Just because you work in public service does not mean you are legally required to be boring. I mean, you can be, but it’s not advisable from a marketing standpoint. Especially when you’re on page 17 of that quarterly grant report, it’s gonna feel pretty monotonous. 

It’s also easy to fall into bland repetition when you’re trying to make every… single… word… feel like an extension of your mission statement.

Because that’s not what a mission statement is for. It’s not your elevator pitch. It’s not your homepage hero text. It’s not the answer to “So what do y’all do?”

What Your Mission Statement Is

It’s a legal-sounding artifact the founders of your org spent months drafting and fine-tuning and broadening then tightening. It’s a 47-word sentence that is somehow both too specific and too ambiguous. It might sound something like this:

…to empower communities by leveraging holistic, cross-sector solutions that center equity, innovation, and sustainability…

Coooooooooool. If you’re trying to sound like a robot suffering a panic attack, let that be your North Star.

Mission statements—and all language like this—have their place. They go on tax filings, grant applications, occasionally the footer of your annual report if you have space after the donor list, that one About Us sub-page that has 15 visits per quarter.

But if you’re slapping that thing on the front of your website or opening every brochure with it, like it’s a divine truth from above, just stop, please. That is not your message. That is you, accidentally telling people nothing at all.

What Is Your Message, Then?

I’m so glad you asked. Come, pull up a bean bag chair.

Your message is the story you tell. It’s what sticks in your audience’s memory. It’s the clear, compelling, human way of saying: Here’s who we are. Here’s what we do. Here’s why it matters. Here’s how you can join the cause.

That’s it. That’s the assignment.

Your message should sound like an actual person said it. Like you would say it. Out loud. To another human being who doesn’t have a PhD in systems theory.

Let’s Do a Side-By-Side Comparison

Mission Statement: We catalyze opportunity through a multi-generational, equity-based approach to food disparities and neighborhood empowerment.

Message: We make sure families in our community have fresh food and a say in how it’s grown, shared, and sustained.

Analysis: See the difference? One sounds like a TED Talk you’d politely sit through before the one you actually care about. The other makes you want to say Hell yeah! Where do I sign up? The first is flat, jargony, loaded with labels that grantmakers love to put in pie charts. The second is actionable, human-centered, and real. You could actually say that in an elevator without initiating a 45-second silence.

Why Does This Keep Happening?

Somewhere along the way, nonprofits got the message (irony?) that sounding official means sounding exhaustively vague. There’s a fear that being too clear, too real, or too informal might make you seem less legitimate to funders.

Clarity is credibility. In an attention-starved world, trying to impress people with your syntax is the fastest way to lose them. Did you just roll your eyes because I used the word syntax? Good. You’re learning.

How to Make It Make Sense

This isn’t about dumbing down your mission statement for the masses. Your message should sound like you, at your best: warm, clear, and powerful. It should make people feel something, not reach for a dictionary. You can still be smart. You can still be strategic.

One of the things I like to do in nonprofit organizations is build out  guiding language beyond the mission statement—most notably a vision statement and core values.

I often say that a vision statement proposes the world that your organization aspires to create, if you are successful in your mission. Core values are the focus areas you prioritize in working toward that vision. Here’s an example from one client:

• Proposed Mission: We strengthen small and independent food systems and create innovative solutions to make it easier for local producers to serve local people.
• Proposed Vision: A thriving community connected by accessible and sustainable local food sources.
• Proposed Core Values: Driving innovation, localizing food systems, supporting small businesses, and protecting natural resources.

Put all these together, and you’ve got a strong sense of a message, right? At least a working blueprint. Stories will center the themes of the core values and emphasize how the org is working toward that thriving and connected community.

Final Thoughts

If your message still sounds like it was written by a committee, don’t panic, you can fix it. Start by saying out loud what your work actually does for real people. Dig into the vision and core values. And if you need help turning that into a message people remember (and act on), send me what you’re working with. I’ll help you translate it into something your audience might actually feel.