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Question:
Can you give me your advice on our mission statement.

Bound By Dog Tags Foundation

Mission Statement

Promoting camaraderie and emotional support to Veterans in need, from others that answered the call of service for country.
Answer:

Hi Andrew,
Thank you for submitting your question to Ask an Advisor and seeking clarity on your organization's mission statement.  As you know, an organization's mission statement, and getting that mission statement just right is crucial for attracting volunteers, funders, staff, and even clients or constituents.  That said, I'm not sure what type of specific advice you are seeking about your mission statement because I don't have any background on the Bound by Dog Tags Foundation so it will be somewhat difficult to determine whether your mission statement makes sense.  Regardless, let's take a closer look and see what we've got. Your mission statement is: "Promoting camaraderie and emotional support to Veterans in need, from others that answered the call of service for country."   If I were to write your mission statement I might say: "The mission of the Bound by Dog Tags Foundation is to provide emotional support to veterans in need through camaraderie with those who also answered the call of duty."  Otherwise, your mission statement is fairly clear.  However, the questions I'd like you to consider are: 1) Does it capture the essence of what the foundation does?; 2) Is it accurate?; 3) does it say enough?; 4) Is it captivating and compelling?; 5) Is it clear to someone who knows nothing about the foundation?; and 6) After reading it, would someone want to engage with the foundation?  That said, let me provide you with some resources from the Community Tool Box that will help you answer these questions: in the top left corner of the Community Tool Box home page click on Learn a Skill (how-to information), click on table of contents and scroll down to the section entitled "Developing a Strategic Plan and Organizational Structure." Click on Chapter 8 - Developing a Strategic Plan.  Sections 1 and 2, along with Toolkit 5 offer guidance in developing or revising a mission statement.  There is so much more that goes into writing a mission statement than the mere words on a web site.  Rather, a mission statement reflects the vision an organization has about the changes it wants to effect and for whom it wants to make them.  So, my suggestion is to consider more than just the mission statement per se, rather also consider some of the more structural organizational underpinnings that guide your mission.  Again, thank you for your question and we do hope that we've been of assistance to you.  If not, please feel free to ask more questions!
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Question Date: Fri, 04/08/2016