By Niranjala Kariyawasam
This post will explain the distinction between organizational missions and visions by providing real world examples along with the benefits each brings to the nonprofit sector.
Misunderstanding this distinction may lead to uninspiring, confusing, and lengthy statements. Use the following as a tool for understanding these differences in your next mission or vision creating process.
In her Psychology Today article, "Mission and Vision - What's the Difference and Why Does It Matter?," Jennell Evans says "the absence of, or poorly written vision and mission statements are lost opportunities for:"
"Attracting/engaging/retaining talent;
"Building organizational culture; and,
"Increasing productivity while leveraging all resources to successfully implement a strategic plan" (2010).
Vision Statement
A vision should answer the question, "where is our organization heading?" Think about all that is possible! Take a look at what Evans has to say about vision statements specifically:
- "Defines the optimal desired future state-the mental picture-of what an organization wants to achieve over time;
- "Provides guidance and inspiration as to what an organization is focused on achieving in five, ten, or more years;
- "Functions as the 'north star' - it is what all employees understand their work every day ultimately contributes towards accomplishing over the long term; and,
- "Is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that makes it easy for all employees to repeat it at any given time"(2010).
When creating or revising your organization's mission ask yourself the following:
- Does this vision inspire the organization's employees to achieve our future goals? (Remember, the vision captures the essence of organizational goals, but it doesn't give us the framework for achieving them)
- Does this vision paint a picture of the figure that we want to create for the community we wish to impact?
Top Nonprofit's 30 Example Vision Statements offers the following examples as some effective nonprofit vision statements:
• Feeding America: A hunger-free America.
• Human Rights Campaign: Equality for everyone.
• Alzheimer's Association: Our vision is a world without Alzheimer's.
• Habitat for Humanity: A world where everyone has a decent place to live.
• Oceana seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they once were.
Visit Nonprofit Vision Statements - Core Values and Mission Statements for more information.
Typically, an organization will have its vision for a lifetime. How does this compare to the lifespan of your vision?
Mission Statement
A mission should answer the question "why does our organization exist" Think about putting your vision into action! Let's take another look at what Jennell Evans has to say about mission statements. According to her, it should address the following:
"WHAT it does;Ask yourself, have we covered the questions above? Click here for further information.
"WHO it does it for; and
"HOW it does what it does"(2010).
Mission statements are crafted for a one to three year time period to make sure that the way your organization functions still relevant to achieve desired future. Change your mission statement in a way that reflects your organization's priorities and methods to accomplish its vision!
Grants Space's Where can I learn about nonprofit mission statements? indicates that if your mission statement is well-crafted, it will "provide direction and purpose for the organization, motivate staff and volunteers, appeal to donors and other supporters, and provide a means of evaluating organizational achievement".
Below you will find some examples from Top Nonprofits' 50 Great Nonprofit Mission Statements. How does your mission statement compare?
• Wounded Warrior Project: To honor and empower wounded warriors.
• Oxfam: To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice.
• Best Friends Animal Society: A better world through kindness to animals.
• CARE: To serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world.
• The Nature Conservancy: To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.
See what Bruce D. Johnson has to say about this distinction.
Remember, it is crucial to define the "reason for the existing of an organization"(mission) and "where it is heading"(vision), to align people, processes, services to achieve desired future. It is never too late to define your organization's mission and vision clearly.
Suggestions for further reading:
- http://www.examiner.com/article/new-nonprofit-vision-statement-vs-mission-statement-and-understanding-the-difference
- http://nonprofit.about.com/od/nonprofitbasics/a/mission.htm
- http://www.fundraising123.org/article/whats-difference-between-mission-and-vision#.URyanKVJ5xU
- http://sajeideas.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/the-difference-between-a-vision-and-a-mission-statement/
- http://www.diigo.com/user/npmaven/nonprofit%20mission
- http://www.diigo.com/user/npmaven/nonprofit%20vision
- http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Bd_MissionVisionValues_Art.htm
Thank you for sharing your blog post on the importance of vision and mission. I like how you outlined why BOTH are essential and how they differ.
ReplyDeleteMany of the organizations I have been involved with focus more on the "doing" than spending time to thoughtfully consider what they are aiming at.
You mentioned the lifespan of vision, which has me thinking about how long a vision lasts. Does one vision last the life of an organization or does it evolve? Does it depend on whether the vision is for the organization or the community?
Thanks for sharing your blog. You might just get me inspired to start writing for mine again!
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DeleteThanks Nancy for bringing that excellent question and your comments. It is sad thing to see many of the organizations you have been involved with focusing more on the "doing" than spending time to thoughtfully consider what they are aiming at as you have mentioned. I believe that it is essential for nonprofit organization to clearly understand what they are doing, and where the organization wants to be in future.
DeleteAnswer to your question:
While mission statement might change (but still it needs to tie back to core values and vision of the organization), vision statement should remain intact. Even though your target community may change, what would you hope to accomplish as a result of your effort in future would not change.
Your vision should speak to what you represent. Vision statement is about what your organization wants to be in future (in five, ten ….years). That is why I mentioned “typically, an organization will have its vision for a lifetime”
Some of our authors suggested that the vision statement should be written after the mission statement. This was especially true in the context of the strategic plan. Your post seems to suggest that vision should inform mission. Do you think there is ever a time when writing the vision should come last?
ReplyDeleteMany business strategy text books list mission as the first one to be done. Yes, some of the organization also consider mission as the first step to be taken. Often terms mission and vision are debated in terms of what should come first. According to scholarly thoughts, anyone can be made first. But most of the time, vision statement comes first even though there is no any rule regarding this matter. Often people believe that at first, they should get a clear picture of the future of their organization to make mission possible.
DeletePosted on behalf of a reader who's had trouble with the Blogger comment function:
ReplyDeleteNiranjala – this is a very good piece and I applaud you and the class for ‘going public’ with your discussions. From my experience with NPOs (over a period of decades now) in roles as executive director, board member and consultant, I would share the following observations:
1) I agree with these definitions and examples of vision and mission and would especially underscore that they need to be short and succinct. Many organizations spend a lot of time choosing and editing words and then come up with statements that are so long and complicated they can barely be remembered much less used.
2) Although visions and missions generally should not be changed as often as other parts of the strategic plan, I would suspect that few organizations will have them ‘for a lifetime’. The external environment changes too rapidly and partly through pressures to stay relevant (good rationale) and partly through pressures to keep brand current or with change in leadership (sometime less important rationale but still reality) most organizations will change them periodically (and perhaps more than ‘ideal’).
3) I agree with Nancy that most organizations focus more on the ‘doing’ than the ‘planning’ and ‘thinking’. I have found that to keep organizations focused on periodic ‘planning’ and on-going ‘strategic thinking’ it is important to stay flexible. So yes, there may be the ‘good governance guidelines’ for strategic planning abd developing vision, mission, objectives, goals, tactics, etc… but it is equally important to stay flexible in a given context for what may be most relevant to an organization. For example, I once worked with a new organization where it was fairly clear what they wanted their vision to look like but far less clear on what they would actually do. So we ‘reversed’ the strategic planning process and came up with some specific tasks to test out for a year before coming back to a ‘full’ strategic plan. That organization is now in its 8th year.
Keep up the good discussions!
Bonnie Koenig
Going International
Chicago, IL, USA
I am glad that you found my definitions and examples of vision and mission statements were useful. I agree with you when you say “many organizations spend a lot of time choosing and editing words and then come up with statements that are so long and complicated they can barely be remembered much less used”. Eventually, their efforts to create effective vision and mission statement are in vain when this happens. Both of them need to be remembered at any given time.
DeleteAs I mentioned in my first response to Nancy’s comments, while mission statement might change (but still it needs to tie back to core values vision of the organization), vision statement should remain intact. Your target community or internal structure of the organization as you mentioned may change. But what would you hope to accomplish as a result of your efforts in future, would not change.
Yes, an organization needs to stay flexible in a given context to decide what is relevant to the organization. I am glad that eventually you found a way to become successful and thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts with us.
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ReplyDelete