This Month's topic: Vision, Mission, Values
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| This
Month's Topic: Vision, Mission, Values |
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Sites
of the Month
Each
month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful
sites regarding the topic of the month.
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Management Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a
discussion of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give
you a few hands-on ideas to consider.
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of Vision, Mission and Values
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Technology
I provide you with some good
ideas for uses of tech to better your organization in the area of Vision, Mission and Values.
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Marketing Tip
So much to say, so little space to
say it.....
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Next Issue
In September, we'll
turn to an area that is close to the center of every nonprofit : Vision, Mission, Values
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Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based
Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of
interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here. |
Websites of the Month
Here are my recommendations for websites
of interest on this month's topic: Vision, Mission and Values:
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Management Tip of the Month
Vision, Mission and Values
Every
reader of this newsletter knows the importance of their mission. The
mission is the reason your nonprofit exists. It's the motivation for
staff, board and volunteers. It's the "hook" for donors. It's the way
of differentiating your organization from the 1.3 million other
501(c)(3) organizations in the US and the hundreds of thousands of
other NGOs across the globe.
Unless.
Unless your mission is too long, too complex, has too many adjectives,
causes people's eyes to glaze over when you're only through the first
paragraph.
Why do mission statements get so long? One common reason is because
mission statements are often developed by committee. Everyone wants to
chime in with something important, someone makes a list and basically
that list of adjectives gets strung together with a bit of punctuation
and that's the mission.
The other reason is that organizations don't separate three key things: vision, mission, and values; they combine them all in one overarching statement that they call the mission, but is really a sum of the three parts.
A hypothetical example:
"In
order to bring about a world of peace, harmony, and fulfillment for
all, and believing in the dignity and value of each person, XYZ
nonprofit helps everyone find their best role in the world in an
atmosphere of respect, diversity, integrity, teamwork and good
stewardship."
See th:e problem? While there is NOTHING
wrong with the sentiments, what's been done here is to combine the
vision, the mission and the organizational values. This makes for a
mission statement that is far, far too long to be motivational, too
long to hold someone's attention, too long to hook a donor.
So what's to be done? First, let's define the three components:
VISION: What your organization would like the world to look like: "A word of peace, harmony and fulfillment for all."
MISSION: What your organization is doing to realize that vision: "XYZ Nonprofit helps everyone find their best role in the world."
VALUES: How and in what manner you do the mission: "Respect, diversity, integrity, teamwork, good stewardship, and believing in the dignity and value of each person."
By separating these three into separate
statements, you can focus on each individually, and get more out of
each. Look at your mission statement. Does it include some values, or a
bit of vision? You might want to revisit it and pull those things out.
Don't discard the bits of values or vision, they are important. All
nonprofits need all three of these....just in a separate and distinct
form.
And, after you're done, remember to USE the mission, the vision, the
values---put copies of them on the table at board and staff meetings, and on the wall, and
on your screen saver. Use the mission as a discussion tool---remember
every decision, every resource allocation should be designed to get
more mission out the door more efficiently and effectively. It's your
ultimate bottom line.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
And,
remember to take a look at the Mission-Based
Management Blog.
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Top
Print Resources
My
recommendations for texts and other
readings on Vision, Mission and Values:
The Fieldstone Alliance Guide to Crafting Effective Mission and Vision Statements, by Emil Angelica
Mission-Based Management,2nd Edition,
by Peter Brinckerhoff (A full chapter on the development and use
of mission statements as the bedrock of your organization).
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Top
Technology Tip
Vision, Mission, Values...and
Technology!
You already know how to use your tech to promote your mission: the
mission should be highly visible on your website, and also on staff
email signature lines. But what about your values? Do they show up in
your use of technology?
For example, I've seen websites of organizations whose values encourage
the value of diversity or "respect for all individuals" that are pretty
much inaccessible to people with visual disabilities. Or consider
organizations who only deliver their board materials by email, and
consider themselves environmentally correct, while creating a digital
divide (not everyone has a printer, nor the funds to pay for printer
cartridges) and not being inclusive.
Remember, your mission is there to remind you what your organization is
in business to do. Your values frame the way that you do the mission.
Your technology should support both mission and
values. I suggest an annual review of your values with your tech
committee, asking the question: Is our use of technology in sync with
our values?
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free
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Top
Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below
you'll see the date, location, and
topics of public
training I'm
currently scheduled to do in the next few months. For more information
on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or email me.
For
more information on my availability
throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and
fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm
Marketing Tip
Vision, Mission, Values and
Marketing
Now that you have an appropriately separated Vision, Mission, Values,
how do you market them? It depends. If you just post all three things
everywhere, what you have done is merely to re-format your previously
combined mission, and you lose the benefit of the new shorter, more
focused format. Here are some thoughts on what to do.
First, if you do separate out the three components, talk to your staff
about the why and how of the new "look". Hopefully, some if not all of
the staff would have been involved in the discussions on the mission
revision, but in any case, talk it through.
On your wall(s): Have a set of statements of the entire set: vision, mission, values designed and put up in as many places as you can.
On your meeting tables: At every meeting, have copies of the mission on the table, not the entire trio. Focus on the mission, use it as a litmus test for all big (and most small) decisions.
On your website:
here you have the option to have all three, but focus most on mission.
I like the format I see a lot where organizations have their mission on
their opening page, but on the ABOUT US page, they have something like
this:
OUR MISSION IS:
WE DO THIS TO HELP ACHIEVE OUR VISION OF:
OUR VALUES ARE CRUCIAL TO MISSION ACCOMPLISHMENT. THEY ARE:
In your written materials:
For most written pieces it's just mission, mission, mission. Leave the
other items for the website or larger documents such as annual reports.
While you can't focus on mission too much, think through how you use
each of the mission, vision, and values carefully, making sure you
always lead with mission, and that you don't confuse readers as to
which item is really leading your work.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are
lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the
"Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
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Top
Future Topics for
The
Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
| September |
Budgeting
in a Recession |
| October |
Disaster
Planning |
| November |
Staff
Recruitment and Retention |
| December |
Measuring
Mission |
| Jan-2009 |
Organizational
Transparency Revisited |
| February |
Different
Generational Cultures |
| March |
Organizational Visibility and Reputation |
| Send me your topic
suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com |
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You
asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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