{"id":2340,"date":"2025-04-28T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/?p=2340"},"modified":"2025-04-27T22:10:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T02:10:56","slug":"mission-vision-and-case-three-statements-for-you-to-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/?p=2340","title":{"rendered":"Mission, Vision and Case: Three Statements For You to Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve spoken with some schools that have said the past few Marketing Matters have been a bit bolder than they have in the past.\u00a0 Perhaps some folks are uncomfortable with that.<\/p>\n

If anything here makes your uncomfortable, that’s a good thing!\u00a0 It’s only when someone is uncomfortable that they realize something has to change.\u00a0 It’s called “Cognitive Dissonance.”<\/p>\n

So here’s something else to make you uncomfortable – You know that mission statement that you spent weeks or months crafting?\u00a0 Well, if it fills a small poster board, your efforts were either a waste of time, or you didn’t spend enough time on it.<\/p>\n

This is where you say, “What? Are you serious?”<\/p>\n

Indeed.<\/p>\n

Author Steven R. Covey (“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” “The 8th Habit”) states that an organization’s mission statement focuses on the “who” and “what” of an organization.\u00a0 About 25 years ago, Ron Meshanko wrote the following about mission statements:<\/p>\n

I give board trainings all over the country and begin each session with a quiz, the first question being, write your agency mission statement.\u00a0 99% of the time, not one person – sometimes even the executive director – can write down in clear, succinct language the mission statement of the agency. (Source: http:\/\/connectbrevard.org\/PubApps\/nonprofitfaq.php?i=66&c=5<\/a>; Accessed April 27, 2025)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If an organization’s administrators and executives can’t communicate the mission of their organization, then how can people lobby on its behalf, or ask for a gift?<\/p>\n

A Mission Statement should be a one-sentence, clear, concise statement that says “who” the organization is (the name, that it is a nonprofit, and what type of organization it is), what it does, for whom and where. That’s all.<\/p>\n

Clear – concise – one sentence.\u00a0 One of the LinkedIn groups I belong to asked its members to say what they do in 7 words.\u00a0 My response: “Help schools form a firm financial foundation.”\u00a0 That’s SchoolAdvancement.com’s Mission Statement.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, according to The Balance Small Business, a Mission Statement answers three questions: Why your business exists, what does it do, and how it does it.<\/p>\n

So the messages seem confusing, right?<\/p>\n

Well, think of it this way.\u00a0 Small businesses are are for-profit entities.\u00a0 They have a mission statement (who, what and why), a vision statement (where) and a value statement (how).<\/p>\n

In your non-profit, your mission statement is the “who and what” of your organization, but as for a vision statement, it focuses on the future.\u00a0 For both for-profit and non-profit entities, the vision statement answers the question “where.”\u00a0 In a strategic plan, it’s the answer to the phrase, “Where are you going?”<\/p>\n

Then, of course, is the question of “how” – “How will you get there.\u00a0 It’s what value statements answer in the for-profit world, It’s what the process of advancement answers for the non-profit.\u00a0 But what about the “why” for the non-profit?\u00a0 That’s a case statement.\u00a0 It tells why your organization is worthy of support, which, indeed, is why your organization exists.<\/p>\n

Specifically for Catholic and Christian schools, think of your school’s mission.\u00a0 Jesus Himself stated the mission: “Go out into the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”\u00a0 (And that mission hasn’t changed!)\u00a0 Did the disciples do that right away, as soon as Jesus ascended to the Father?\u00a0 No – they stood around looking up into the sky.\u00a0 It was only after they were filled with the Holy Spirit that they ran out into the world and proclaimed the Good News.\u00a0 Indeed, they were “fired up!”<\/p>\n

For faith-based and private schools, a compelling and engaging vision about your school is energizing, and will have parents “come and see” what’s remarkable about it.\u00a0 Experiencing your school should make them realize that it is the<\/em> place where they want their children to be.<\/p>\n

Your school’s Vision Statement says what happens when the mission is fulfilled.\u00a0 If you are a principal and you are reading this, you are the one responsible for setting the vision for your school; if you are an advancement professional reading this, your job is to help make that vision a reality.\u00a0 As the advancement professional, your school’s case statement tells why it’s important your school exists, why it’s important for others to become engaged in the organization, and why individuals and groups should support it financially.\u00a0 You could actually have quite a few case statements if you have many projects that you’re working on, since different philanthropic organizations may have different criteria your school has to meet in order for a project to be successfully funded.<\/p>\n

Here’s an example.\u00a0 Fifteen years ago, my wife and I started a fund to help students involved in the local high school music program afford private music lessons and summer music camp experiences.\u00a0 The Mission Statement: Enhance the musical experience of students, one lesson at a time.\u00a0 The Vision Statement: Offer financial assistance for private music lessons or summer music camp experiences for students in grades 5 through 12 involved in the high school’s competitive band and orchestra programs.\u00a0 The Case Statement: Studies have shown that students involved in a music program perform better in academic core subjects since brain function is improved due to improved utilization of both halves of the brain; therefore, proficiency in music leads to excellence in academics.\u00a0 Participation in the band program improves discipline, teamwork, striving for excellence and builds performance skills.\u00a0 If all members of a band program achieve to their personal potential and strive for precision performances, not only will their current experience be enhanced, but it will bring pride to the community.\u00a0 As for the students, the benefits will extend into their collegiate and professional lives.\u00a0 Those who benefit from this venture will also make them realize their need to “play it forward” when they are able to do so.<\/p>\n

Now after reading this, you may say, “That’s nice, but that’s not important to me.”\u00a0 That’s OK.\u00a0 I can tell you that there are individuals and organizations that have been not only excited but have been compelled to support the fund.\u00a0 The point is that you need to find what touches parents to bring them into your school, what touches alumni and other constituents to make them want to contribute from their time, talent and treasure, as well as what touches foundations so that they will fund your projects.\u00a0 The fact that our organization has existed 15 years through a pandemic, helps 25-30 students a year and has a solid bank surplus is a testament to those that put the energy into the all-volunteer organization, and the people who want to become engaged with the organization’s mission.<\/p>\n

That begs the question – when you do all the things you do, are you “Advancing<\/em> the Mission?”\u00a0 Personally, I believe that advancement is directional, and that you’re actually advancing toward the Vision<\/em>, which makes a huge assumption – that there is a vision for your school.<\/p>\n

Your school’s Vision Statement could even be a narrative which paints the picture of what you’d like your school to be.\u00a0 We saw Jesus’ Mission Statement, so what is His Vision Statement?\u00a0 “That they may be one.” (Jn 17:22).\u00a0 If you need a thousand or so words to convey your vision for your school, that’s OK too, since it may take a thousand words to describe the picture.\u00a0 If your school doesn’t have a compelling Vision Statement, guess what you and your school’s leadership’s homework assignment is for this summer as you prepare for the coming school year?<\/p>\n

As for the mission itself, it needs to “grow,”\u00a0 which is an exponential phenomenon.\u00a0 “Advancing the mission” is a good start, but one advances “directionally.”\u00a0 Growing also leads to the need to be aware of unintended consequences which may result, and the need to plan for them.\u00a0 As growth continues, your school will eventually reach the point of “sustainability.”\u00a0 That’s a very interesting place to be which creates a set of new different problems…such as, “Our classrooms are full and we have waiting lists for all our grades.”<\/p>\n

Creating a compelling vision for your school to kindle a “fire in the belly” zeal in your school’s constituent groups is a priori<\/em> to emotional engagement with your school.\u00a0 Remember that the Acts of the Apostles tells what happens when “the twelve” were filled with the Holy Fire of the Spirit.\u00a0 Because of that, “Many were added to their numbers.” (Acts 4:4).\u00a0 If you lead an elementary school, and you have one teacher per grade level, a principal, a development director and an administrative assistant, that sounds like 12 people to me.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2010-2025 (Original Publication Date: 20100426)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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