Tips on writing a concise mission statement:
The statement can be one sentence, one paragraph, or several pages in length. It is best not to have the statement too rigid or specific. As socio-economic environments change and internal operations evolve, the mission statement should be a flexible framework that helps your organization stay focused on the overall vision and the core values it is based on.
McDonald’s timeless mission is “to satisfy the world’s appetite for good food, well-served, at a price people can afford.”
Here are some quick tips:
· Include your organization’s strengths, values, and purpose.
· Use concise language that is free from ambiguity and jargon.
· Include core values like integrity, compassion, sincerity, etc.
· Explain why your organization exists. What do you provide? What are you trying to accomplish?
· Include any unique competitive advantages.
· State the organization’s overall strategy for determining long-term success.
· Reflect the level of excellence that you expect from partners and employees. Don’t just say that the organization will strive for excellence, say how you define excellence in relation to the core values and to the vision.
Examples of mission statements:
Google's mission is “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” The word “universally” reflects a value, while “to organize” and “make accessible and useful,” reflect Google’s purpose.
Amazon.com's mission statement reads - "to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online." At first glance, “to find” and “discover” might seem redundant. However, the language is purposeful because Amazon.com is hoping people might discover something that they were not looking for in the first place, but catches their interest while browsing.
The mission of a Toastmasters club is “to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”
“The Jeremiah Program, a broad-based collaborative community initiative, assists low-income mothers and their children to help themselves complete their education and achieve economic self-sufficiency through empowerment skills, access to affordable housing, child development services, health care, support services and meaningful employment. The Jeremiah Program mothers and children develop positive self-esteem and clarify their values on which to build a successful life.”
A great resource for creating your own mission statement:
The Franklin Covey website has a mission statement builder that walks you through the process.
Read more: "Creating a Mission Statement: Reasons, Tips, Examples & Resources to Write Your Vision & Values" - http://business-resources.suite101.com/article.cfm/creating_a_mission_statement#ixzz09r2rFUec
Examples
1. Organization Name
Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart
Mission Statement
Our mission is to develop young men with active and creative minds, a sense of understanding and compassion for others, and the courage to act on their beliefs. We stress the total development of each child: spiritual, moral, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical.
Description
The Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart is an exclusive Catholic school for boys who are in lower and middle school. They not only focus on academics but also on the context of faith.
Address
101 Drake's Corner Road Princeton, NJ 08540
2. Organization Name
Oxford Said Business School
Mission Statement
The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship exists to advance the field of social entrepreneurship through world-class education, through knowledge creation, and through brokering new and empowering connections.
Description
The Oxford Said Business School is a management school that offers undergraduate and MBA programs in business.
Address
EMBA Office Said Business School Park End Street Oxford OX1 1HP UK
3. Organization Name
Community School
Mission Statement
Community School recognizes that each child is an individual; that all children are creative; that all children need to succeed. Therefore, Community School respects the individual needs of children; fosters a caring and creative environment; and emphasizes the social, emotional, physical, intellectual development of each child.
Description
Based in Roanoke, VA, the Community School offers education from preschool to middle school for all children of different racial, cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds.
Address
7815 Williamson Rd. Roanoke, VA 24019
4. Organization Name
Eaglebrook School
Slogan/Motto
A boarding and day school for boys in grades 6-9
Mission Statement
Eaglebrook School's role is to help each boy come into confident possession of his innate talents, improve the skills needed for success in secondary school, and establish values that will allow him to act with thoughtfulness and humanity.
Description
An exclusively boys' prep school, Eaglebrook School is in Deerfield, MA, and aims to equip the student academically and proficiently for secondary school.
Address
Admissions Office Eaglebrook School Pine Nook Road Deerfield, MA 01342
5. Organization Name
Belmont High School
Mission Statement
Belmont Hill's mission is to educate boys in mind, body and spirit. Our environment of both challenge and support emphasizes strong moral values, honest effort, and responsibility for oneself and one's community.
Description
Belmont High School was established in 1923 and is a college-preparatory school for boys from grades 7 to 12. Aside from academics, Belmont High School also has athletic programs, summer programs, community service, and extracurricular activities.
Address
Belmont Hill School 350 Prospect Street Belmont, MA 02478
6. Organization Name
Kitty Hawk Elementary
Mission Statement
Kitty Hawk Elementary School seeks to create a challenging learning environment that encourages high expectations for success through development-appropriate instruction that allows for individual differences and learning styles. Our school promotes a safe, orderly, caring, and supportive environment. Each student's self-esteem is fostered by positive relationships with students and staff. We strive to have our parents, teachers, and community members actively involved on our students' learning.
Description
Kitty Hawk Elementary is a school based in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It caters to elementary school kids from kindergarten to the fifth grade, and also has special classes, for the Academically & Intellectually Gifted.
Address
Kitty Hawk Elementary School 16 S. Dogwood Trail Kitty Hawk, NC 27949
7. Organization Name
Augsburg Park Montessori School
Mission Statement
Our mission at Augsburg Park Montessori School is to implement the philosophy, practices and curriculum of Dr. Maria Montessori and her method of education. To this end, we have prepared an environment that is engaging and responsive to each child at each stage of development.
Description
Augsburg Park Montessori School is a school that teaches authentic Montessori education. Led by Janette Leslie and Sinead Carolan, they are currently a home-based school which serves children from ages 2-6.
Address
Augsburg Park Montessori School 209 West 72nd Street Richfield, Minnesota
8. Organization Name
New Horizons School
Slogan/Motto
Bringing Hope to Kids
Mission Statement
The Mission of New Horizons School is to provide a school for homeless children. Our objective is to help the children escape the bonds of poverty and hopelessness by providing education, life skills, values and a caring environment that will empower them to successfully move into the mainstream of society.
Description
The New Horizons School is into educating particularly homeless children. Aside from education, they also provide breakfast and lunch meals, transportation to and from school, in addition to health services as well as clothing.
9. Organization Name
Kolburne School
Slogan/Motto
Bulding Character One Student at a Time
Mission Statement
To provide a safe, caring, therapeutic environment where students with psychiatric, educational, and social challenges can best develop the skills and character necessary to rejoin their communities with success.
Description
Kolburne School is an educational organization that caters to students with emotional and learning disabilities and maladaptive behaviors. As such, they also have a clinical service program, providing therapeutic environment, psychoeducational treatment, residential programs, academic special education, crisis management, transitional homes, and also psychiatric care.
Address
343 NM Southfield Road, New Marlborough, MA 01230-2199
10. Organization Name
Brehm Preparatory School
Mission Statement
Brehm's mission is to empower students with complex learning disabilities to recognize and optimize their full potential.
Description
Brehm Preparatory School is a boarding school in the midwest that caters to students with complex learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder.
Address
Brehm Preparatory School 1245 East Grand Avenue Carbondale, IL 62901
11. Organization Name
City High School
Slogan/Motto
Learning. Working.
Mission Statement
City High School strives to be a community of learners in which all members use their minds well and care about one another. We engage with challenging academics and the unique resources of our city and region in order to become active citizens and responsible stewards of our world.
Description
The City High School, located in Tucson, AZ, is a high school that offers personalized learning environments to the youth from grades 9-12. Their curriculum includes math, science, social studies, English, Spanish, etc.
Address
P.O. Box 2608 Tucson, AZ 85702
12. Organization Name
Robert Abbott Accelerated Middle School
Slogan/Motto
Waukegan Public Schools Educate the Children of Today to Be the Leaders of Tomorrow.
Mission Statement
The multi-ethnic community, parents, business partners, administrators, students, and staff work together to create an academic, physical, emothional, social, and safe environment where everyone can learn and respect one another. We Care about ourselves and others to create, support and maintain powerful, engaged learning in the Arts and Sciences. We Dare to use innovative techniques to enhance life long learning through technology, the multiple intelligences, varied instructional strategies, and interdisciplinary units. We Share our cultural backgrounds to nurture growth, responsibility, and productivity by celebrating our diversity within a positive school-wide atmosphere and by promoting sportsmanship, school spirit, and pride in ourselves through our daily studies and our educational accomplishments.
Description
The Robert Abbott Accelerated Middle School offers classes to students from grades 6-8, in addition to bilingual and special education classes. They have annual fairs, contests, sports, volunteer programs, and clubs for all interests, and employ the Interdisciplinary Units way of teaching, integrating math, science, social studies, and communications applications.
Address
1201 N. Sheridan Rd Waukegan, IL 60085
13. Organization Name
St. Mary Elementary School
Mission Statement
The mission of the St. Mary School Community is to provide foundations in the Catholic Faith and in academics that will enable our students to become individuals who value and live their faith and will be life-long learners and problem solvers.
Description
St. Mary Elementary School is a Catholic school that is based in Marion, Ohio that offers quality education to both boys and girls of all levels.
Address
274 N. Prospect Street, Marion, Ohio 43302
14. Organization Name
Bertschi School
Mission Statement
Bertschi School strives to make children confident and creative builders of their future. Our focus is on the whole child. We work toward an integrated curriculum that reaches across disciplines and age levels; the students are encouraged to meet academic challenges with openness, enthusiasm, and a willingness to solve problems. We aim for an atmosphere of cooperation, with respect for individual differences and community values.
Description
Bertschi School is a primary and elementary school based in Seattle, WA. They offer students learning in kindergarten up to grade 5, fostering academic excellence and personal development.
Address
Bertschi School 2227 10th Avenue East Seattle, WA 98102
15. Organization Name
Columbus School
Mission Statement
We are committed to assure learning experiences that will assist our students to achieve their greatest potential to adapt and adjust to a diverse and ever changing society. We are dedicated to serve our students with the understanding that diversity of gender, physical or mental ability, culture, and background is a strength to be respected.
Description
Columbus is a P-5 school, which caters to special students from pre-school to grade 5. Their students include those who are emotionally disturbed, have learning disabilities, as well as those who are borderline cognitively disabled, hearing impaired, visually impaired, and those who have ADD and ADHD.
16. Organization Name
Lincoln Community School
Slogan/Motto
Rising to a higher standard
Mission Statement
Lincoln Community School strives to be a model American international school offering a broad and challenging educational program to students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Lincoln Community School is committed to inspiring students to achieve the highest standards of intellectual and personal development through a stimulating and comprehensive program. Within a caring, respectful, multicultural environment, the school is committed to instilling in each student a desire to learn, to take appropriate risks, and to accept challenges. The school community is committed to developing students who are resilient and adaptable, equipped with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to continue their education and become personally fulfilled, interdependent, socially responsible adults.
Description
A private, nonprofit, college-preparatory international school, LCS was founded in Ghana during 1968. Being accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the USA, it is authorized to offer International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs.
Address
Lincoln Community School C/O American Embassy P.O. Box 194 Accra, Ghana.
17. Organization Name
Sawston Village College
Mission Statement
Providing an environment conducive to success is a key part in our pursuit of the highest standards. This means that all our pupils have access to the very best learning opportunities. The past few years have seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of teaching facilities for most subjects, and tenders are currently being sought for a major new development to house music and drama, along with further expansion of our sports centre. We invest in good modern resources and are increasingly looking to IT to aid the learning process. Indeed, our specialist status has enabled major investment in Information and Communication Technology, which is now not only taught as a discrete Key Skill, but also embedded throughout the curriculum. All our pupils follow the National Curriculum as this provides not only for the basis for a broad educational experience, but also enables the vast majority of leavers to progress successfully into whatever area is most appropriate for them.A climate of expectation and success is encouraged, and all pupils are helped to set realistic targets and then given every assistance in achieving them.
Description
Sawston Village College was established in 1930 and was the first community college in the UK. They offer education from years 7-11, with their curriculum focusing on English, Geography, History, Math, Music, PE, Science, etc.
18. Organization Name
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin
Slogan/Motto
Providing a Christ centered quality of education.
Mission Statement
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School is a regional Catholic school sponsored by St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Orland Hills, St. Francis of Assisi Church in Orland Park, and St. Julie Billiart Church and St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr Church in Tinley Park. It operates according to the policies established by the Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Catholic Education. A community of students, faculty, families, staff, and clergy, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School supports the ministry of its sponsoring parishes by providing a Christ-centered quality Catholic education. Respecting the dignity of the individual person and sensitive to the needs of a diverse society, we strive to enhance and strengthen the faith and spiritual values students first acquired in their homes. Committed to the highest standards of academic excellence, we dedicate ourselves to provide the best possible education for our students by developing the knowledge, attitudes, and skills essential for life-long learning. As a community grounded in the Catholic faith, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School seeks to inspire its students and encourage them to live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.