6 Tips for Creating & Strengthening Nonprofit Fundraising Mission Statements for 2014

As we approach the end of 2013, organizations are in the midst of end-of-year nonprofit fundraising efforts and recently I have written about some great insights to help optimize those efforts in posts like 5 Tips for Stronger 2013 End of Year Nonprofit Fundraising, 6 Tips for End of Year Nonprofit Fundraising Email Campaigns for Stronger Results, 3 Tips for #GivingTuesday Preparation to Optimize Nonprofit Fundraising  and 4 Crowdfunding Tips for Successful End of Year Nonprofit Fundraising Campaigns. However, despite being caught up in year-end activities it’s important for nonprofits to be looking ahead and planning for the new year especially given the economic uncertainty and threat of another recession in 2014. More than ever nonprofits must develop and strengthen initiatives to retain existing donors and gain new supporters.

The start of a new year can be an excellent starting point for organizations to refocus their mission statement to ensure that it is in-keeping with the vision and image of their cause. Whether you are a new organization starting out or are an existing one that is looking to retool or update your mission statement, the following are some tips to consider:

• Team Effort – When working on or reworking a mission statement involve several members of your team to ensure that you get as many perspectives as possible. An ideal group size would be 10-12 members however the number of participants should be dependent on the size of your organization.
• What It Says – It’s important that your nonprofit’s mission statement tells your audience what the organization stands for, what kind of work you do and why it really matters, while also keeping your team on track and on the same page.
• Three Components – A strong mission statement will have three main components within it including: i) Cause – The cause must include who you are working for – a person, place or thing; ii) Action – Action should explain what it is your organization does for the cause; and iii) Impact – The end result and how the action for the cause makes changes for the better.
• Several Versions – Working on only one version may limit the creative process. Writing several versions with similar ideas and wording will ensure every option is considered to find the strongest combination.
• Short & Simple – The best mission statements are short and simple – some of the strongest can be as short as 10 words. Keeping it concise will ensure that your audience (especially those with shorter attention spans) understand who you are and what you do in the shortest amount of time.
• Word Carefully – It’s easy to fall into the trap of making general broad statements that can be too cliché. Be specific in describing what you do while ensuring that there are humanized elements to it. Use strong visual words that are memorable and evoke emotion or action. Read it out loud to ensure that the wording flows and is meaningful.

Creating or reworking a mission statement with the intention to strengthen it shouldn’t be taken lightly as it will not only serve as an introduction of your organization to new donors, but also influence existing supporters and help pave the way of future fundraising success.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.