What difference do you make?
Two roads to discover how your arts organization changes the world.
Real value is not what fills a gap when it comes;
It is what creates a gap when it goes.
—Özdemir Asaf, translated by Süleyman Fatih Akgül
For nonprofit arts organizations, the mission statement is supposed to be the North Star. It guides our choices and our evaluation of those choices. It sets our position relative to the world. It confirms our direction against a universe of other sparkly things that might distract us.
That metaphor would work if the mission statement were a single, fixed, discernable point of light. But, more often than not, the mission statement is vague and broad – a “hero sandwich of good intentions” as Peter Druker put it. Mission statements certainly describe the domain, aspirations, and attitude of a nonprofit. But they’re insufficient in setting your bearings and charting your course.
For that, you need more specific reference points. There are many approaches to this important work, but I’ll offer two.
The first is to draft an “ends policy” statement, as proposed by governance author and consultant John Carver (2006). This short statement defines “the organizational swap with the world” by answering three questions: “What human needs are to be met (in results terms), for whom (outside the operating organization), and at what cost or relative worth.” More specifically, an ends policy statement describes:
Results: The impact, difference, change, benefit, or outcome to be obtained in the lives of consumers or consumer-like populations (those we seek to serve).
Recipients: The identity, description, or characteristics of the consumers or populations to receive the results.
Cost: The monetary expense, relative worth, or relative priority of a result or set of results, or the comparative priority of certain recipients rather than others getting the results.
The ends policy statement may feel blunt and dry as compared to a mission statement, but that’s the point. It’s designed to be a clear-eyed, evidence-supported view of the difference you make to specific people, and the costs that shape or constrain that work.
If you need more emotional resonance than an “ends policy” can provide, you can also calibrate your North Star through anectdotes – true stories from your past and present collective experience. Encourage your whole team to listen for, capture, and share resonant and real examples that can serve as markers on the map.
Public communications specialist Andy Goodman (Bridgespan 2016) suggests a “sacred bundle” of stories that any nonprofit should gather. Any of these can help set and clarify your direction:
The nature of our challenge story: Offering a emblematic example of the problems facing people, family, and communities that you seek to address.
The creation story: The “how we started” story, capturing who founded the organization, why it was started, and when.
The emblematic success story: A specific instance of the unique change you’ve fostered in someone’s life. This story demonstrates your particular approach and why it works.
The values story: An anecdote that captures and conveys how your organization lives into its core values. Where did you face a difficult decision that tested what you care about, and how did you move through it?
The striving to improve story: A time when you fell short or failed, and how you learned from it.
The where we are going story: While the previous five stories are drawn from lived experience, this one is aspirational and future-facing – if your organization does its job right, how will specific people’s lives be specifically different in five to 10 years.
In short, the nonprofit mission statement can capture your organization’s purpose, general position, and relative direction. That’s a good start. But you need more specific and detailed guideposts – which an “ends policy” statement and real-world stories can provide – to measure and map your movement through the terrain.
From the ArtsManaged Field Guide
Function of the Week: Governance
Governance involves structuring, sustaining, and overseeing the organization's purposes, resources, and goals (often through boards or trustees).
Framework of the Week: Three Modes of Governance
The authors of Governance as Leadership proposed three domains for strong leadership in any nonprofit: fiduciary, strategic, and generative.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels
Sources
Bridgespan. “How to Create Nonprofit Stories That Inspire,” interview with Andy Goodman, January 15, 2016.
Carver, John. Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations. 3rd edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Drucker, Peter F. Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Principles and Practices. Reprint edition. Harper Business, 2006.