February is the month of Valentine…and love is in the air. For those of us working in community organizations we can ask ourselves these questions:

Do you love your mission?  Is it big enough?  Is what you are doing moving you towards accomplishing your mission?  How will you know when your mission is accomplished?  

When we love something we develop a relationship with it.  Whether it is a person, a place, or a thing.  You can always see what people value but where they put their time, energy, and resources.  When it comes to your organization’s mission when someone is looking from the outside is it clear that you value it? 

“Loving” your mission can look like the following:

• Your board, staff, clients, partners know your mission.

• Everyone internally understands how their role connects to meeting the mission.

• Everyone internally has a clear understanding of the mission and how you are currently trying to accomplish it.

• With high levels of frequency (you define that…but more than 4 times a year) you are looking at your current work and discussing alignment to mission.

• You are spending time, energy, and resources to measure the achievement of your mission.

• You are sharing your mission and the measurements with people inside and outside your organization.

Think about how you can deepen your “love” for your mission and get others to love it too. XOXO