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How To Create An Effective Non-Profit Mission Statement

The document discusses how to create an effective mission statement for a nonprofit organization. It emphasizes that a mission statement should be short, memorable, clearly describe the organization's strategy, and allow the organization to operate with focus and discipline. It also notes that the process of creating the mission statement is as important as the final result.

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51 views4 pages

How To Create An Effective Non-Profit Mission Statement

The document discusses how to create an effective mission statement for a nonprofit organization. It emphasizes that a mission statement should be short, memorable, clearly describe the organization's strategy, and allow the organization to operate with focus and discipline. It also notes that the process of creating the mission statement is as important as the final result.

Uploaded by

steve.tran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Social Enterprise

How to
Non-Profit Create an Effective
Mission Statement
by Francis Pandolfi
March 14, 2011

“Mission” for nonprofits is the same as “profits” for private sector


companies. In the private sector, corporations achieve their goals
by carefully designing business operations that are reflected in a
budget and then regularly reporting on how actual profits
compare to that budget. If mission accomplishment is as
important as profit attainment, why do most nonprofits not spend
equivalent time in mission creation and monitoring?

In reality, nonprofits often completely mess this up. As important


as missions are, nonprofits frequently go off in ineffective
directions by relying on mission statements that can be little
more than slogans. At a time when nonprofits around the world
are struggling both to stay afloat and to achieve their missions,
they are missing out on one of the most valuable tools to available
to them.

As important as they are, mission statements are frequently little


more than slogans. Many are lengthy and ambiguous or, to be
useful, they must be accompanied by vision statements and lists
of values, goals, principles and objectives. Because they are not
carefully constructed, most mission statements cannot be used
for regular and rigorous analysis, as is the case with corporate
sales and profits. Furthermore, many nonprofit managers do not
instill the discipline in their organizations to use the mission on a
regular basis as a tool to make decisions and achieve goals. Quite
the opposite is true with the sales and profit budgets of successful
corporations.

An effective mission statement must be a clear description of


where an organization is headed in the future that distinctly
sets it apart from other entities and makes a compelling case
for the need it fills. Furthermore, this mission must be short,
memorable and appropriate for a variety of organizational
stakeholders including, for example, employees, funding sources,
served constituencies and the Board of Trustees.

The process of creating a mission statement, often as important as


the final result, may take several months; but well done, a mission
statement can last for years. Here are three things to remember
when crafting your mission statement.

A mission statement must clearly describe the nonprofit’s strategy.


This commonly used term — “strategy” — defines the actions that
make the nonprofit unique. In the private sector a clear and
effective strategy (i.e., “uniqueness”) facilitates attraction of
customers, and that results in a profit. In a nonprofit a clear and
effective strategy facilitates attraction of funds and provides the
ability to take smart action. An effective strategy provides
competitive advantage.

A well-crafted mission statement allows an NGO to operate with


focus and discipline. It provides consistency in decision making
over both time and geography. In other words, used as a tool to
decide between various courses of action, the statement will be
understood by employees in the same way over time and from
location to location, because it is clear and easy to understand
and not subject to multiple interpretations.

The process of creating the mission statement is just as important


as the end result. Why is this? Because the staff and the board will
have embraced this definition of strategy. Over time it is the board
that is the keeper of the mission statement and the board will
challenge the staff regularly to see that the statement is being
achieved just as the board of a private-sector corporation will
monitor profit.

One organization that has gotten it right is the Nature


Conservancy with its mission “to preserve the plants, animals and
natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth
by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.” This
mission has been unchanged for years and the organization has
been highly successful because its mission is simple (only 26
words), crystal clear and compelling.

For a nonprofit, in the end it is smart action that is equivalent to


making a profit. As much time and energy should be devoted to
creating a mission statement as to creating a sales and profit
budget.

Francis Pandolfi has worked with over 40 NGOs as a Board member


and a consultant. He was formerly CEO of Times Mirror Magazines
and COO of the US Forest Service.

FP
Francis Pandolfi has worked with over 40
NGOs as a Board member and a consultant. He
was formerly CEO of Times Mirror Magazines
and COO of the US Forest Service.
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