Mission Statement

We are a proud group of (organized but unofficial) Obama supporters who believe in Obama's call for hope and a new kind of politics. We are asking Congress and all Americans to reject the politics of fear, revisit this flawed bill, and safeguard the people's rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Vision Statement

We need a vision statement... NOTE: A vision is what the organization wants.

A word about mission statements, vision statements, and so forth

All organizations have a fundamental set of principles under which they operate. A mission statement is essential. The others may include a vision statement, a stated goal or set of goals, a slate of concrete objectives, an ethics statement, operating policies, and so on. I often see these mislabeled or even misused within smaller organizations that have not been able to hire a communications expert to help them sort through these types of things. So, here are some simple definitions to help us get started:

A mission statement is what the organization does (For Example, everyone knows this famous mission statement, "To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before").

A vision is what the organization is working towards (For Example, Microsoft's Vision was, "A computer on every desk and in every home.").

A slate of objectives/goals is a checklist of what would be required in order to say that the vision has been reached. (For example, if our vision is to decorate my office, my list of objectives could be: flooring, paint, lighting, furniture, curtains, wall hangings, and accessories because once I have checked each of those items off of my list, I can consider my vision has been reached.)

We want our mission and vision statements to have longevity. Believe me, it will provide strength and direction to the organization when the going gets tough. I have watched startup organizations refer back to their mission again and again during the decision-making process of the first few years, using it as a guiding principle. So, this is something we want to get right, and it is usually one of the hardest things for an organization to develop and agree upon. In fact, I have entire books on this single topic on my bookshelf. I have one in particular that I refer to again and again. This will not be an easy task, but we are definitely up to it.

Vision/Mission Guides