Table Of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Mission Statement

Chapter 2: The Vision Statement

Chapter 3: The Purpose Statement

Chapter 4: Organization History Statement

Chapter 5: Program Description

Chapter 6: Program Evaluation

Conclusion

Preview of 'The Nonprofit Board of Directors: How to Attract Powerhouse Nonprofit Board Members’

Introduction

Thank you and congratulations for downloading this book, “Developing the Nonprofit Infrastructure: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write an Effective Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Agency History and Program Description”.

It contains proven steps on how to write the critical descriptions of your nonprofit that potential board members, funders, and clients will use as their first introduction to your organization. Avoid common mistakes many founders make in writing these essential descriptions about their organizations.

As a grant writer for over 25 years, I’m amazed at the number of nonprofit organizations who fail to have this basic information come time to apply for grants. All of the information contained in this book is the information a grant writer will need in order to submit grants on behalf of any organization.

It’s also the same information a marketing manager would need to develop an organization’s agency brochure, website, newsletter and annual reports, etc. Yet, nonprofit leaders fail to craft clear, concise messages, relying solely on their passionate (and usually long-winded) descriptions of the organization’s programs and services. The truth is, most funders require written descriptions of your organization. It’s industry practice. And, they usually have to distribute it to committee members who will be participating in the decision-making.

How many times have you pitched your organization to a funder, only to have them reply with a request for a written document?

In this step-by-step guide, you will learn the purpose of each section, how to craft an effective message, and where to use them (e.g., the formation of a nonprofit organization, grants, marketing materials, etc.).

No need to struggle with trying to figure out what to write, how to make your message clear and concise, or powerful. Use this step-by-step guide to walk you through how to write statements and program descriptions that will place you ahead of the competition. Simplify the process of developing your nonprofit infrastructure with this helpful resource.

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: The Mission Statement

Your Mission: It’s Not What You Do, But The Difference You Make. The mission statement is the single most important thing you must understand about your organization. The mission statement outlines the organization’s values, purposes, hopes and dreams—its priorities. It explains the whys and wherefores, the purpose, and demonstrates both value to, and uniqueness in the community. It is, or should be, a statement of an organization’s reason for being and its strengths. As such, it is typically the primary statement on any document that sets out to describe your organization.

The mission of a nonprofit organization highlights the organization’s core competitive advantage and therefore must be clearly articulated, fully understood, and completely embraced by all of your potential stakeholders. It must demonstrate the difference an organization will make for those it serves, rather than merely describing what it does. And a mission statement needs to communicate all of this in as few words as possible.

Expressing an organization's mission in clear and concise terms can be a difficult process, requiring thought and strategic forethought from its board members. Although this process requires time and effort, a well-crafted mission statement 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.

A mission statement provides "the framework or context within which the company's strategies are formulated." It's like a goal for what the company wants to do for the world.

Ideally, it communicates the nonprofit's purpose, what group it serves, and how it plans to do so. For a new nonprofit, developing the mission statement is a critical first step in defining what the organization plans to do and what makes it different from other organizations in the same field.

The best mission statements are clear, memorable, and concise, and as a general rule, consists of three essential components:

• Key market: Who is your target client or customer (generalize if needed)?

• Contribution: What product or service do you provide to that client?

• Distinction: What makes your product or service unique, so that the client would choose you?

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In drafting appropriate statements for your organization, you might think about answers to the following questions to guide you:

1. How do you plan to work toward this broad vision?

2. For whose specific benefit does the organization exist?

Mission Statement (What You Do): A one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization or program exists and used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities.

Many nonprofit mission statements are guilty of having too many words in general, but they especially have way too much jargon. Good mission statements should be clear, memorable, concise. Some might also add “inspiring” to the list. I don’t disagree, but typically including this as criteria usually leads to an anomaly that is part mission, part vision statement (desired end-state), and almost always too long.

Rule of Thumb

• The best mission statements are clear, memorable, and concise.

• The average length for a good mission is around 15 words (excluding brand references)

• The average length for a mission where nonprofit organizations who have nailed the process is around 9 words (excluding brand references).

• The shortest contains only two words (TED)

What Does This Mean For You?

Is your mission statement longer than 20 words? Can you get it below 15? Below 10? Design it to clearly communicate what you do in such a way that people can remember it and communicate this to others. If you can’t get a mission statement below 15 words, consider also creating a mission tagline (2-6 words) which people can more easily remember.

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The mission for my nonprofit, The Institute for Nonprofit Management is:

“Making Nonprofit Management Manageable.”

The premise is that nonprofit management is so complicated and expensive that it’s not manageable. My mission is to solve that problem and make it manageable. I could have gone on and on about how in doing so I’d increase the number of nonprofits that run their organizations more effectively, consequentially they end up making a long term impact in their communities that results in economic, social, and educational improvements that might not otherwise transpired. Blah Blah Blah!

But all of that does not equate to clear, memorable and concise.

It took me weeks to widdle down my mission. I had things like:

“An Affordable Executive Management Training Program for Nonprofit Leaders,”

“Fortune 500 Level Training & Development for a Start Up Budgets”

Although they were clear, memorable, and concise (kind of), they didn’t really speak to what my ultimate purpose is. And that’s to provide struggling nonprofit leaders with hope. When I speak to new clients and participants at my workshops they, of course, are concerned about the cost. But more than that what I hear is stress around ALL the things THEY have to do. They are overwhelmed just trying to figure it all out. They see the value, and even understand Why these things need to be done, they just don’t know How they are going to do it all. So after months of struggling with what words would best represent what it is I do, I chose Making Nonprofit Management Manageable as the phrase. It really does capture my purpose.

Ensuring that the material I present is high quality, affordable, and useful are secondary to a struggling community leader. What they need to see first is that there is an easy to understand, easy to implement system out there that they can use to get their organization on track for amazing success! Once they dive into a course, webinar, or a book they will see for themselves all the added benefits that come with it.

It was a very difficult process--trust me, I understand first hand. But once I wrote down those four words I was like, “Yes!” I have had people ask me why I didn’t choose a more powerful word than Manageable? I laughed. As an English major I certainly could have chosen a dozen or more very powerful words including Easy, Simple or Attainable, the list is exhaustive. But having been an Executive Director I understand the power of words. My goal is to meet people where they are. AND my target audience is Executive Directors who don’t have a large budget, who may not have an active and supportive board, who are basically drowning and can’t see an easy way out. For those individuals, they know transformation is not going to be easy, simple, and probably don’t believe it’s really attainable. But they still have hope. So I chose manageable because that meets them right where they are: “I just need to manage this mess!” . . . I remember feeling that way. If I could just get a handle on this situation I could probably get to making it better, later . . .

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I always encourage my nonprofit clients to form a for profit. I’ll talk more about this much later in the series, but the mission for my for profit Elite Philanthropic Consulting Services is:

“A Non-traditional Approach to Traditional Philanthropy.”

I incorporate a lot of entrepreneurial business practices in the creation of customized consulting services for my philanthropic clients. This mission speaks to what I do that sets me a part from my competitors. My tag line is: SIMPLE. SMART. SAVVY. as it answers the How to how I bring my mission to life.

I can’t stress enough the importance of creating a mission that people remember. People don’t realize it, but sometimes the mission also represents the culture of the organization. Think about it. A long drawn out mission may communicate to someone who hasn’t had the opportunity to witness the impact of your programs and services, that your culture is stale, long-winded, bogged down in processes and ‘figuring things out’ vs. Effective, efficient, modern.

Think about it. You mission is like a calling card. What will it say? How will it represent you? If you can’t clearly articulate who you are and what you are about, why would I think you can deliver on your promises?

Language is powerful.

That may not seem fair, or even accurate, but when funders are sifting through tons of applications looking for organizations that they can connect with right away – your mission is an important part of that decision.

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Step-by-Step Development Exercise:

Use the following template to help walk you through the process of crafting a clear and simple mission.

1-5 Word Answers

Why do you exist? (problem, needs?)

What’s the broadest way to describe the work?

For whom do you do this work?

Where do you work? (Geographic boundaries)

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Examples of Mission Statements From Top Nonprofits

TED: Spreading Ideas. (2 words)

Smithsonian: The increase and diffusion of knowledge. (6 words)

USO lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families. (9 words)

Lifestrong: To inspire and empower people affected by cancer. (8)

Invisible Children: To bring a permanent end to LRA atrocities. (8)

The Humane Society: Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty. (4)

Wounded Warrior Project: To honor and empower wounded warriors. (6)

Oxfam: To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice. (10)

Best Friends Animal Society: A better world through kindness to animals. (7)

CARE: To serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. (12)

The Nature Conservancy: To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. (11)

JDRF: To find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. (14)

Environmental Defense Fund: To preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. (10)

Public Broadcasting System (PBS): To create content that educates, informs and inspires. (8)

National Wildlife Federation: Inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future. (9)

American Heart Association: To build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. (10)

Heifer International: To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. (14)

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Final comments on the Mission Statement Your mission statement is working at its best when it clearly and firmly guides the board in making effective decisions about the organization’s future. It motivates and challenges the staff to meet well-defined and shared goals. And it is the beacon of hope for the people the organization directly serves. It is the responsibility of leadership to see to it that the organization always operates within the confines of its mission.

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For a full version of this eBook, and the following nonprofit topics in the series, visit Amazon.com

• Why Nonprofits Fail: The Truth Every Executive Director Should Know

• How to Start a Nonprofit: A Comprehensive Guide on How to Start a Nonprofit Organization, Made Easy!

• Developing the Nonprofit Infrastructure: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write and Effective Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Organization History, and Program Description

• The Annual Budget: How to Develop an Annual Budget for Nonprofit Organizations

• Nonprofit Sequencing: A Step-by-Step Process for Building a Sustainable Nonprofit Organization

• The Nonprofit Board of Directors: How to Attract Powerhouse Board Members

• Nonprofit Program & Service Delivery: A Comprehensive Guide on Developing Dynamic and Innovative Programs and Services

• Funding a Nonprofit: How to Create a Diversified Funding Strategy

• The Art of Networking: What to Say and Do to Get Donors, Volunteers, and Partners to Support Your Nonprofit Organization

• Nonprofit Donor Cultivation: How to Turn Annual Asking into Annual Giving

• The Greek Exchange: Leveraging BGLO Sponsored Nonprofits for Community Impact

• The Greek Exchange II: From Tradition to Innovation . . . A Dynamic

Partnership for the Future

Simply search for these titles on the Amazon website to find them.

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