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Published March 30, 2023 • Reading Time: 7 minutesYour mission statement is the foundation for your nonprofit’s marketing and communications.
A mission statement, also referred to as a vision statement, sums up the essence of your organization in just one or two sentences. It guides your decision-making processes and drives people to want to learn more about your organization.
At its strongest, a mission statement explains three things:
An effective mission statement hits all three points in a succinct, clear, and memorable way. However, many mission statements are vague and ambiguous, while others are too wordy and use industry-specific jargon. It’s up to you to craft a message that’s easy for people to remember and repeat to others.
Whether writing a new mission statement or sprucing up an old one, you can learn from the best. Check out these 20 mission statement examples for guidance and inspiration, along with our tips on how to write an impactful nonprofit mission statement.
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charity: water is a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
What we love about it: charity: water wastes no time getting to the heart of its cause. In just a few words, the nonprofit explains its mission in terms anyone can understand. The simplicity of charity: water’s mission statement could serve as a parallel to its straightforward mission of providing clean drinking water to those who need it.
Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to deploy emergency response teams rapidly.
What we love about it:Team Rubicon defines and details its purpose and services rather succinctly. The keyword “rapidly” is a fine touch—it clarifies the nonprofit’s goal to provide aid immediately after a disaster occurs with just one word.
Heifer International works with communities to increase income, improve child nutrition, care for the Earth, and ultimately, end world hunger and poverty.
What we love about it: Heifer International’s phrasing “works with communities” brings into focus its method to eradicate hunger and poverty worldwide. It focuses on Heifer International’s goal to help communities become self-sufficient and engage in sustainable agriculture and commerce.
Watts of Love is a global solar lighting nonprofit bringing people the power to raise themselves out of the darkness of poverty.
What we love about it:Watts of Love’s mission statement makes a powerful statement. This mighty sentence communicates the organization’s purpose, the people it serves, and the solution it offers. The wording is concise, memorable, and inspiring.
Vs. Cancer empowers any sports team, athlete, and community to help kids with cancer. As a signature fundraising campaign of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, proceeds help fund child-life programs in local hospitals and lifesaving pediatric brain tumor research.
What we love about it: Vs. Cancer is very clear about how it intends to move the needle for the cause: by partnering with athletic teams to fund pediatric brain tumor research. As brief as it is, great nonprofit mission statements also get essential facts across.
First Descents provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults (ages 18–39) impacted by cancer.
What we love about it:First Descents keeps it simple for its audience with its statement. We also love that it specifies the age range of the people it serves, keeping its mission fine-tuned and focused. While being so extremely succinct isn’t feasible for all organizations, this is a perfect example of how to write a mission statement that packs a lot in just one sentence.
Bright Pink helps to save lives from breast and ovarian cancer by empowering women to know their risk and manage their health proactively.
What we love about it:Bright Pink crafts a nonprofit mission statement that’s compelling and transparent. It explains the change that will arise from the organization’s efforts and how it plans to accomplish its mission.
Global Communities brings together local ingenuity and global insights to save lives, advance equity, and secure strong futures.
What we love about it: Global Communities —the unified organization of recently merged nonprofits Global Communities and Project Concern International—identifies its three-pronged approach to building stronger communities worldwide. The powerful statement also highlights how it focuses on a macro and micro level to find solutions.
CoachArt creates a transformative arts and athletics community for families impacted by childhood chronic illness.
What we love about it: CoachArt offers various services for the people it serves, and its mission statement captures this holistic approach in an emotionally stirring way.
Red My Lips exists to transform our culture of sexual violence by educating, inspiring, and mobilizing a global community to red their lips, raise their voices, and create real change.
What we love about it: Red My Lips runs a campaign every April where supporters wear red lipstick to raise awareness about sexual violence. The organization’s name explains how people can get involved, and its mission statement reiterates this first, crucial step an individual can take—“to red their lips.”
Livestrong’s mission statement starts strong with the question: “Which everyday cancer problem will we fix today?”
What we love about it: Livestrong turns heads by asking a mission question , not making a statement, because it “believe[s] that [it] can only achieve the best healthcare solutions through asking the right questions.” This question format instantly gives off an impression of the organizational culture and approach—that Livestrong wants to listen to and learn from survivors and caregivers about their needs to address cancer issues as a community.
SafeBAE is a survivor-founded, student-led national organization whose mission is to end sexual assault among middle and high school students. As the only national peer-to-peer organization of its kind, it helps promote culture change by giving teens the tools to become activists and shift school culture through raising awareness about dating violence, sexual harassment and assault, affirmative consent, safe bystander intervention, survivor care, and their rights under Title IX.
What we love about it: SafeBAE began during the filming of the Netflix documentary “Audrie & Daisy,” when the survivors and their families united to prevent sexual assault and fight for human rights. The vision statement, while lengthy, details the organization’s multifaceted approach to prevent sexual assault among teens and raise awareness about the rape culture that leads to it. This statement underscores that the survivor-founded organization empowers students to lead the change.
The Eat.Learn.Play. Foundation is committed to unlocking the potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to a quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active.
What we love about it: The Eat.Learn.Play. Foundation , founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, is dedicated to improving the lives of children and families in Oakland, the San Francisco Bay Area, and across the country. The nonprofit mission statement outlines a three-step approach focusing on well-being, nutrition, education, and physical activity.
Be the Bridge empowers people and cultures toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation.
What we love about it: Be the Bridge’s vision statement carries significant weight in just a handful of words. This succinct sentence embodies all the nonprofit’s efforts toward racial justice, restoration, and reconciliation without any buzzwords that would take away from the intention. The reader can grasp the organization’s heart for encouraging and equipping communities to pursue racial unity immediately.
The Trevor Project fights to end suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning young people.
What we love about it: The Trevor Project leads various programs that range from crisis intervention services to research and advocacy—but all the organization’s efforts point to the north star of its mission statement. This is a noteworthy example of how to be straightforward about the community you serve and your ultimate goal.
Make-a-Wish creates a sense of community when it says, “Together, we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.”
What we love about it: Make-a-Wish offers a beautiful display of heartfelt and intentionally chosen words that detail what makes the organization stand apart. The statement successfully leaves a memorable impression and clarity around what a donation supports. This single sentence sums up the far-reaching impact of wishes while communicating every form these wishes can come in for children who need them, from having a quinceañera to being a firefighter.
The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
What we love about it: The American Red Cross built a reputation as a safe space to turn to before and after disasters across the country. This mission statement showcases the challenge the nonprofit dedicates its work to support, the catalyst for increased periods of need, and how they take action across the nation to continue showing up when it matters most.
Feeding America gets it right by saying succinctly, “Working together to end hunger.”
What we love about it: Feeding America and its subsidiaries across the country, such as Feeding San Diego , build a haven where no one goes hungry. Each relies on its communities to donate monetary support and physical donations that create the possibilities offered to those in need. This mission statement, which starts with “working together” and communicating its impact most simply, makes it incredibly easy for any audience to get behind.
Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope when it “seeks to put God’s love into action.”
What we love about it: Habitat for Humanity offers its “why” at the start of its mission statement, aligning with supporters who feel a connection to the reason the organization exists. The organization has locations around the world and brings a special call to that collective programming by specifying the way it brings people together, through beneficiaries, volunteers, and supporters who step up to make a difference every day.
Teach For America works toward the day when every child will receive an excellent and equitable education.
What we love about it: Teach for America shares a vision statement example that makes its goal clear and invites the community to participate. The nonprofit finds and nurtures leaders who commit to expanding opportunities for low-income students and unites around the motivation for a better quality of life through education.
The best way to gauge a good mission statement is to brainstorm with your nonprofit board members, ask for feedback from loyal donors, and get inspiration to switch it up from other nonprofit vision statement examples.
While all mission statements should answer the essential questions—why you exist, how you incite change, and whom you serve—there isn’t a step-by-step formula to getting a nonprofit mission statement right. Study your mission statement and assess whether it does its job. Then, invest the time and effort to make it hard to forget.
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