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FALL 2013
Feature >>
A
nyone who has ever played
the board game Pictionary
will understand this concept.
One person is given the task
of drawing a picture of a person/place/
animal, action, object or the ubiquitous
difficult. The pictures cannot contain
any numbers or letters, nor can the
artist use verbal clues about the subject
he/she is drawing. The teammates try to
guess the word the drawing is intended
to represent. This is a very easy task
when the word is “carrot” or “cat,” but
things become far more difficult when
the word is “morality.”
Imagine playing Pictionary on a team of
10 people, and the group has to draw
one picture for hundreds of people. If
this scenario sounds familiar, you have
probably been involved in developing
mission and vision statements. An
important function of volunteer
leadership involves helping to define
why the association exists, who it
serves and what the future holds. The
process of “drawing” both the mission
and vision statements are the first steps
in this critically important process.
Both statements are inspiring words
chosen by successful volunteer leaders
to clearly and concisely convey the
direction of the association. By crafting
clear mission and vision statements,
one can powerfully communicate
intentions and motivate both staff and
volunteers to realize an attractive and
inspiring common vision of the future.
MISSION STATEMENT
A mission statement is a written
description explaining why the
association exists, the members it serves
and the group’s core values. The mission
is relatively fixed and unchanging. It
changes only after careful consideration
of the internal and external factors
impacting the organization. The mission
statement is a key tool used by volunteer
leaders as part of the strategic plan. It
captures, in a few succinct sentences,
the essence of the association’s
goals and its underlying philosophies.
Equally important, the mission
statement explains the association’s
purpose to members, staff, committees
and sponsors.
SKETCHING THE MISSION
Think back to the game of Pictionary.
If tasked with drawing a tree, you
probably wouldn’t spend too much time
detailing all the branches or leaves.
Simply sketching the trunk and outline
of the leaves would suffice. The same
can be said about creating a mission
statement. Try to sum up the entire
association’s mission in one or two
sentences. A mission statement, at
its best, should be able to double as a
slogan. Concise mission statements are
more memorable and effective. Like
the tree drawing, there is no need to
make it overly complicated; just state
the purpose of the association and the
Winning Strategies for Volunteer Leaders
Drawing Mission and Vision Statements
BOARD GAMES:
By Pete Pomilio, MBA
Executive Director, American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, Association Headquarters, Inc.
