Skip directly to page content.
Foundation Center
Home Profile Search Site Map Ask Us
About Us Locations Newsletters Press Room PND
Get Started Find Funders Gain Knowledge View Events Shop
Knowledge to build on.  
Get Started

Welcome
- New Visitors
- Individual Grantseekers
- Nonprofit Grantseekers
- Grantmakers
- International Visitors
- People With Disabilities
- Children and Youth
- Reporters/Media

Get Answers
- FAQs
- Ask Us
- Reference Guides
- Topical Resource Lists

Learn About
- Foundations and Fundraising
- Proposal Writing
- Nonprofit Management
- Tools and Resources

Training Courses
- Classroom Training
- Online Training
- Training Videos
- Webinars

Library/Learning Centers
- Atlanta
- Cleveland
- New York
- San Francisco
- Washington, DC
- Cooperating Collections
Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I learn about nonprofit mission statements?

The mission statement communicates the nonprofit's purpose, what groups it serves, and how it plans to do so. For a new nonprofit, developing the mission statement is a critical first step in defining what the organization plans to do and what makes it different from other organizations in the same field.

Webinar

Defining Mission and Vision
This 1-hour webinar will explain the importance of distilling your message and offer ways to engage your board and staff in developing statements they can own.
Watch now »

Expressing an organization's mission in clear and concise terms can be a difficult process, requiring input from individual board members, staff, volunteers, and other groups. Although this process requires time and effort, a well-crafted mission statement will provide direction and purpose for the organization, motivate staff and volunteers, appeal to donors and other supporters, and provide a means of evaluating organizational achievement.

To learn more about creating a mission statement for a new organization, see our Establishing a Nonprofit Organization tutorial.

Selected resources below may also be helpful.

Web Sites

* indicates staff pick

Books & Articles

Check title availability at our libraries and Cooperating Collections or your local libraries.


Do you still have questions? Ask us.
Do you have a comment? Did you find an error? Tell us.


Full Listing of FAQs


About the Foundation Center


Funding Resources

- General
- Electronic Resources
- Foundations
- Corporations
- Government Funders
- Individual Donors

The Funding Research Process

- Forms 990 and 990-PF
- Funding Statistics
- Definitions and Clarification
- Proposal Writing
- Training

Nonprofit Management

- Establishing a Nonprofit Organization
- Accountability
- Researching Nonprofit Organizations/Statistics
- Nonprofit Boards
- Nonprofit Employment/
Volunteering
- Consultants
- Other Nonprofit Management Issues

Resources for Individual Grantseekers

- General
- Artists
- Students
- Fiscal Sponsorship
- For-Profit Enterprises
- Training

Resources for Non-U.S. Grantseekers


Preguntas y respuestas en espaņol


FAQs Home


Top of page

foundationcenter.org
© Foundation Center
All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy