Category: Genel

30 EXAMPLE VISION STATEMENTS

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Definition

Vision Statement: (Desired End-State) A one-sentence statement describing the clear and inspirational long-term desired change resulting from an organization or program’s work.

The following vision statements were selected from the top 100 nonprofits (based on a series of web, social, and financial metrics).

Be sure to check out our Guide to Creating Vision and Mission Statements for more helpful tips.

Details on how this list was compiled can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

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Key Findings of 30 Example Vision Statements

 

  • The best visions are inspirational, clear, memorable, and concise.
  • Avg length for the full 30 organizations listed here is only 14.56 words (excluding brand references)
  • Avg length for the first 15 organizations is only 10.5 words (excluding brand references).
  • The shortest contains only three words (Human Rights Campaign)
  • The longest contains 31 words (Amnesty International)

Also Check Out:

50-example-mission-statements

Oxfam: A just world without poverty (5 words)

Feeding America: A hunger-free America (4 words)

Human Rights Campaign: Equality for everyone (3)

National Multiple Sclerosis Society: A World Free of MS (5)

Alzheimer’s Association: Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s (7)

Habitat for Humanity: A world where everyone has a decent place to live. (10)

Oceana seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they once were. (14)

Make-A-Wish: Our vision is that people everywhere will share the power of a wish (13)

San Diego Zoo: To become a world leader at connecting people to wildlife and conservation. (12)

The Nature Conservancy: Our vision is to leave a sustainable world for future generations. (11)

Ducks Unlimited is wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. (13)

In Touch Ministries: proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in every country of the world. (14)

NPR, with its network of independent member stations, is America’s pre-eminent news institution (12)

World Vision: For every child, life in all its fullness; Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so (19)

Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. (16)

ASPCA: That the United States is a humane community in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness. (18)

Cleveland Clinic: Striving to be the world’s leader in patient experience, clinical outcomes, research and education. (14)

Goodwill: Every person has the opportunity to achieve his/her fullest potential and participate in and contribute to all aspects of life. (21)

Smithsonian: Shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world (17)

WWF: We seek to save a planet, a world of life. Reconciling the needs of human beings and the needs of others that share the Earth… (25)

Save the Children: Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. (18)

Kiva: We envision a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. (26)

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. (18)

Boy Scouts of America: To prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law. (24)

charity: water believes that we can end the water crisis in our lifetime by ensuring that every person on the planet has access to life’s most basic need — clean drinking water. (28)

Clinton Foundation: To implement sustainable programs that improve access worldwide to investment, opportunity, and lifesaving services now and for future generations. (19)

VFW: Ensure that veterans are respected for their service, always receive their earned entitlements, and are recognized for the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of this great country. (32)

Special Olympics: To transform communities by inspiring people throughout the world to open their minds, accept and include people with intellectual disabilities and thereby anyone who is perceived as different. (28)

Creative Commons: Our vision is nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. (33)

Amnesty International: Amnesty International’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. (31)

What does this mean for you?

Is your vision statement longer than 20 words? Can you get it below 15? Below 10?  Design your vision statement to clearly communicate what you are working to achieve in a way that people can remember it and communicate this to others. If you can’t get your full vision below 15 words, consider also creating a vision tagline (2-6 words) which people can more easily remember.

How the list was compiled

  • Vision statements were gathered for each of the top 100 nonprofits that had published version and then evaluated for content and length.
  • 30 were then selected for this list based on length and organized roughly from shortest to longest (based on number of characters).
  • The number in parenthesis at the end of each line depicts the number of non-branded words included in their vision statement.
  • In order to standardize the list, we removed things like “[Brand’s] vision is” or “The vision statement of [Brand]” when it created redundancy in the beginning of a vision statement.

Related Articles:

50 Example Mission Statements
Guide to Creating a Mission Statement

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5 ways that NGOs stunt sustainability

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Before I blast the NGO community, let me say I consider them as a good friend. Friends tell each other when their collar is twisted, when kale is stuck in their front teeth. This is the spirit of this column.

Last week I wrote about my favorite sustainability experience: the Amazon soy moratorium. Now, I write about my least favorite and most frustrating endeavor: the quest for sustainable palm oil. It’s a case study of how NOT to create transformational change.

This is not about finger-pointing and blaming. I believe the NGOs involved with this are very well intended. However, they need a wake-up call because they are unwittingly suffering four common sins that stymie sustainability progress.

Just 10 percent of palm is purchased as certified sustainable today — 14 years since the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) formally was initiated in 2002.

Sure, companies can do more, yet many have made commitments for zero deforestation and set specific sustainable palm oil goals. They need NGO help to get there.

Certainly, governments play a big role, too. Suffice to say, they are imperfect. Yes, economic development is winning over environmental preservation. Eighty-five percent of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, where citizens see palm production as their pathway from tin shacks to modern homes with tiles and toilets. NGOs need to guide them in this delicate environmental/economic balance.

The most tangible and fixable part is the proliferation of NGOs not practicing what they preach to companies. The palm NGOs are not aligned, not working collaboratively and not showing flexibility. This creates havoc and paralysis in the marketplace.

Let’s look at the five common ways of NGOs gone astray:

1. Demonization

You’d think from following the common NGO narrative that palm oil is one of the most environmentally destructive crops of all time. In fact, its ecological impacts are the cream of the crop versus others oils. According to the CI report on Palm Oil (PDF) (a great, pragmatic guide for companies):

“Oil palm trees are incredibly efficient, yielding more oil on the same amount of land than any other leading oil crop — four to 10 times more than soy, rapeseed (canola) or sunflower.”

According to an outstanding Guardian in-depth journalistic report, alternatives to palm oil use two to eight times more fertilizers and five to 10 times more pesticides.

OK, this doesn’t mean we ignore the impacts on orangutans, climate change and deforestation. But don’t demonize a product that has so many positive attributes. Don’t you realize you’ll infuriate the people that grow and produce this stuff? Then they stiffen up and resist.

2. Perfectionism

RSPO has been picked apart as imperfect. It is.

But it’s a good, legitimate, inclusive effort that NGOs should support and build upon. NGOs should use the “slippery slope” principle more. Get something started, and see it improve over time.

All would benefit from digesting and implementing Dr. Cialdini’s Six Principles of Persuasion.

His fourth principle, “Consistency,” describes how asking for a small commitment can lead to a bigger one. When homeowners are asked to put a small postcard in their window promoting safe driving in the neighborhood, they are 400 percent more willing to put larger signs on their lawn a few weeks later. Consider the RSPO a postcard and let it grow from there.

3. Complexism

Perfectionism produces “complexism” as well. I made the word up, because there is no term for how relentless, detailed-oriented, scientific and exhaustive NGOs sometimes can be when it comes to developing sustainability standards, principles and metrics. Businesses say the simpler the better. NGOs say the thicker the better. The RSPO tries to make them happy by producing a set of standards that only an expert can comprehend.

Go see the RSPO Principles and Criteria (PDF), all 71 pages of it. I can see the corporate purchasing manager relishing this.

4. Lack of marketplace reality

You can’t treat every product, crop or material the same way. Coffee, beef and diamonds are different from palm oil, mostly because palm could be the most invisible, far-removed ingredient in existence. Check out any label for your favorite bakery or personal care item. Palm is far down the list, and much of palm is converted to more than 100 derivatives and oleo chemicals, confusing purchasers even more. Here are just the “As”:

  • Alcohol Ether Sulfates
  • Alcohol Ethoxylates
  • Alcohol Sulfates
  • Alkylpolyglycoside (APG)
  • Alpha-linolenic Acid
  • Ascorbic Acid

You can’t pressure Western companies who are only 15 percent of the palm oil marketplace and expect systemic change. Most of palm is used in Asia.

You can’t just go after big brands and expect them to manage a supply chain that has them seven stages removed, starting with the smallholders, to mills, then plantations, to storage facilities, refineries, ingredient manufacturers and then product manufacturers, then into a final product a retailer sells, such as ice cream, a granola bar or shampoo — with palm as a minute ingredient.

5. Disjointed direction

The last thing we need is competition over the rules of the game, and then to change the rules. That’s what this 14-year sustainable palm oil journey often feels like.

NGOs have promulgated various sustainable palm alternatives. They are using too many sticks and not enough carrots.

Imagine a world in which the top 15 NGOs working on sustainable palm oil agree on the approach, principles and measures. This would instill corporate and governmental confidence on a unified direction for all to move forward together.

On the bright side, the table is set for a sustainable palm tipping point. Traders and processors, representing 80 percent of the trade for palm, have made commitments, so the challenge is to implement these commitments with a positive, collaborative and market-friendly support from the NGO community. Allow for more flexibility on how to get there. Encourage innovation, too.

Palm is not the enemy. It is how it is grown and managed that counts.

If you keep beating up Western companies trying to make this work, they eventually will walk away. Or companies will clean up their supply chains, exit bad relationships and go with a few big players. This will not solve the problem and it will just create a niche, premium market.

Sustainable palm should be the norm, the default, not a niche.

OK, my friends. I’ve let you know your fly is open. Now is the time to shift to a positive approach, steeped in market practicality, with an aligned view of the future.

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