by Charles Simmins

Created on: August 14, 2009   Last Updated: April 24, 2010

Writing a mission statement for a nonprofit does not have to be a difficult as it seems. The mission statement is the clearest and shortest definition of the purpose of the nonprofit. It should represent, on paper, the ideal that the organization and its supporters strive for every day. The mission statement can be the most important document created by a nonprofit. Written through the correct process, it can serve to inspire and energize and publicize.

Many mission statements fail to achieve that objective. Sometimes it is because the organization does not have a clear idea of just what its mission might be. Sometimes the statement is too long and filled with material that belongs in a statement of principles or goals or strategies.

Writing a nonprofit mission statement should involve all the stakeholders. Stakeholders is the current jargon for those people who direct, operate, use or support the organization. Stakeholders include the Board of Directors, the top administrators, the paid and volunteer staff and the clients or customers of the nonprofit.

Writing the mission statement should include the Board of Directors, employees, customers or clients of the nonprofit, and supporters and contributors. A committee made up of representatives of these stakeholders is one good way to begin the process. Another is to ask each group of stakeholders to draft its own version of a mission statement, then meld the versions through a collaborative process.

Defining the group's mission may prove more difficult than anticipated. The Board may have different ideas than the clients. The contributors may differ with the employees. The process must engage all the parties until a consensus is arrived upon.

It is possible to write a mission statement in one sentence. It is possible to take three typewritten pages to do the same thing. The optimum solution is in between, at around a modest 3-4 sentence paragraph.

The goal is to state the ideal with regard to the mission. "To be the best..." is one way to show that important feature of a mission statement. A nonprofit mission statement will likely talk about service, or actions or a place in the community.

The writing of a nonprofit mission statement has to have direction. It would be best for the Board to set a deadline for its completion, and to assign someone to facilitate the writing process. The goal is not to write the best mission statement but to write a mission statement that focuses the nonprofit on being the best.

Mission statements are not written in stone. Organizations grow, evolve and change and so do mission statements. Just as a good Board reviews processes and policies regularly, it should also review the mission statement.

There are on-line resources that can provice advice for writing a nonprofit mission statement. BoardSource is a site dedicated to nonprofits. Suite101 offers some good advice. There are many other resources, as well.

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