Defining your mission

Your mission is the reason your charity exists, said in plain words. It guides every choice you make later: which programs to run, which gifts to accept, who to invite onto your board. It also appears in your legal papers and on your IRS application, so it is worth getting right.

A good mission is short, specific and honest. "Helping people" is too broad. "Making sure every child in Clark County has a warm coat by November" is something people can picture, support and measure.

This stage is about thinking clearly before you write anything official. It costs nothing but time, and it saves you from building the wrong thing.

What to do

Name the problem

Write down the problem in one or two sentences. Be concrete. Who is affected, where, and how badly? If you can, find local facts from a trustworthy public source, like your county health department or school district, rather than guessing.

Then ask why the problem exists. Is it a lack of money, transport, information, trust or time? The cause shapes the fix.

Name the people you serve

Charities often say "the community." Try to be more exact: seniors living alone in two ZIP codes, refugee families in their first year, teens aging out of foster care. Knowing exactly who you serve helps you design programs that fit, and it helps donors understand you.

Better still, ask the people you want to serve what they need. Their answers often surprise founders.

Write your theory of change

A theory of change is a simple chain that explains how your work leads to the result you want. It answers: "If we do this, then what happens, and why?"

Here is a worked example for a reading program:

1. The problem: Many third graders in our town read below grade level.
2. What we do: Volunteers read one-on-one with a child for 30 minutes, twice a week, at the library.
3. What that produces right away: Children get regular practice and an adult who encourages them.
4. What changes for the child: They read more often and with more confidence.
5. The longer-term result: More children read at grade level by the end of the school year.

Each step should make sense to a stranger. If a step needs a leap of faith, that is where your plan needs more thought or more evidence. You don't need a diagram. A paragraph or a short list like this one is enough to start.

Look at the landscape

Before you finish your mission, see who else works on the same problem. You might find a partner, a model to learn from or a gap nobody fills. Here are good places to look:

• IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search: the IRS's free public database of tax-exempt organizations. You can search by name or place, check whether a group is eligible to receive tax-deductible gifts, and see filings.
• Candid (which includes what used to be GuideStar): a large directory of nonprofit profiles, with mission statements and programs.
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: a free tool from the news organization ProPublica that shows nonprofits' tax returns, so you can see their size and how they spend money.
• United Way 211: dial 211 or visit 211.org to find what local services already exist. This is often the best way to see the real picture in your town.

Make a simple list: the organization's name, what they do, who they serve, and where. Then mark what is missing.

Draft your mission statement

Now write one or two sentences that say what you do, for whom and why. Read it out loud. Would a neighbor understand it? Would a ten-year-old?

Keep in mind that the IRS requires a 501(c)(3) charity to be organized and operated only for exempt purposes, such as charitable, religious or educational purposes. Your mission should clearly fit one of these. Your legal purpose clause, which you will write in the formation stage, can be broader than your everyday mission statement, so your daily wording doesn't need to sound like a legal document.

Your checklist

• Write the problem in one or two sentences, with a local fact if you can find one.
• Describe exactly who you will serve and where.
• Talk to at least three people from the group you hope to serve.
• Write a simple theory of change: what you do, what it produces and what changes.
• Search the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for similar groups.
• Look up at least three similar organizations on Candid or ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
• Call or visit 211 to learn what local services already exist.
• List what is missing that you could provide.
• Draft a mission statement of one or two sentences.
• Read it aloud to a friend who knows nothing about charities, and revise.