Mission Drift

As a new year begins, nonprofit organizations have high expectations and a vision for growth. Each year passing brings more growth, market share and strength for your organization. Individual nonprofit organizations are creating a history and a body of work that donors and the community will recognize, respect and support. But this kind of growth is only sustainable if the organization stays faithful to its mission, remaining “on mission” year after year.

As months and years drift by, it is not uncommon for an organization to begin drifting away from its roots. This month we will be talking about how to stay true to your mission and avoid “Mission Drift”.

Why Do Nonprofits Drift From Their Mission?

The roots of your organization lie in the mission statement, and what stems from those roots are the products or services that serve the community in a specific way. There are many reasons why organizations may start drifting from their mission. The top four are:

1. Money
2. Board of Directors
3. Executive Director
4. Laws and Government Regulations

Money.

It is easy for a nonprofit to lose its edge by attempting to appeal to a broader audience or a larger donor base. Let’s take an after-school community center for example. There is a big government grant out there for the implementation of a new after-school athletic program. The center has the right resources, capacity and geographical position to start a new program based upon this proposal’s specific requests. The center qualifies in every way, except that its mission has never been about athletics. Its mission is to promote entrepreneurship among young adults in the inner city. Of course, this is a tempting opportunity and it takes strong resolve to fight it, but to chase a grant that is out of your mission is essentially starting over. Everyone feels the sense of abandonment when you leave your mission to chase dollars.

Board of Directors.

Sometimes nonprofit organizations find themselves with a board member (or members) that do not have a clear understanding of the organization’s mission, or perhaps they understand it, but think it can benefit from wider application. Beware! Let’s say a board member has a daughter in the Peace Corps who returns after two years with a determination to feed the starving children around the world. Again, your mission is to promote entrepreneurship among young adults in the inner city. The board member begins rallying at board meetings to initiate international programs that provide food to these children in need by sending students from your after-school community program door to door to raise money, creating exchange programs, etc. One may argue that the organization is still doing positive things for youth by expanding the horizons of these urban students and opening them up to a global perspective. That all may be true, but it is also undeniably mission drift. Be careful not to overemphasize certain parts of your mission to the detriment of the organization’s roots.

Executive Director.   

Many times in the life cycle of a nonprofit, a new, energetic Executive Director is hired on that has great background, extensive experience and a new vision. The new director comes in and immediately talks about making major changes. Usually the board and staff are hungry for motivation (and often the last Executive Directorship ended badly) and they want to put the past behind them. Amazing (read “unrealistic”) visions and promises are put forward by the new ED.

Once again: beware! A common indicator that you are about to experience mission drift is when the new ED announces the need to change the logo and begins spending a lot of time redesigning and reassessing the letterhead. This is just the beginning of a total shift in the orientation of the organization. Suggestions and improvements are good for any organization, but calling for a complete makeover is an absolute sign of mission drift and is rarely necessary. Most nonprofits have three or more Executive Directors in a decade. If each one starts over by remaking the organization in his or her own image it is impossible to achieve long term momentum.  The “New Executive Director” type of mission drift may be the most common type of all.

Laws and Government Regulation.

Many human service organizations work in concert with, or in reaction to, government programs. Many also receive government funding. When government funding is cut, or laws and administrations change, these organizations can find the landscape they work in changed overnight. This is certainly a case of forced mission drift. For the most part, new regulations, budget cuts and administration changes don’t show up out of nowhere, so an organization should prepare itself through constant education and by keeping up to date on governmental issues that could affect their work. How should you respond? Strategically and with every effort to preserve the original mission. When funding is cut for a senior citizen meal program, for example, there is not necessarily a need to redesign the entire organization. One option is to change the fundraising strategy and target private foundations or individual donors, rather than federal money. Sometimes the problem can be solved by tweaking the language, dropping a single program area, or adding a new one.

How to Battle Mission Drift

The first step is to know your mission! Everyone in the organization should memorize the mission and be able to recite it with minimal variation. Other ways to battle mission drift include:

Insert a paragraph about the mission statement and vision in the organization’s annual report every year. Go one step further and relate the work of the past year to how it has fulfilled the mission. Note how any new programs have stayed true to the mission. Put this paragraph in the very beginning of the annual report. By beginning the report with a reminder of your roots, then expanding to the programs and activities that happened throughout the year, you will send a message to board members, staff and executives that the mission is sacred and must be respected.

• Have a discussion with your board each year in which you assess your activities in relation to your mission. List your programs/services/partners/products and be sure you can clearly identify the direct link to the organization mission.
• Create an organizational handbook which details all of your programs, how and why you do them, and what the annual calendar looks like. Establish “the organizational way” of doing things. In interviews, show this to potential hires – especially when hiring new leadership – and tell them, “this is how we do things.” Make sure the board reviews the organizational handbook as well.
• When hiring new employees, recruiting new board members and especially when hiring a new Executive Director, be absolutely clear and completely honest about your commitment to the original mission.

So why should you battle mission drift? Well, over and above issue like integrity, commitment to donors and fidelity to the founders, there is the issue of revenue. Just as with a business, your revenue drivers flow from your product or service. The organization is established in a particular market with a real expertise, and more importantly, with a donor base that cares about what you do. The donors are counting on you staying true to the mission of the organization. Don’t think they fail to notice when you change your focus to chase new donors. Identifying that powerful connection between revenue and mission shows why it is important to battle mission drift, and give you insight as to how exactly to avoid it.

My Organization is Drifting.  Now what?

If it appears you are drifting, the board should address whether or not the mission should in fact be tweaked.

For well-established organizations, the mission rarely needs changing. The age of your organization is a very important factor in assessing mission drift. Old missions have been tried and tested, and it works, so why change it? If there have been problems raising money, or limits to the people you are serving, find different strategies instead of altering the mission. Sometimes, all it takes is modernization. Getting your organization up to date is usually a matter of application, delivery or style. For example, change your media or marketing efforts. Many organizations once used radio, newspapers, and billboards to promote their cause, and for a time, it worked. But now, those same organizations are taking a new approach to marketing by modernizing the delivery method of their message. Social media and the internet offer great new and inexpensive means of marketing.

Young organizations have more room to tweak their mission to see what works and what does not. Like any business start-up, young nonprofits need to be flexible and adapt to the market and outlook they are facing, especially in the first five years of existence, when the mission is not yet set in stone. During this initial period, it is not uncommon to adjust the mission and it is not unhealthy at this point either.

Other young non-profits may find their success calls for an adjustment to their mission. By acknowledging the organizational efforts have worked and seen success, a young nonprofit may then assess the scope of their mission. For example, a nonprofit organization that was inspired by something very specific, such as promoting the safe capture of wild animals and returning them to their natural habitat, may find their mission is limited to a geographic location. The mission works well for a few years and may achieve its purpose and actually return many stray wild animals to their habitat. At that point, that organization may want to consider taking that priority and broadening its horizons, perhaps taking on the prevention of wildlife migrating into urban areas. This is a valid and logical case of mission adjustment.

But organizations of any age or size should be sure the temptation to change or alter its mission is not short sighted. It is always tempting to mimic another organization that seems more successful. This is almost always a bad idea. It is similar to changing the mission of an organization based upon a new trend, where the boom in popularity seems to attract a lot of money, quickly. The desire to go the easy route is usually a red flag that the organization is in need of strategic planning and some board input. Trends have a tendency to fade away, and you want your organization to be around for a long time.

It is unrealistic to expect your mission and organization to stay exactly the same year after year. Missions will drift and to some degree, with federal regulations or new technology, this cannot be helped. But it can be controlled and it must be strategic. The first step of avoiding Mission Drift is being aware of its existence. Watch out for the warning signs. The real way to test if you are being true to your mission is to measure your growth and momentum. Is the impact that the organization is creating in the world growing over time and creating a consistent body of work? Is the organization becoming more efficient and effective? Are functional systems emerging out of the repeated efforts in one direction? Putting together an organizational way of doing things and documenting it is a good way to stay true to your roots. Donors, foundations, and the people you serve will recognize an organization that stays true to its roots, and will lead to more consistent revenue and a strong, sustainable organization.

Articles for Further Reading

1. For those of you considering adjusting your mission, this Fundraising Forum provides great advice on how not to make your organization’s statement of purpose a “Mission Impossible” http://www.raise-funds.com/1101forum.html
2. This informative report discusses social franchises and the earned income possibilities for nonprofit organizations. http://www.socialfranchise.com/images/customers/128304/docs/streamsofhope.pdf

For more information, please visit the Giersch Group at www.gierschgroup.com or contact us at prosper@gierschgroup.com.