Is it Time to Ditch Your Mission Statement?
Why Purpose and Promise provide more powerful and resonant language for nonprofits.
By Kade Burns, Senior Strategist at Hyperakt
You know your organization needs high-level language to communicate who you are: one or two statements that serve as core messaging.
Despite universal agreement that all organizations need this language, there isn’t a consistent framework for it. The industry has different statements that attempt to communicate different aspects of your organization, whether that is in a Mission statement, Vision statement, Purpose statement, Value Proposition, Positioning statement, Promise statement, or [insert statement name of your own].
Illustration by Merit Myers
In the nonprofit world, the most common framework is the traditional combination of Mission and Vision statements. These statements tend to be the end-all-be-all of nonprofit communications, used at every touchpoint, every meeting, and every email. Yet when you look under the hood, these statements are often vague, redundant, and powerless.
But there’s a better way to communicate who you are to the world, one that tells a powerful story of your organization, your ambition, and your value.
The Traditional Framework Isn’t Working
We’ve encountered hundreds, if not thousands, of Mission and Vision statements, and we’ve seen them fall prey to similar problems.
Problem #1: They overlap
Mission and Vision are ill-defined statements that all too often tell the same story of your organization rather than illuminating different pieces of who you are. Even by definition, they overlap. Bridgespan defines a Mission statement as “an expression of your essential reason for existence” and a Vision statement as “what the world would look like if you were to succeed.” Of course, these are essential things to articulate—but aren’t they saying the same thing? After all, isn’t your “reason for existence” (Mission) to create the better world your Vision depicts?
Problem #2: They’re way too broad
We routinely see Mission statements that are, charitably, “everything but the kitchen sink.” These statements describe absolutely EVERYTHING a nonprofit does: the organization advocates, works on narrative change, funds change-makers on the ground, and the list goes on. And on. And on. Too often, Mission statements share pieces of a nonprofit, rather than revealing the big picture. It’s hard work to uncover, but there is a singular, universal reason your organization exists, and your brand language needs to do a better job at helping people understand that. When you do the hard work of uncovering that big reason, people will walk away not only remembering but also connecting with your organization.
Problem #3: They overlook why your work matters
For-profit organizations are constantly trying to communicate their value to you, the consumer: what you get from engaging with them and buying their products and services. Most Mission statements articulate what an organization does. Yet they rarely talk about why any of it matters. Beyond what the organization does, these high-level statements should help people understand how your organization adds value to policymakers, donors, peer organizations, and more. Put succinctly: Why should your stakeholders care about you? This is a question that current nonprofit language isn’t doing a great job of answering.
In the nonprofit world, we rarely speak so directly to our audiences; we hide behind our Mission of “what” and never quite answer “so what?”
A New Way of Talking
Your high-level brand language needs to work harder for you. Your core statements shouldn’t overlap, they shouldn’t overcomplicate, and they should say more together.
Our solution?
We start with a Purpose statement that answers, ”Why does this organization exist?” It declares the ultimate aspiration you have for the world. This acts almost like a combination Mission and Vision statement (inherently solving the problem of overlap). Together with RWJF, we helped them define this aspiration with a strong Purpose: “Take bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.” This does a powerful job of answering what they are all working toward: a world where health is a right for all. But it also does a great job of explaining what they do at a high level: taking bold leaps to transform health.
We then complement that with a Promise statement that helps explain the value behind this work. This introduces something new into the picture: why your work matters to your stakeholders—not just what you do, but why you add value to policymakers, donors, peer organizations, and others. This is why they should care about you. For RWJF, this value was defined as: ”Amplifying community wisdom and challenging institutions to fully realize their promise—to get us to health equity—faster and together.” This helps their audiences understand the role they play in the ecosystem: bridging the power of communities with the power of institutions to create progress faster.
Simplicity Is Scary
Purpose and Promise statements work at a high level to capture your ambition and your value. If you see the benefit of Purpose and Promise, you might be tempted to add them to your library of other lofty statements, but Purpose and Promise are designed to replace Mission and Vision. Mission statements are so ingrained in nonprofit culture it feels sacrilegious even to suggest this. We get it. If your organization isn’t quite ready to let go of the Mission moniker just yet, try writing yours to act like your Purpose. Just keep in mind that to be most effective—to stay on-brand consistently and constantly—you need simple language and frameworks that your entire organization can lean into. You need language that people understand how to use, can easily recall, and feel compelled to use everywhere. This will not be found by giving your people five competing statements to choose from. Adding new statements and new words without retiring old ones will only increase confusion and dilute your message.
And yes, these two statements may not be enough to capture everything you do with absolute clarity and depth. That’s the point. These statements are high-level and meant to open the door to more. There’s so much room to add dimension and explanation throughout your brand communications—but first, you have to get people through the door .
Time to Embrace Your Purpose and Promise
Every word matters. Every sentence is important. First impressions count. Yet the standard ways of communicating nonprofit work—the traditional Mission and Vision statements—aren’t giving your organization the best first impression. Instead, they give a lot of words to similar ideas and never quite help their audiences understand why any of it should matter to them.
We know it’s hard to consider letting go of your Mission. But ask yourself this: has your organization truly articulated the value behind your work? Or have you just communicated what the work is?
If that sounds like you, it may be time to lovingly let go of your Mission and Vision statements, and embrace the power of Purpose and Promise. We’re here to help you get there.
