Complicated missions complicate funding.
A clear mission statement should have 5 parts.
These are the five not-so-secret ingredients:
Type of organization +
Verb +
Outcome +
Target population +
Details of products or programs
Here are three MIGHTY ALLY client examples:
𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.
𝘈 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.
And some advice:
✔️ One sentence!
✔️ Be clear, not clever.
✔️ Average of 15–30 words.
✔️ Avoid buzzwords; focus on what you do.
Your theory of change is the core ambition of your brand. And your mission sits at the center of your ToC. So a mission statement is arguably the single most crucial sentence in your entire communications toolkit.
It’s worth repeating:
Many mission statements overuse words, especially jargon. Good mission statements are concise and useful — maybe even a bit dry.
I’ve studied hundreds and most of them need work.
So, good luck!
💪🏽💛
The Daily Bonus
Additional examples of mission statements from our clients, using this five-part formula.
𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘐𝘝/𝘈𝘐𝘋𝘚 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵.
𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴.
𝘈 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 & 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 & 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 & 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮.