Developing a Vision and Mission Statement
 
The Township of Goodness Falls is a medium-sized town in a rural part of the state. The township is facing several issues and the mayor feels that before raising taxes to cover these items, the time is now to get out in front of the issues by forming a fundraising committee or looking for an established nonprofit agency to help search for grants to help the city and the police department. The city needs to look for a grant, or grants, to pay for police equipment and computer training for the entire force. The police badly need four (4) new computers, twelve (12) bulletproof vests, eight (8) telephones and two (2) motorcycles (or horses) to catch criminals on foot. Once an agency is selected or a committee is formed internally, the township will also need funding for eighteen (18) street lights for a high-crime neighborhood and there is a suggestion to form a task force to count the broken windows in another neighborhood and begin the process of getting those repaired or replaced. This morning, someone else added that the fire department would soon need a new fire truck.

For this assignment, pretend that you work for a nonprofit organization in this township and you are already on a standing committee for community development. You have just heard about the city's needs, and you have approached the Director to ask if you can work on this project. The director has given you this approval, if your agency can get the computer training portion of the grant monies. The director mentioned that there may be a person in the community who may be willing to donate a motorcycle to the city through your nonprofit agency. Your committee does not meet again for another week, and you have been tasked with rewriting the vision and mission statements for the agency to include these new projects. Keep in mind the overarching statement from the agency was a combined vision and mission statement of the agency "...an organization which strives to provide the highest quality response and help to the community through clear communication, training, shared knowledge, and accountability." You will revise the broad statement into two (2) statements, a vision statement and mission statement. These will comprise the road map for the rest of the assignments. Use the Internet to locate references that will help you to write powerful vision and mission statements for grant proposals, and gain insight into how organizations and nonprofits view vision and mission statements.

Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

1. Create a vision statement that details:

1. the values or beliefs that inform your work.
2. what you would ultimately hope to accomplish as a result of your efforts.

2. Create a mission statement that details:

1. how the standing committee plans to work toward this broad vision.
2. who the organization benefits.

3. Evaluate both your mission and vision statements to see if they:

1. are clear and concise.
2. reflect your values and beliefs.
3. demonstrate a commitment to serving the public good.
4. are powerful.

4. Propose changes that you can make based on your findings in Criteria 3a to 3d.

5. Determine the most immediate needs for the community first and then rate them in a ranking order by most urgent to least urgent.

6. Determine which of these needs will translate into effective proposals. (This decision will be the basis for your foundation and corporate searches.)

7. Include at least three (3) references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook.