Your mission statement is one of the most powerful tools of your organization. Yet, ironically, many don’t take the time to create an effective mission statement. A Harvard Business Review article reit-erates that this important task is often overlooked, thrown together or ineffective. With such funda-mental importance, the mission statement should be given priority in its crafting or should be revised if it is no longer effective.
If your non-profit is comprised of Millenials, that’s great because millennials are a generation inspired and energized by a mission. One of the defining aspects of the millennial generation is that they have a true interest in giving back, creating community, humanitarianism, and altruism.
At PeopleKeys, we are privileged to work with many big-hearted non-profits doing great work to raise awareness and money to further their causes. We often consult or partner with non-profits around behavioral analysis. PeopleKeys consultants are called upon to place volunteers and help create strong mission statements, which keep non-profits viable and successful so they can do good work. Because corporate and shareholder profit is a huge piece of for-profit companies, non-profits have an even greater obligation to create a mission statement as their goals go beyond profit-making to articu-late a true “mission” for their existence.
What is a mission statement? “A statement that provides purpose and focus.”
A mission statement is the foundation or “purpose” of the activities of your charitable organization. It’s like the “North Star” that guides the actions, direction, and functions of the organization. Because it’s one statement, it can’t be all-inclusive, therefore it also provides just the “main focus.”
Below are tips from the PeopleKeys consulting files:
1. Assemble the group
Unless you have a one-person operation, you most likely have others involved in promoting the or-ganization’s cause.
2. Use storytelling
This is a great way to begin an open discussion and to voice similarities or differences of purpose.
3. Answer questions
Group discussions about the mission should include answering the following questions:
4. Reach consensus
This is where you whittle down the viewpoints into something you can all agree upon.
5. Craft your final statement together
Keep these elements in mind when crafting your final version. Make sure it checks all the necessary boxes for an effective mission statement.