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Tab 2: Mission Statement

The community foundation submits a mission statement approved by the board.

Material Changes: For the purposes of reconfirmation, a material change is any change in the mission statement. If any changes were made, please submit the revised documents and fill out chart below where appropriate.

For more information, review Core materials, FAQs and a glossary of important terms

Related Standards

I. Definition of a U.S. Community Foundation
I.A  A community foundation is a tax-exempt, nonprofit, autonomous, publicly supported, nonsectarian philanthropic institution with a long-term goal of building permanent, named component funds established by many separate donors to carry out their charitable interests and for the broad-based charitable interest of and for the benefit of residents of a defined geographic area.

II. Mission, Structure and Governance
II.A     A community foundation is founded and operated for the public benefit and has a well-defined, articulated mission.
II.F.1    A community foundation's governing body is responsible for the mission, strategic direction, and policies of the organization.

III. Resource Development
III.C    A community foundation has a long-term goal of securing discretionary resources to address the changing needs of the community it serves.

View all National Standards

Key Elements

Commitment to the public benefit

A clearly stated organizational mission (Elements may also be found in other documents, such as vision, values, or principles statements.)

Long-term goal of securing discretionary resources to meet changing community needs (Cross-check with governing documents or communication materials for consistency; can be in any one or all documents.)

Focus on a defined geographical region such as a municipality, county, state, metropolitan area or closely related aggregation of such areas that are considered for some purposes as a community. An organization serving a single greater metropolitan area would satisfy this criterion even if that greater metropolitan area included parts of several states. This criterion excludes national and multinational organizations. (Cross-check with communication materials and governing documents for consistency; can be in any one or all documents.)

Core Materials
FAQs
Glossary

Suggested Documents

Mission statement
Vision, Values, or Principles Statements
Governing Instruments
Communication and Marketing Materials

My foundation has a very short and concise mission statement that doesn't address all of the key elements. How can we meet compliance?

If your community foundation has a shortened or paraphrased mission statement used for marketing purposes, please explain this in a short memo to the reviewer. A consistent mission statement is easily identifiable across your foundation's compliance documents (your annual report, marketing materials, etc.). Community foundations are welcome to highlight their mission statements in these documents.

Public benefit
Provides benefit for the community's social, economic and cultural well being, and health and safety.

Values statement
A narrative description that outlines an organization's beliefs and guiding principles.

Vision statement
A form of mission statement, issued by an organization, in which its intentions for the future are stated.

Reconfirming?

Review all key elements and consider if your organization has made changes to your policies, powers or practices.

Pay special attention to key elements and core materials marked with and a . These represent minimum requirements for reconfirmation as well as Pension Protection Act requirements. Items marked with a are particularly critical for those who submitted record books prior to January 2007.