changes come about because either the environment changes or the needs of one or more of the constituents change. Short enough to remember and easily communicate. Strong enough to inspire.
3. Help in the process of evaluation — The mission statement helps in the process of organizational evaluation. Unlike a commercial business, whose delivery and quality of its products and services can be readily judged, the measure of the value of a nonprofit’s service is often much harder to define. A non-profit’s end “product” value is mostly unmeasurable. They rely almost solely on reputation and trust. That is why mission statements are often unclear to the public at large, and argued among non profits themselves. It is a formidable challenge for an organization’s mission statement to serve as a measure against which results and benefits of the services provided can be evaluated.

There are the inevitable differences of emphasis placed on those three separate mission statement criteria from organization to organization. That is why you should not arbitrarily compare your organization’s mission statement — either favorably or unfavorably — to the mission statement of another nonprofit organization, no matter the apparent similarities of the two organizations.

Consider these two versions of mission statements for application to the same organization.

A. We provide food to six area agencies’ feeding programs which collectively serves over one-thousand meals per day to the hungry.

B. Our feeding program to the hungry sustains health, good nutrition, energy, human dignity, and the opportunity for individuals to meet their full potential.

If you were a donor to the nonprofit organization, which mission statement example would give you the most satisfaction regarding the food bank’s use of your money?

The answer is quite clear. You need only to observe that one merely provides the “means” for the organization to carry out its mission, while the second, B.,  IS the mission, as it clearly proclaims the “ends” — the organization’s reason for being.

The mission of a nonprofit organization comes from its core competitive advantages. The mission statement must be clearly articulated, fully understood, and completely embraced by all constituencies. It must demonstrate the difference an organization will make for those it serves, rather than merely describing what it does. And a mission statement needs to communicate all of this in as few words as possible.

Don’t Make Your Organization’s Statement Of Purpose A “Mission Impossible”

We read in all of the right publications and we are told by the experts that a non-profit organization’s mission statement should be contained on the back of a business card, declared in as few words as possible on the organization’s letterhead, etc., — and even, as a national authority states, fit on a T-shirt.

Because such brevity suggests simplicity we could be led to conclude that the process required to create or to rewrite a mission statement is likewise a brief exercise. That is far from the truth. But take heart, while deliberate and comprehensive it must be, the mission statement development process is not incomprehensible. All you need in order to do the best job possible is to have a board of Trustees leading the way and working effectively together, as they take into account the core values and the outlook for their organization — which is subsequently distilled as the mission statement.

Your Nonprofit Organization’s Mission Statement:
The ‘Center’ Of It All

The Mission Statement declares ‘why’ an organization exists, and is the only foundation upon which a long-range strategic plan (the blueprint for carrying out the organization’s ‘business’) can be developed.

The long-range strategic plan, with its clearly stated and defensible programmatic initiatives and their respective costs, allows for the creation of the fund-raising plan from which specific fundraising campaigns are organized and launched to secure annual, capital, endowment, sponsorship, and underwriting funds. An organization’s mission statement IS the center of it all.

Mission Statement Checklist

• Ends, not means.

Does your mission statement address what difference your organization will make for those you serve, or does it merely describe what your organization does? Remember, your mission statement doesn’t relate how, but rather why. It should focus on the results your organization accomplishes through its programs and services.

• Effort.

Does the language used in your mission statement elevate effort to effect? (Words such as try, seek, influence, or encourage suggest staff organizes activities around righteous exertion rather than results.)

• Verbs.

Does a verb — any verb — figure prominently in your mission statement? Even when they don’t equivocate as the ones mentioned above, verbs ordinarily refer to something that is to “go on,” rather than the intended OUTCOME. Beware of your verbs!

• Nouns embodying activities.

Does your mission statement use nouns that signify a type of “means” rather than an outcome? Beware of words such as advocacy, education, program, and service.

• The unidentifiable.

Check carefully to make sure there is no technical language or jargon — meaningless to the outside world — in your mission statement.

• Brevity.

Is your mission statement too long? Does it ramble, making it difficult to locate the main point? Burying the mission in two or three padded paragraphs will be sure to weaken its power to guide and shape your organization. — Accuracy, not cosmetics. Is your mission accurate? Or does it embroider or glorify your organization’s intentions to make them SOUND better, loftier, more extensive, or more glamorous than they are?

• Too broad or too narrow.

Your mission statement should be broad enough to allow for growth and expansion, but narrow enough to keep the organization clearly and strongly focused. Does it allow for your organization to be “all things to all people,” or, on the other hand, restrict the organization from meeting changing needs?

• Net value added.

If your organization is a federation or another type of membership organization, or if your board has authority over other boards, does your mission statement deal with the additional result intended beyond what the members of subsidiaries would have produced themselves anyway?

• Uniqueness.

Does your mission statement focus on what is unique about your organization? It is important to consider your mission in light of other similarly situated organizations, and to ensure that your organization “stands out in the crowd.”

Please comment below with any questions or suggestions you may have.

In Part II of this article we will discuss why it’s not WHAT an NPO does but the DIFFERENCE they make.

Written by Tony Poderis, tony@raise-funds.com. Excerpted with permission from Raise-Funds.