Every organization has a raison d’être, a main purpose or justification for existence. For nonprofits, that purpose frequently focuses on improving conditions for individuals and communities and involves numerous collaborators and stakeholders. Getting and keeping everyone focused on a unified purpose and path can be very difficult.
A vision statement can bring clarity and serve as a guiding star for organizations. Yet a lack of strategic direction and purpose remains a major challenge for many nonprofits. The 2025 State of the Nonprofit Sector Report from Forvis Mazars found that more than one third (36.6%) of nonprofits surveyed lack strategic direction.
What Is a Vision Statement?
A vision statement defines the dream, describing the world an organization hopes to see. It describes a desired state or condition, and outlines what an organization hopes to ultimately accomplish or see happen.
Vision statements are typically one succinct statement, memorable and inspirational.
A good vision statement will do five things:
- Guide your entire team, keeping everyone on the same page, working in unison
- Remind everyone of the organization’s ultimate goal or purpose
- Help with focus and decision making
- Keep your team from wasting time on activities that don’t lead to goal achievement
- Inspire others to dream, to imagine the possibilities, and join your cause
Types of Vision Statements
There are two main types of vision statements: inward-focused and outward-focused.
Inward-focused statements describe a vision and sense of direction for the organization itself. Outward-focused statements describe a vision for the people or cause the organization serves, benefactors of their programs, and services.
- Inward-focused
Many for-profit companies have inward-focused vision statements that emphasize company achievement or product success. For example:
- Amazon: “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work.”1
- Tesla: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”2
- PepsiCo: To Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive.”3
- Dell: The vision at Dell Technologies is to be the essential technology company for the data era.”4
- Outward-focused
Charitable nonprofits frequently develop outward-focused statements with emphases on improving conditions or outcomes relating to their cause (as opposed to focusing on improving their own organization). Examples include:
- Habitat for Humanity: “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.”5
- Alzheimer’s Association: “A world without Alzheimer’s disease.”6
- Feeding America: “An America where no one is hungry.”7
- Sierra Club: “Clean energy, air, and water for all.”8
- Ronald McDonald House: “A world where all children have access to medical care, and their families are supported.”9
It is possible to have two separate vision statements: one that focuses on organizational growth and effectiveness, and one that focuses on outcomes for your benefactors or cause. For example:
Vision for your organization: To become the state’s premier provider of training and support for K-12 educators in the state.
Vision for those you serve: Students will thrive intellectually and emotionally, enabling them to grow into successful and happy adults.
Another option is to create one statement that incorporates organizational effectiveness with program outcomes.
End-of-the-Road Statements
A strong vision statement describes the end of the road. In other words, if an organization achieves all of its goals and everything goes as planned, what does that look like? What kind of scenario would be created as a result? End-of-the-road statements differ from in-process statements. As the examples above show, end-of-the-road statements describe how the world will be if the organization’s grand dream or vision is accomplished.
An in-process statement doesn’t complete the journey. For example, one national charity’s vision is “...to provide compassionate service to people in need, advocate for justice, and build bridges of hope.” The statement is in process and does not describe what happens if these services work. A revised version of that statement might read: “…where every person lives in a just world filled with hope and compassion.” The two statements are similar, but one represents the end or ultimate outcome while another describes action in process.
Another in-process example reads: “…to protect birds and their habitats through science, education, and advocacy.” Without a doubt, these actions are important, but they do not represent an outcome. A possible rewording might say: “...where all birds thrive in safe and flourishing habitats.”
Statement Formation
Forming a vision statement is a key component of the strategic planning process. Start by making a list of various stakeholders (internal and external) and surveying them. Provide them with an assortment of words they may think of when they envision this perfect world or environment that will exist if everything (all of your programs and services) works as hoped. A best practice is to provide a list of keywords from which they can choose and allow a space for them to add others that aren’t on the list.
Once you have input from everyone, you can form word clouds. Use these word clouds to start forming sentences. You (the leadership team) will likely produce multiple revisions or iterations of these sentences until you arrive at the perfect one.
Remember—charitable vision statements should focus on people or a cause. Avoid the mistake of writing a vision statement that prioritizes your organization ahead of the people you serve.
For more information, reach out to a Forvis Mazars professional today.
- 1https://businessmodelanalyst.com/amazon-mission-and-vision-statement/
- 2https://panmore.com/tesla-motors-inc-vision-statement-mission-statement-analysis
- 3https://www.pepsico.com/who-we-are/mission-and-vision
- 4https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/fr-fr/l/dell-emc-smartfabric-os10-virtual-link-trunking-reference-architecture-guide-1/dell-technologies-vision-24/
- 5https://www.habitat.org/about/mission-and-vision
- 6https://www.alz.org/about/our-brand
- 7https://feedingamericaaction.org/feeding-americas-vision/
- 8https://www.sierraclub.org/our-vision
- 9https://rmhc.org/about-us