The best charities are working themselves out of a job
Your fundraisers should be working to make themselves redundant. Charities exist to meet a need and solve a problem, and a great fundraiser’s job is to inspire the public, foundations, governments and philanthropists to help solve it for good.
Are Your Fundraisers Trying to Lose Their Jobs? They should be.
Charities should be working to make themselves irrelevant. Not-for-profits exist to meet a need and to solve a problem. And the objective of a great fundraiser should be to inspire the public, foundations, governments and philanthropists to help them achieve that goal.
Why so few vision statements are actually visionary
Why don’t more charities speak about ending the problems they exist to solve? Why are so many vision statements un-Visionary?
Not all are like this and I want to celebrate the organisations with great visions and inspiring campaign objectives.
Six charities getting it right
This list is not exhaustive and there are many more fantastic examples from around the world. In no specific order, here are some of the ones I’ve found recently.
Save the Children, UK
It has its mission in its name, but they felt they could do better with this campaign.
Launch Housing, Australia
Launch Housing in Melbourne is unapologetic about its mission.
The Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia & New Zealand
Fred Hollows is very clear and direct about its aims.
Unicef, International
Absolute adjectives like ‘Every’, ‘All’, ‘End’, ‘Cure’, ‘Beat’ etc – are engaging.
IGN, International
The Iodine Global Network is tasked with ‘sustainable elimination’ of iodine deficiency.
Feeding America, USA
Putting the donor in the statement of their vision makes this message powerful.
And there are plenty more to list, we could go on forever!
These organisations aren’t hedging. Their vision statements say it all loud and clear: solve the problem, then close the doors. That’s a harder story to tell than “help us grow,” but it’s the one that earns trust, because donors can see exactly what they’re working towards and what success looks like.
So, back to the original question. Are the fundraisers in your organisation trying to lose their jobs? If the answer’s no, it might be time to look at what your vision statement is actually saying.
Want a vision statement that means more?