​​Resource guide to creating your vision, mission, and values

Your organization’s vision, mission, and values statements are powerful pieces of messaging that define who your organization is to the world. These statements guide your marketing and communications efforts and can be used to build strong relationships with your staff and board, your partners, your donors, and your entire community. 

At Big Duck, we sometimes refer to vision, mission, and values as the why, the what, and the how. If you are thinking about or currently crafting these statements, here is a round-up of resources that can help guide your journey. 

Align your team around the importance of vision, mission, and values

• Clearly defined and consistently implemented vision and mission statements and messaging platforms are key to ensuring that all points of contact with your organization reinforce the right messages. Watch this webinar as Farra Trompeter, co-director, discusses memorable ways to speak and write consistently about your nonprofit organization’s work with Chandra M. Hayslett, former Communications Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Bridget Jackson, Sr. Public Affairs and Communications Advisor of NeighborWorks America, and Yvette Scorse, former Communications Director of Byte Back.
• Why are vision, mission, and values so critical to who an organization is, and how can you use them effectively? Senior copywriter, Ryan Gerhardt shares his insights on who needs to be involved in creating and putting them into action, then chats with Farra about how your vision, mission, and values can help provide clarity and build stronger, lasting connections with your audiences

Define your vision, mission, and values

• Having a guiding mission statement gives your entire team a shared motivating purpose. It can also be used to help set strategy and clarify decision-making. Ryan shares five characteristics of a powerful mission statement. Use this worksheet to help you evaluate your nonprofit’s mission statement.
• As you begin to craft your vision statements think about the path your organization will take with one of these four potential scopes that could help identify the best path forward for the expression of your organization’s vision shared by former senior copywriter, Lila Tublin.
• Developing values and crafting language to describe those values can be a tricky process. Former creative director, Dan Gunderman shares three things to keep in mind while developing this important messaging.  

Center your community in crafting and applying your vision, mission, and values

• Now that you’ve crafted your vision, mission, and values, listen in as Farra chats with Ruth McFarlane, chief advancement officer at Ms. Foundation for Women about how they use their vision, mission, and values to guide and inform their work. Also, watch or listen to this webinar for an enhanced review of the process and follow-up discussion between Farra and Ruth.
• Who gets to shape a vision and how should it be used? Former director of strategy, Ally Dommu, explores these questions when discussing the relationship between strategic planning & branding. 
• How can you center those closest to your work and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into your research and branding processes? Read this case study about a process Big Duck recently led to develop new vision and mission statements for The KIPP Foundation, which centered the voices of students, families, and alumni.

I hope these resources help spark conversations, ideas, and inspiration around crafting your vision, mission, and values statements. If you are looking for a partner to guide you, connect with us here. We would love to hear from you.