Mission Statement and Mission Fidelity
Everyone has a mission statement, and therefore, everyone agrees that a mission statement is
important, right? Not really. Walk around your shop and ask everyone to recite the mission
statement, and likely you will get one of two responses. Either, they cannot recite it by heart
because it is too long, too complex, or simply never mentioned. The other response you might
get is to hear your mission repeated back to you with a sigh that belies a feeling of boredom at
the trite or oversimplified phrasing. What you rarely get is a sincere and energetic fist pump, a
burst of energy that arises from the mere articulation of the mission of your organization.
So why do we have missions statements at all? Well, first and foremost, your mission statement
tells the public why you are in existence. In essence, it is the selling point of your organization
and should therefore be clear and concise. Secondly, the mission statement of any organization
is used as an internal means of directing the activities of an organization. Thus, the mission
statement serves a dual purpose, both an external neon sign telling the world why you exist,
and an internal road map helping your people find their way to meaningfully fulfill your
organization’s purpose.
This article focuses primarily on the latter purpose. During these difficult economic times, using
your mission statement as a road map is more important than ever. Doing so will help you and
your people to prioritize correctly, so that you can accomplish more, better for less.
Mission Statement as the Touchstone for Strategy
When developing your strategies, either for the long term or the short-term, you should be able
to compare the objectives of these strategies to your mission. It is an excellent way to ensure
that you will be staying true to the services you have promised to offer to the community. That’s
right. You made a promise to fulfill a specific mission. Keep in mind, your mission statement was
reviewed by the Internal Revenue Service to verify that the organization’s purpose matches the
requirements obtaining tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) status.1 It is essential to make sure that the
mission statement you are sharing with the public matches the services that you are offering.
In order to align strategy with mission, you have two choices: either change the mission
statement, or change the strategy. Most mission statements do not need a complete overhaul,
so it’s more likely you need to work on Mission Fidelity more than you need to write a new
mission statement. But it is possible that your statement could use some sharpening.
Take some time to examine your existing mission statement. If you don’t have one, now is the
perfect time to create one. The mission statement of your organization needs to flow out of the
way that you answer three questions:
1
1 Internal Revenue Service, “Exemption Requirements,” 05 Jan. 2009, 20 Jan. 2009
http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html.
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1. What do we do?
2. Who cares?
3. How do we motivate them to action?
What do we do?
The answer to this question, ideally, should be your mission statement. This is your elevator
speech: a solid ten to twenty words that provide a summary of your organization’s reason for
existence. It should be a statement that can be easily taught to everyone who does business
with you. Your employees, donors and constituents need to internalize your mission in order to
get the sense that their activities play a role in the organization’s purpose. It’s best if everyone is
able to memorize your mission statement, so that when people say, “What do you do?” you can
recite it confidently. The ability to articulate your organization’s purpose through a profoundly
simple mission statement will get you further than any other marketing tactic.
Who cares?
In having answered the question of what you do; ask yourself whom this work will impact. And
don’t say, “everyone.” Be honest with yourself. Most people don’t know and don’t care that you
exist. It hurts, but it’s true. The liberating conclusion, then, is that somewhere out there is a
group of committed people who really do care. But they may be scattered hither and yon. You
need to find them. Think of it this way. When a campfire has burned for some time, you can put
it out simply by spreading the coals apart. But by the same law of physics, you can rekindle the
fire by gathering the glowing coals together. This is your job – to find the glowing coals, to find
the champions for your cause and bring them together. Only when you are absolutely clear as
to who really cares about the efforts of your organization can you actively seek, find, and
motivate those people.
How do we motivate them?
Motivation is at the heart of any non-profit’s activity. Your daily to do list should contain a
majority of outward-focused activity. Your job is to motivate people: donors, constituents,
employees and volunteers. You’re not a “think tank” you’re a “do tank.” You have many things to
accomplish and you cannot do it alone. You need money (donors) you need cooperation from
those you intend to serve (constituents), you need hands and feet (employees) and you need
more hands and feet (volunteers). This is where prioritizing comes in. Everyone on the payroll
needs to be constantly asking themselves, “What is the highest value task I could be completing
right now in order to fulfill our mission?” When you look at it this way, you can see the need for a
crystal clear and simple mission statement. Without a sure sense of what you’re trying to
accomplish, and for whom, you cannot even identify what your highest value task is.
Having a clear, concise and focused mission statement is the key to creating effective
strategies. Asking these three questions is the first step in that direction: What do we do? Who
cares? How do I motivate them?
Finally, keep in mind that the best strategy often involves knowing what you should not be
worrying about. The prioritizing of your activities and programs should lead to the creation of a
“stop doing that” list. A good example could be that one program of your organization that has
not proven beneficial for quite some time and everyone agrees it will never do so. Stop trying to
keep it alive. Or maybe a significant amount of employees tend to leave early on Friday
afternoons. We’re in an economic downturn: stop doing that. Be ruthless in your assessment
and focus only on the highest value tasks.
When you take these key steps towards greater effectiveness and efficiency, you will begin to
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do more, do better for less, and you will become a sought after organization which attracts
donors, talent, and positive attention from everyone who matters.
Articles for Further Reading
1. How to Write a Mission Statement. This article provides you with a brief tutorial on
how to create your own mission statement along with examples of existing organizations’
missions. Good article to look over before you begin your mission statement creation
process.
http://www.tgci.com/magazine/How%20to%20Write%20a%20Mission%20Statement.pdf
2. Mission Haiku: The Poetry of Mission Statements. This web source turns the task of
writing a mission statement into writing poetry. An interesting turn on the writing process
as well as a different view of how to create your own non-profit’s poetic mission.
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/content/view/510/
Peter Giersch is the Managing Director of the Midwest Office at Cathedral Consulting Group,
LLC
For more information, please visit Cathedral Consulting Group, LLC online at
www.cathedralconsulting.com or contact us at info@cathedralconsulting.com.
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