The Destination

Where are you headed?

A fundamental job of your board is to answer such questions for the organization as "Why are we here?", "What is our desired future?", and "What outcomes do we hope to achieve?". In other words, it is your board's responsibility to determine your organization's mission, its purpose, its reason for being. This becomes the guidepost for all your board's plans, decisions and activities.

How do you let others know where you are headed?

As your board goes through the exercise of establishing its mission, you will likely find yourselves discussing "big picture" subjects like vision, values, programming, and the philosophies underlying your services.

Your organization's mission should not just be the subject of heady conversation around the boardroom table, though. Your board must state the organization's mission in writing, and communicate the mission to all concerned stakeholders. Your mission statement should succinctly say:

• Who the organization is,
• What it does,
• For whom, and
• Where.

How do you know you have arrived?

It is not enough for your board to put an eloquent mission statement on paper for all to read. The board must also determine the indicators that it has accomplished its mission. In other words, it needs to create specific, measurable goals. It needs to determine what outcomes, results or ends it will achieve, what specific impacts it aims to have on those whom the organization serves.

Now let's explore your board's responsibility for planning a route, or strategy, by which to arrive at its destination.

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