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Purpose

Video, Simplify Message | | Nick Fellers

Nick explains how to discover and package the purpose of your organization to create a Napkin Message by hosting a Vision Day.

Summary:

The Napkin Message is the condensed form of your organization’s purpose; it is not an eloquent paragraph but is usually just three words or bullet points that you could write on a napkin.

To construct this message, it is often helpful to conduct a Vision Day, a “town hall” type of meeting with board members, community leaders, and anyone who has served or been impacted by your organization.

This 3-4 hour brainstorm meeting should be framed around several questions, the first being ‘Why do we exist?’ Record key phrases and words (for example, save lives, better the community, or women and children).

The second question is ‘What is our cause?’ Though it may seem similar to the reason for existence, the cause focuses on topics like homelessness, domestic violence, or justice.

From these answers, take the top three bullet points and write them on a napkin so that you could clearly communicate to someone the purpose of your organization, even if you only have 30 seconds together in an elevator.

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