Many nonprofits don’t follow this formula or choose to focus on their why without including beneficiaries or getting too specific.♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ > Millions more Americans have filed unemployment claims. The method we’ve outlined above is just one way you can go about crafting your mission statement. Note: There’s no perfect formula for creating a mission statement! Pick the one you like best – and you have your mission statement! A/B test different mission statements on your website to see which one gets the best reaction.Put together a focus group and test your mission statement with them.Ask people inside and outside the company for their impressions.Read it aloud to gauge how it sounds or how memorable and powerful it is.(Feel free to test the multiple statements you came up with earlier – if you can’t settle on one!) There are a few ways you can test the effectiveness and impact of your mission statement. Now you have your mission statement draft, it’s time to test it out. If you’d rather not predetermine what teams should look for – you can read the stories together and discuss common phrases, problems and actions. You can then use this highlighted information to determine the language and content of your mission statement. Services your nonprofit provides (i.e.Problems your nonprofit addresses: (i.e.Actions/verbs your nonprofit executes: (i.e.In order to identify themes, divide the stories between staff members and ask them to look for specific information in them. To make the process easier, pick 4-5 unique stories from each of the groups you brainstormed with to use in the next phase. Now that you have a collection of stories from your key stakeholders you can begin to look for emerging themes. Make it work for you: The goal of any mission statement is to help nonprofits focus and guide their efforts – so it doesn’t matter how long/short, clear or comprehensive your statement is if it fails to be useful.įinally, it also helps if your mission statement is easy to remember.Evoke emotion and try to make your mission as moving as possible.

Inspire audiences: Mission statements are often used to motivate staff and donors – so aim to keep yours inspirational.

You want to keep it short but also cover all the key points of what you do and how you do it.

Be comprehensive: While this might look like we’re telling you to do the exact opposite of being brief, the best mission statements for nonprofit organizations balance brevity and comprehensiveness.Their mission statement is very short: “Saving Life on Earth”, but then they expand on what that means. Here’s an example from the Center for Biological Diversity. Keep your mission statements short and to the point as this makes mission statements more impactful and memorable. Be brief: Your mission statement is meant to distill the reason for your existence into a single statement.Make sure you stay away from jargon or technical language so people completely unfamiliar with your work can still connect with your mission. Make it clear: Clarity is essential for an impactful mission statement.To create a good mission statement for nonprofits keep in mind the following pointers: A good mission statement is one that conveys your nonprofit’s purpose in a brief but clear manner.

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