30 Example Nonprofit Vision Statements

Definition

Vision Statement: (Desired End-State) A one-sentence statement describing the clear and inspirational long-term desired change resulting from an organization or program’s work.

The following vision statements were selected from the top 100 nonprofits (based on a series of web, social, and financial metrics).

Details on how this list was compiled can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

Be sure to also check out our Guide to Creating Vision and Mission Statements as well as our 50 Example Mission Statements for more related help.

Key Findings of 30 Example Vision Statements

• The best visions are inspirational, clear, memorable, and concise.
• Avg length for the full 30 organizations listed here is only 14.56 words (excluding brand references)
• Avg length for the first 15 organizations is only 10.5 words (excluding brand references).
• The shortest contains only three words (Human Rights Campaign)
• The longest contains 32 words (Amnesty International)

30 Example Vision Statements

Human Rights Campaign: Equality for everyone (3)

Feeding America: A hunger-free America (4 words)

Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s (4)

Oxfam: A just world without poverty (5 words)

National Multiple Sclerosis Society: A World Free of MS (5)

The Nature Conservancy: To leave a sustainable world for future generations. (8)

Make-A-Wish: That people everywhere will share the power of a wish (10)

Habitat for Humanity: A world where everyone has a decent place to live. (10)

San Diego Zoo: To become a world leader at connecting people to wildlife and conservation. (12)

NPR, with its network of independent member stations, is America’s pre-eminent news institution (12)

Ducks Unlimited is wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. (13)

Oceana seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they once were. (14)

In Touch Ministries: proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in every country of the world. (14)

Cleveland Clinic: Striving to be the world’s leader in patient experience, clinical outcomes, research and education. (14)

Save the Children: A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation. (15)

Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. (16)

Smithsonian: Shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world (17)

ASPCA: That the United States is a humane community in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness. (18)

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. (18)

World Vision: For every child, life in all its fullness; Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so (19)

Clinton Foundation: To implement sustainable programs that improve access worldwide to investment, opportunity, and lifesaving services now and for future generations. (19)

Goodwill: Every person has the opportunity to achieve his/her fullest potential and participate in and contribute to all aspects of life. (21)

Boy Scouts of America: To prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law. (24)

WWF: We seek to save a planet, a world of life. Reconciling the needs of human beings and the needs of others that share the Earth… (25)

Kiva: We envision a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. (26)

Amnesty International: A world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. (26)

charity: water believes that we can end the water crisis in our lifetime by ensuring that every person on the planet has access to life’s most basic need — clean drinking water. (28)

Special Olympics: To transform communities by inspiring people throughout the world to open their minds, accept and include people with intellectual disabilities and thereby anyone who is perceived as different. (28)

Creative Commons: Nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. (30)

VFW: Ensure that veterans are respected for their service, always receive their earned entitlements, and are recognized for the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of this great country. (32)

What does this mean for you?

Is your vision statement longer than 20 words? Can you get it below 15? Below 10?  Design your vision statement to clearly communicate what you are working to achieve in a way that people can remember it and communicate this to others. If you can’t get your full vision below 15 words, consider also creating a vision tagline (2-6 words) which people can more easily remember.

How the list was compiled

• Vision statements were gathered for each of the top 100 nonprofits that had published version and then evaluated for content and length.
• 30 were then selected for this list based on length and organized roughly from shortest to longest (based on number of characters).
• The number in parenthesis at the end of each line depicts the number of non-branded words included in their vision statement.
• In order to standardize the list, we removed things like “[Brand’s] vision is” or “The vision statement of [Brand]” when it created redundancy in the beginning of a vision statement.