Vision Prevents Mission Drift
Because a major gifts officer should never have to explain why the organization no longer resembles the one the donor chose to support.
If March of Dimes had declared its vision and mission in today’s terms, it would look like this.
Vision: Healthier infants and children.
Mission: Eradicate infantile paralysis.
Today, March of Dimes focuses broadly on childhood health. The mission (the work) changed. The vision endured. The expansion of the mission grew out of its original promise. Mission DRIFT would be a move away from the original promise.
“Transformative philanthropy” can challenge faithfulness to the vision statement. Joan Kroc’s extraordinary bequest to The Salvation Army created the Kroc Centers major community and recreation centers in underserved neighborhoods. The gift could be understood as consistent with The Salvation Army’s broad commitment to meeting human need. But a well-crafted Gift Agreement is needed that considers how the organization will build and sustain a type of work it was not set out to create on that scale.
A clear vision statement gives an organization the confidence to decline opportunity. Not every generous gift is the right gift. When a proposed gift would pull the organization away from its enduring purpose, the responsible answer may be a gracious no.
This is not ingratitude. It is stewardship. Donors deserve clarity, and organizations have an obligation to protect the promise they have made to the people and communities they serve.