A very short post from Seth Godin, called There’s nothing wrong with a plan.
Godin says:
Plans are great.
But missions are better. Missions survive when plans fail, and plans almost always fail.
The Agitator says:
Nonsense. Boy, does he annoy me sometimes!
Missions are a dime a dozen. Saving children from poverty is a noble mission. Thousands of nonprofits and NGOs work on this mission. Some of them have far superior plans than others. Those are the ones who deserve donor support.
From a donor’s perspective, the mission is a given. The differentiator is the plan or strategy for effecting change.
So I say missions are great. But effective plans are better.
And that’s why today’s donors — meaning the Boomers following all those duty-driven 65 years+ donors — are harder to please. They require more proof of effectiveness … results.
Perhaps you can still fundraise from a 65+ donor on the inherent strength of your mission … and maybe from a starry-eyed teenager via their social site page. But, I submit, that won’t work with most donors in between … and especially those adventuresome Boomers we’ve been talking about the past two days. They want to assess how you expect pull it off. They’ll accept some risk in your plan … but they want a plan.
What do you say … mission or plan?
Tom
P.S. Innovation and risk-taking is fine. They must be part of your game. That said, how many fundraising ‘plans’ of yours might go down the toilet before your boss or client ‘invited’ you to find a new mission?!
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Mission …. Vision …. Plan ….. Strategy…. Case Statement …. Case for Giving … Strategy …. Tactic …. Tagline …. Teaser …. Ask …. Subject line ,,, Content … Catch Phrase …. Results ….
It all Comes down to:
WHAT are you going to do.
WHY are you going to do it.
WHO is going to do it.
HOW are you going to do it.
WHEN are you going to do it.
And …. DO I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT?
You need mission, values, a plan, and way to account for whatever happens when you put your plan into effect.
While this is persuasively written, isn’t it a bit like the chicken/egg debate? You can’t sustain a mission without a plan. You don’t need a plan without a mission. If you know where you’re going, you need to pick a route. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
I was going to adamantly argue for a mission over a plan (at least as a starting point) but Claire’s comment I think is spot on. You really need both.