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organizational alignment

Mar 13

What now?: 4 steps to revisit your vision, mission, and values

By Sponsor Insight

by Kate Brierty, consultant at Hedges

Keeping an organization aligned during times of relentless rapid change can seem like an impossible task. Yet, it’s a task that many nonprofit leaders have faced on a whole new level since our world has been repeatedly hit with landscape-shifting changes over the past few years. The most successful leaders have taken on the difficult task of finding ways to keep what’s essential to their organization, while helping their team adapt their work to make meaningful impact in this new landscape. However, kicking off the plan to revisit, update, and align what’s at the core of your organization can be daunting.

In 2021, we gave organizations 5 questions they could answer to determine if the time is right to revisit their organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values. Many of you then shared that your organization’s essential statements were overdue for a review and refresh. So, today we want to offer insights into the obvious next question: What do we do now?

Although reviewing and revising your organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values is no small undertaking, there are a few straightforward steps you can adapt to implement a successful process for your team. We’ve outlined a 4-step update process that can leave your organization feeling more aligned, relevant, and ready to take on the changing landscape with confidence.

Step 1. Design and communicate the plan

An effective Vision, Mission, and Values review-and-revision process is intentional and inclusive, which does not happen by accident. Before you jump into editing, create a game plan for your organization’s approach. There are a few key questions to consider when structuring your revision process: What is actually up for adaptation? We encourage you to be open to reviewing all components of your Vision, Mission, and Values since they are so tightly linked and are all essential to your organization’s work.

Remember that leaving a statement open for review does not necessarily mean it will lead to any edits. However, if there is a piece of your Vision, Mission, and Values that is not on the table for potential edits, you should be transparent and provide context for that decision with all process participants to avoid frustration down the line.

Which stakeholders need to be invited to the process, and at what level of participation? Consider what voices and perspectives are needed at the table and then determine the most effective ways to allow those folks to participate. If these statements were originally created by a small group, then this is the perfect opportunity to be more inclusive and allow more voices to inform the process.

How will decisions be made? Get and be clear about how input will be considered, when decisions will be made, and who will be making them.

What is the timeline and what are the resources needed for this process? Once you know who will be included and how decisions will be made, then determine the timeline and resources (financial, staffing, etc.) that will be needed to complete this process as designed. Note: If you have another planning process happening soon (like strategic planning) you can consider how to thoughtfully combine these two planning pieces to maximize the resources allocated.

Once this plan is mapped, ensure that it is communicated to all relevant audiences in advance of asking them to participate. No one should find out about the process for the first time while being asked to give input on drafts. Thoughtful planning and communication can make sure no one feels blindsided or marginalized. Before the process begins, let your team know:

  • How the process will look and who will be involved
  • What about the Vision, Mission, and Values is actually up for review and adaptation
  • Who will make decisions and how the decisions will be made
  • How they specifically will be invited to participate throughout the process

Step 2. Answer core questions

Although it can be tempting to jump right into editing your current statements, consider beginning with an open conversation about what should be true for your organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values.

Revisit the definition of each of these statements and invite your team to answer the central questions that define them:

  • Vision- If your organization were successful, what would the new reality look like for your community?
  • Mission- What role does your organization play in helping create that new reality?
  • Values- What beliefs and principles are central to how you do your work and operate in the community?

Whether you find that your team’s responses are perfectly aligned or very different, taking the time to openly answer these questions from the outset can help inform and strengthen the rest of your process. If you see lots of alignment, this can help you prioritize those concepts most important to people across your organization. If there is a great deal of misalignment across responses, it can pinpoint areas where you will need to put in effort to help everyone understand and get inspired by your organization’s updated Vision, Mission, and Values.

Step 3. Re-visit each statement in your current context.

Now you can draft updated statements in an informed way by bringing together your current statements, your team’s reflections from Step 2, and any other research and data you have available. While each statement should be tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization and its context, there are some tips to consider to help you draft the strongest statements with your team:

  • Strong vision statements…
    • are specific and simple, so everyone can easily understand this essential message.
    • provide a challenge by describing the ideal reality your organization wants to see.
    • inspire action and attract people to your cause.
  • Strong mission statements…
    • are succinct enough to be remembered and repeated by your team.
    • utilize positive language to describe the important work your organization does.
    • balances the emotional and pragmatic aspects of your work to ensure it is engaging but practical.
  • Strong Values Statements…
    • help to tell your organization’s story by expressing who you are and how you want to be known in your community.
    • have enough context to help folks understand what this value means to your specific organization.
    • can be utilized to guide decision-making and measure how these values show up in your work at the team and individual level.

Once these statements are drafted, be sure to follow the inclusive review and revision process that you mapped out and communicated in Step 1. It can be helpful to remind folks of the research and feedback steps that informed these updated drafts when you share them out.

Step 4. Share and incorporate

This is the easiest but often the most skipped step for a successful update process- Once you have these updated statements finalized, you should utilize them!

  • Be thoughtful about how you want to roll out these updated statements with internal and external audiences:
    • Consider how you can use these updated statements to help better align your current stakeholders and attract new supporters to your work.
    • Be sure that stakeholders who were involved in the update process are thanked for their perspectives and time when these new statements are shared.
    • Be proactive about providing context for any significant content changes you made, so that folks can understand the intentionality behind any of those larger edits. For Example- If you changed the way you identify the audience you serve in your Mission Statement, then you should be proactive in the way you communicate why the change was made and why you’re excited about it.
  • Update all tools that are tied to your Vision, Mission, and Values to ensure these updated statements are guiding your work:
    • Update all digital and printed materials to reflect your refreshed statements.
    • Utilize the updated statements to help guide decision-making across the organization. Make sure leadership is modeling how these statements are used in critical full-team decisions and planning as well.
    • Revise the structures and tools utilized to recruit, train, and evaluate the entire team- including staff, board, and volunteers- to ensure alignment with your organization’s updated Vision, Mission, and Values.

The best part is that these simple steps are also a cyclical process that can keep your organization ready for whatever changes come your way in the future. Consistently utilizing these updated statements (as outlined in Step 4) should help you easily identify when your organization has grown to the point where a Vision, Mission, and Values review and revision process might be needed again.

When you do determine it’s time for that update, you can simply repeat these 4 steps to help you shape a process that will leave you with a more invigorated and aligned organization primed for even greater impact. If you are interested in how Hedges can help your team engage in this 4-step process, please reach out to me at kateb@hellohedges.com so we can find a time to chat.

Kate Brierty is passionate about asking the right questions to help groups have conversations and make decisions that will create real impact for the people they serve. She has lived out this passion for over a decade in education and nonprofit spaces in Charlotte, Detroit, and Indianapolis. In all her work as a consultant at Hedges, Kate is focused on pursuing meaningful results while keeping people at the center of her work.

May 09

Considering a fundraising campaign? Key steps to ensure you are ready

By Sponsor Insight

by Andy Canada, senior consultant and director of data analytics, Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates

Many organizations are considering launching a campaign in 2022. Is your organization one of them?

An important undertaking like a campaign shouldn’t be entered into lightly. How do you know if your organization is truly ready to take this important step to fund the future aspirations of your nonprofit?

Here are some key steps to be thinking about as you are moving into campaign planning. It’s important to assess both your internal readiness as an organization to successfully execute a campaign and externally the receptiveness of the potential donor base to your campaign. Both aspects are critical to the success of the campaign. The goal in your planning phase is to ensure the internal readiness and external capacity are in alignment or you have a clear line of site on what needs to be addressed as campaign planning and the early phases of the campaign move forward.

What are key elements of organizational readiness for a campaign?

Organizational alignment around a shared vision: Does your board and leadership agree on a clearly defined mission? Can you articulate how philanthropic support will enable the organization to move closer to achieving that mission? Have you identified and achieved consensus on the specific campaign priorities and levels of support needed for each? Can you inspire donors with a transformational vision of how things will be improved with their support?

It is critical during the early stages of campaign planning that your board and leadership are engaged in the process and agree on the focus of the campaign. Many organizations utilize a strategic planning process to help identify the focus areas and then outline the role that philanthropy can play in helping to achieve each of the areas that have been identified. Creating a shared understanding and buy-in of the focus of the campaign is critical to the long-term success.

Internal fundraising operation: What is the overall health of your development program? Do you have the right structure, established policies and procedures, and a highly functioning CRM program to track donors and data?

Take time before you enter a campaign, to objectively look at your fundraising systems and operations and ensure you are positioned for success before the rigors of a campaign. You want to address any challenge areas in your operation prior to moving into campaign. This will allow the organization to focus its efforts on the campaign. Review your gift acceptance and gift counting process and ensure that your policies account for the various gift types that you will be soliciting. Will the campaign count deferred gifts or is it focused on liquid assets that you spend now for a building or launching a new program? Spend the time to think through the various opportunities so that you can clearly articulate the policies to donors when questions arise. This will minimize any challenging conversations or surprises along the way. Don’t forget to address the role of various gift options such as crypto currencies, real estate, etc.

Human capital — board and staff: Is your board engaged and willing to help open doors and assist with cultivation and solicitation of campaign donors? Will they make philanthropic gifts and be advocates for the campaign? Does your staff have the capacity to manage a campaign on top of current roles and responsibilities? Do you have the staff required to actively identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward campaign donors?

Successful campaigns require time and dedication from your entire organization. You need to ensure your CEO/President understands the commitment required to steward and solicit lead donors and can accommodate this important work. Evaluate your internal readiness to identify where you are strong and where you may need to improve. An internal capacity analysis can help ensure your current advancement staffing levels align with your potential donor pool. Prepare your board for a campaign by providing training on the impact they can have on the campaign and the ways they can be personally involved. You want your board and leadership team to go in with their eyes wide open to the important roles that everyone will need to play to make the campaign a success.

What are key elements of campaign readiness outside the organization?

Positive trends in current fundraising: Overall, you want to see your fundraising results on an upward trend. Ensure that you are raising the funds you need on an annual basis to fund your existing programs and operations before you look to move your organization forward. If that is not the case — evaluate why and determine what can be done to improve results. You should not only have a strong major gifts program, but also be hitting or exceeding your annual fund goals.

An engaged and informed donor base: Are your donors engaged in the life of the institution and do they know the organization’s direction? Make sure donors at the top and middle of the pyramid are informed and connected. It is critical that you have strong and established relationships with this group of supporters. Spend time before a campaign cultivating your donors, particularly the top 10% who could be lead donors to your campaign, showing them examples of what you are doing to fulfill your mission today and sharing your aspirations for the future.

Messaging and campaign components that resonate: Use your strategic vision and campaign priorities to develop a case for support. Test it with a sampling of your current and potential top prospects and incorporate their feedback. The campaign materials will allow you to share with potential campaign donors your exciting plans for the future and how their investment can help you get there. Donors need to understand the needs and your plan to meet those needs head-on with their help. If done well, you will go beyond, “We need a science building,” to describing its use and features as well as who will use it and what difference it will make in the future of the organization, those you serve, the community, and beyond.

Thoughtful planning for a campaign is an important benchmark for future success. Identify the elements you need to ensure are in place before launching this crucial fundraising effort. The time you spend up front to make sure you are prepared, pays off in greater success during your future campaign.

Andy Canada is senior consultant and director of data analytics at Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates, a strategic consulting firm located in Indiana that focuses on higher education. In his role, Canada focuses on campaign development and implementation, major and planned gift development, data analytics, and annual giving.