Social Media Just Killed Your Non-Profit’s Mission Statement (and that’s a good thing)

good stuffsmall1 Social Media Just Killed Your Non Profits Mission Statement (and thats a good thing)What’s the value in having your non-profit’s board create a mission statement that doesn’t resonate with your fans? Why not use social media to include your fans in this conversation?

We’ve all been part of those series of “mission statement development” meetings (attendance required) that drain all vigor and vision from us.

The first meeting is always exciting because you talk about what is, well… exciting!  The second meeting is ok, but seems to focus too much on word choice.  The third meeting, you’re bored to death and just want to be done with the damn mission statement!

mission statement Social Media Just Killed Your Non Profits Mission Statement (and thats a good thing)

Mission statements can’t run a non-profit.

Methodologies can’t run a non-profit.  Software can’t run a non-profit. Not even an ebook on running a non-profit from Seth Godin can run a non-profit. ;-)

Living, breathing human beings run a non-profit.

social media has created conversations about your non profit1 250x166 Social Media Just Killed Your Non Profits Mission Statement (and thats a good thing)Human beings just like you and me.  Just like the clients that benefit from your non-profit’s services. Just like potential donors interested in helping you fundraise on Twitter.

It is within this aggregation of actual people – their feelings, their thoughts and their hopes – that you’ll find your living, breathing mission statement.

So tear down the bored boardroom walls, the executive firewalls, and let them in!

It’s very scary, I know. But it won’t be boring.

Now, if you’re scared, that’s ok – just listen with social media for now.  Get on Twitter, get on LinkedIn, make a group on Facebook.

You’ll be very surprised to find conversations already taking place about your non-profit.  Again, it’s fine to just listen – for now.  But listen with openness and appreciation.  Do this for a week or so.

Then see how you feel about your non-profit’s mission – and who should be writing it.

If you found this post useful, leave a comment, subscribe, or find out how I can help your non-profit.

Posted December 8, 2008
  • @Frank - Thanks for pointing out the The Lance Armstrong Foundation!
  • If the people who work, support and volunteer for the nonprofit don't have the mission in their heart and a desire to make a difference (based on that mission) then a mission statement is useless. By default all nonprofits have to have a great mission and purpose ... so the mission statement should easily flow from that (it's a living mission) - simple if you ask me. It's when we try to make it all complicated and 'deep' that it turns into a useless piece of paper.

    The Lance Armstrong Foundation is a great example of a living mission and an organization that really engages the hearts of its staff, volunteers and supporters!

    --
    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • @KyNam - Great point - “living instrument” says that's it's based on conversation (social media) and serves as a guide.
  • Well couched and good perspective. However, I would have to agree with Andres in that the mission statement still has value only if executed correctly - truly resonate within and without and this does require it to be a "living instrument" and so must necessarily have a built in process for evolution
  • @Andres - You're very welcome. It looks like we both agree that mission statements need to be a living instrument in order to facilitate lasting change.
  • John,
    Thanks a lot for commenting in my post about mission statements.

    Your concept is very interesting and I had never thought about it from that perspective.

    I still believe there is a space and a reason for Mission Statements, even in non-profit organizations.

    As I mentioned in my blog, the Mission Statement should guide the employees in every action they take. It should guide management’s decisions. It should also dictate what NOT to do.

    The problem is, most organizations focus only on coming up with a decent MS, instead of "living it". If your staff just ignores the MS then there is no point in having one. If your staff uses it as a guideline then it is working. I believe that both mission and vision statements are tools, and they should be used correctly, like any other tool.

    Thanks again for your perspective.

    Andres
    <abbr>Andres Vivas' post about Mission Statements: Is your Mission Statement Worthless?</abbr>
  • bob ashley
    Thanks Michael! I guess that phrase just kinda, well, you know, like...it just slipped out.

    Or, the mission statement as concept is also kinda like an old snapshot, discolored, fading away.

    I think the notion of the mission still works excellently in the sphere of the military. But that's command-and-control stuff, and we sm-types favor a decentralized, cloud-like, approach. We don't "attack" problems, our communities "swaddle" them.

    bob

    bob
  • I think Bob gets an award just for the phrase "hue of flatulence".
  • Bob - Damn - Michael sure knows some smart people!
    "...we should retire the Mission Statement"
    Mission statements are essentially dead precisely because conversations are alive. Mission statements are very one-way, very Web 1.0.
  • bob ashley
    Just tweeted to @remarkablogger who linked to your article that I think we should retire the Mission Statement. It's such a threadbare throwback to western culture's relentless history of missionary zeal. Embedded in the term's etymology is the quest for religious salvation.

    I think you've got the chronology of the Mission Statement's sad pathology right on! Once the fervor is digested, the sound of the typical mission statement takes on a stale tone and hue of flatulence.

    We can do better. Such as simply and always bringing one's best to the project, to the task at hand, always driving from core values, consistent principles, and positive exuberance in action to do better.

    If we must persist with the MS, Committees ought to pick the best and most creative poet in the room and delegate the task. Proof positive is the inescapable fact that the best writing is also offspring of individuals. God forbid Hamlet had been written by the Elizabethan Drama Committee! Can you beat Hamlet's:

    "The play's the thing/ wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king!"

    bob
  • Michael - Thanks. I surround myself with very smart people. ;-)
  • John, this is right on. And you know what I'm talking about.
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