In a CharityVillage article titled “Are we trying to reach targets or clients?” by Teresa Ierullo, she wrote: “There are some organizations that chase all the money regardless of the purpose. They call it ‘mission drift,’ when they’ll go after the money just to stay alive.” This article explores the topic of mission drift.
A mission statement should be a one-sentence, clear, concise statement that says who the organization is, what it does, for whom and where. It should clarify the purpose of your organization. Moreover, it should be your mantra. Every activity your organization undertakes should serve the mission statement. Every decision should be preceded by answering the question: How will this serve our mission? By way of example of a clear mission statement, the War Amps mission reads as follows:
It is the mission of The War Amps to assist, protect, and bind together Canadian war amputees, as well as adult and child amputees through financial assistance, emotional support, and information.
Many activities would make sense for this organization to undertake in order to be able to finance the resources required to assist amputees in the way outlined in their mission. In this case, mission drift could be a situation where the amount of effort and resources utilized in raising money outpaces the effort and resources applied to helping amputees. Let’s look at other mission drift examples.
- Mission drift occurs when an organization’s leaders make decisions that serve their financial goals and not their mission. An example would be investing staff and/or volunteer time in a revenue-generating activity that competes with for-profit organizations and is not related to the core business of your not-for-profit.
- Another mission drift scenario often occurs when an organization tries to be “all things to all people” and loses its mission focus. Members/donors find it difficult to clearly articulate the priorities of the organization.
- When an organization is focused on media interest in the organization over the members or individuals the organization exists to serve.
- When a faction of your elected or staff leadership adopt a pet project that only remotely serves your organization’s mission.
It is important to take the necessary steps to keep your not-for-profit organization afloat during challenging economic times for you. However, it remains important that you not reverse the means and the ends and that you keep your focus on serving your mission. But what if your board (or equivalent) disagrees with your approach? A fundamental truth about not-for-profit organizations is that the elected leaders, who delegate responsibilities to staff, run the organization and are charged to make decisions. Many staff make the judgement error of thinking and acting as if it is “their” organization and “their” decisions to make. As important as it is to stay focused on serving your mission, remember to also stay focused on whose decision it is to make when mission drift begins. Perhaps staff’s role in decision-making can be the subject of another article? Let us know if that would be of interest to you.
Paulette is President of Solution Studio Inc., a consulting practice that serves the not-for-profit association community. Paulette co-authored two manuscripts on risk management & not-for-profit organizations and regularly conducts risk management, strategic planning and board development workshops. She can be reached at 1-877-787-7714 or Paulette@solutionstudioinc.com.
