Here’s a simple exercise for any organization writing a new strategic plan or revising an existing one, or for anyone recruiting members/donors to a nonprofit: Tell me your mission statement–without looking at a document or website. If you cannot recite it, or a general summary of it, you’ve got a problem.
You might not remember your mission statement simply because you haven’t looked at it in a while. That’s easily corrected. But you might not remember it because it’s too long, to convoluted, or just a muddy mix of meaningless words assembled by a large committee.
Whatever the reason, if you cannot tell someone know your mission statement, you’ve got a mission statement that needs to change.
This is hardly a memory exercise. Your mission statement must be an integral part of the elevator speech you give to anyone who’s a prospect for membership in your nonprofit, or a candidate for its leadership. It must be readily understood in conversation, such as in answer to the “What do you do?” question. Here’s why.
My colleague Ira Koretsky, known as the Chief Storyteller, explains in his excellent presentations that it is critical to your continued success to unify and consistently use the right messages, images, and sounds throughout your communications materials. In the absence of memorable messages, your target audiences will forget you or make up their own stories. (Ira has a great newsletter on this issue, available for free from his website. It’s excellent reading for how to improve your for-profit business’ messaging and mission statement, too.)
So, what’s your mission statement? If it’s not easy to remember, what will you do about it?
