The Link Between Strategy and Mission for Nonprofits
We often hear the term “strategy” thrown around, sometimes too often. It is a good buzzword within businesses as well as nonprofits. But how does your strategy tie into your mission as a nonprofit? Are they aligned and running in sync? To function, they need to run hand in hand and they need to be both song and verse of your communications. Let’s look at some examples of how to accomplish this and accomplish it well.
Annual Giving and Fundraising
At the very least your fundraising should be supporting your mission. An important question is how do your benefits align with your mission? Can your benefits properly align with the interests of donors to further your mission? Let’s look at an economic development agency as an example. Take any CID district that also has a membership component. Do the benefits of the membership component align with the growth of the district? Can the benefits better support the businesses, apartments, restaurants, and stores? Will providing discounts within them provide more business to them and strengthen their value? Will exclusive member events at those locations provide them better notoriety or publicity? Taking a look at your benefits package to better align to your mission can provide two key returns: you will align your mission to your donor community and strengthen your messaging moving forward.
Communications
Often times you are communicating your mission as a nonprofit, but as more and more access to communications tools become available, it is critical that you are using them properly. Taking a leadership development agency as an example, your mission is to improve the community around you to become better leaders. Through a podcast, you can highlight your own agency, but this can be very labor-intensive. Further, you may struggle to come up with unique content in the long term. Instead of focusing on yourself, look at those going through the program as potential interviewees. This can provide a way to share your mission through your questions but also highlight the quality of students you’re working with. Additionally, others can then see themselves in the program in relation to the interviews, and you have the added benefit of elevating the visibility of your students by adding value to your program.
We see time and again where these areas or others receive hyper-focus, and this leads to mission creep or loss of focus. Make sure everything you are doing aligns to your overall mission before beginning. It is truly the best way to make sure your organization is aligned from Board to Intern and from Donor to CEO.
Need more information on Strategic Planning and aligning your organization, check out our Free Strategic Planning Prep Kit or download our Free Strategic Planning RFP Template to make sure that you’re prepared to get the Strategic Plan your organization needs and deserves.
