Writing Mission Statements for

Community Foundations

What is a mission statement?

Mission statements provide a kind of compass, or wider vision, to an organization’s board members and

employees while informing people outside the community foundation about your visions and goals. But

writing a good mission statement can be challenging. This article is designed to help.

A mission statement is best developed by board members and staff in a cooperative effort. Ensuring that

single theme encompassing all these factors. Strike a balance between who you really are, and your

ideals.

Keep in mind that mission statements may be short, but writing a mission statement requires time and

careful consideration, be sure to put aside sufficient time for vetting and considering different options.

Guiding Questions

Your mission statement exists to provide an immediate, concise answer to the questions around which

you want conversations of your foundation to revolve. What inspires you? Why do you think your

foundation is so important to the community? What does your organization do? What values guide

Unfortunately, community foundation mission statements are rarely pithy — tending instead to fall into

a number of common traps. The first thing to avoid is community foundation jargon. Most people won’t

know what it means and it will only obfuscate your message. Second, avoid redundancies within the text

and the context of the mission statement. Avoiding redundancies within the context of your mission

statement means keeping in mind that your listeners already know they are hearing the mission

statement of a non-profit organization. The words “mission statement” and “non-profit” are

unnecessary. Third, focus on strong, active verbs--avoid adverbs. Qualifying terminology dampens

impact. Finally, keep in mind that that a mission statement exists to define your vision for the

organization—not to tell us what a community foundation does.

The Nebraska Community Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit, 501©(3) charitable organization that

provides Nebraskans and former Nebraskans an easy way to give back to the state and the

communities they love. (31 words)

Using what we’ve just learned, this mission statement could be improved in a few easy steps. First,

eliminate the term 501(c)3— besides being obscure jargon few beyond the non-profit sector would

know, it’s also a mouthful. Second, cut the terms “non-profit” and “charitable organization”; these

terms are near synonyms to each other and what they indicate is already presumed. Third, cut the term

“former Nebraskans”; it delineates unnecessarily among those with an affinity for their state. The final

result:

First, there is no need for the phrase “our mission is” –we already know we’re looking at a mission

statement. Second, eliminate the explanation of community foundation mechanics; a mission

statement is more about values and results than process. Finally, focus on active verbs and don’t qualify

them with adverbs. The result:

Parkersburg Community Foundation: Responding to the needs and opportunities of the

Parkersburg area. (10)

Some community foundations’ mission statements already include slogan like phrases which could serve

as mission statements on their own. While a community foundation might choose to have a longer

mission statement, volunteers can be trained to identify and repeat the pithier portion of it that will

engage and intrigue community members. For example:

on its own, and would certainly tend to stick with volunteers and community members better than the

whole of the statement.

Writing a good mission statement can be challenging, but it is worth the effort. Just remember to keep

things brief and focus on the values and goals of your organization.

Resource:

While you want your own mission statement to be unique, it never hurts to see what other non-profits

are doing. Here are the top ten best mission statements according to Top Nonprofit found at

http://topnonprofits.com/examples/nonprofit-mission-statements/: