This issue's topic: Revisiting the Mission Statement
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The NEW 3rd Edition of Mission-Based Management will be available in November!
I'm delighted to announce that the new 3rd Edition of Mission-Based Management; Leading Your Nonprofit in the 21st Century will
be released in early November by John Wiley & Sons. The 3rd Edition
is a major revision, with an updated list of key characteristics of
nonprofit success, a new chapter on Ethics, Accountability and
Transparency, and a nearly complete rewrite of the chapter on
technology. In tough times, reviewing best management practices
is essential. This new edition will help you and your organization do
just that.
You can learn more about the new edition here. Check it out!
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of Revisiting the Mission.
In November,we'll celebrate the publication of the 3rd Edition of Mission-Based Management, by looking at my updated Characteristics of Nonprofit Success.
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.
Revisiting You Mission Ever since I was put in my first
Executive Director position in 1980, I have been a strong advocate of
regular revisiting of a nonprofit's mission. Not only should the
mission be discussed before any major action, but also in any major
crisis. Looking deeply into your mission, its meaning and its outcomes
accomplishes a number of things: First, it's a board/staff endeavor
that helps bridge any divide between the two groups. Second, it's a
status check: are we doing what our mission says and, conversely, does
the mission still describe what we now do? Third, it's a speed bump to
prevent unwanted mission-creep.
The major reason to revisit your mission now is our economic malaise.
The recession has challenged nonprofits and NGOs worldwide. Private,
corporate and foundation giving is down, governments are broke and, at
least for nonprofits that work in human services, demand is way, way
up. Many nonprofits are faced with making serious cuts to services and
staff. Others are looking, perhaps for the first time, at mergers and
partnerships. All of these are great reasons to review, and perhaps
update, the organization's mission statement.
You should plan and hold a board-senior staff session of perhaps two
hours to accomplish this review. The idea should be to look at the
mission and see if any tweaking is needed. Such tweaking should be
conceptual--at the policy level--not word smithing. Here are some
questions to use at the session:
Does our mission statement accurately describe what we now do, who we do it for, and what makes us special?
Is it short enough to be a motivating elevator message? (Most mission statements are far, far to long.)
If we have to make cutbacks, what does the mission tell us about our priorities?
Has our array of services changed enough to amend the mission?
How can we use our mission better to come out of the recession stronger?
Remember, if you make changes to your mission, the board of directors
needs to adopt the new mission formally. And, for U.S. nonprofits, you
need to inform the IRS of the changes and the rationale for the
amendments.
Make sure you look at the Marketing Tip and Tech Tip
for more ideas on how to maximize the benefit of this kind of review.
And check out the links I've provided above for more mission-statement
checklists.
Finally, the new, 3rd Edition of Mission-Based Management
has an entire chapter on having a viable mission, as well as one on
developing and living your organizational values. The book will be
available in early November, so if you're planning your mission-retreat
after that time, it may be of some value to you.
Your mission is the reason your
organization exists, and it is your most precious resource. A regular
status check, particularly in perilous times, is good stewardship and
provide you with good decision-making guidance.
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.
Revisit the Mission....and
Technology!
In the process of reviewing and potentially updating our mission technology comes into play in two major areas.
1. How do we use technology to enhance the mission review process?
Since we know that we'll have at least senior management and the board
involved in the mission review process, I would make sure to post the
various iterations of what you have developed on a shared Google Doc. I like Google Docs
as an online workspace a great deal; it's free, intuitive, and easy to
adapt for your own needs. Post what you've found in your asking (see
the Marketing Tip), and then when your Board
meets to review the mission, post what you decided in draft. Let people
comment on it, and suggest alternative wording. This removes the need
for those achingly long word smithing meetings. When the time for
review is over, you have all the ideas in one place, a larger pool of
ownership (particularly important for board members who might have
missed the initial discussion) and you're set to move to final draft
and adoption.
2. How do we use technology to let everyone know about our mission and its stories? This links to what we discussed in our Marketing Tip, and the great thing is that technology can really help, with one 5-letter word: V-I-D-E-O.
Video is easy and cheap to shoot (YouTube has brought the cost down for
all of us) and easy to post on your website. An interview with someone
who has been helped by what you do, or a volunteer who has been touched
by what she has experienced, or a community member lauding your
organization is priceless. YouTube even has a YouTubeNonprofits program that can really help your organization use inexpensive technology to tell its story.
And, while video is best, you can also use your website, your
organization blog or FaceBook page to tout your mission outcomes.
Remember, focus on outcomes not on just process. Tell personal stories
and you'll capture people's attention and, hopefully, their affection
for your mission and organization!
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
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
The
process of revisiting of your mission statement allows you to put your
marketing skills to good use. How? The most important thing to do in
any marketing endeavor is to remember to ask, ask a lot and ask often.
This is certainly true with your mission. Once the mission is reviewed
and (possibly) updated, you need to let people know what you've
done...again casting a wide net.
So, let's go through three marketing tasks to remember in mission review and revision:
1. Ask people about the current mission, and not just the board and senior staff.
Ask everyone and anyone. All staff and volunteers, funders, sponsors,
the people you serve, ask, ask, ask. Cf course, I'm not talking about
having everyone in a big room to word smith what may already be a great
mission statement, but rather going out and asking two key questions:
First, "What do you think our mission is now?", and second, "Is there
anything we can do to improve our mission statement?"
Asking these two questions result in three
benefits: First, it's a chance to touch in with people and involve
them in your organizational strategy, giving them some ownership.
Second, you get a heads-up about what people perceive
your current mission to be. Is that perception same as what the board
and senior staff think? If not, you may have some communications work
ahead of you. Third, it allows for some good, overarching feedback on
the organization and the mission. Bonus: you may well find a few great
nuggets to use in your mission revision discussion sessions as
noted in the Management Tip.
2. Once
the mission is reviewed and (maybe) revised, use the event of the
mission review as a chance to again let everyone in the community know
what your mission is and how it is being successfully implemented.
Don't just recite the mission. Tell stories about what the mission
means to specific people, or neighborhoods, or families. This issue's Tech Tip has more on that.
3. Keep
asking, using blogs, online comment forms, or even social networks
about a key thing: is your organization keeping its word about its
mission---are you doing it right, and are there ways to improve?
Transparency and accountability don't just mean letting people see your
mission statement, your 990 and your current budget. They also mean
letting the community hold you accountable for the way you are acting
as stewards of your mission!
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.
