Mission Drift

All organisations should have a mission.  It is important to stick to that mission.  The committee/board is responsible for ensuring that the organisation stays on track by directly or indirectly managing those people that deliver the work.   It is not about just doing the same thing as you have always done however, it is about being aware of what can develop and change to meet the mission.

Market vs Mission

Drift is losing sight of your mission and moving away from what you promised or registered to do.  If you think of it as a service/activity being a product and the community being a market, introducing new products in a new market is understandably the highest risk.

Types of drift

There are different ways of looking at the mission and how close you are to it:

MISSION DRIFT: Moving into other areas of work or delivery that don’t have anything to do with your original object(s).

MISSION CREEP: Expanding into other industries or streams that are not connected to your original object(s).

MISSION COHESION: Keeping all activities within the same arena / realm and maintaining a brand or ideology.

Drift Damage

Drift can have a damaging effect on your group, here are some of the negative outcomes of drift:

1. Drift may damage the reputation of the organisation among confused stakeholders and the public.
2. The organisation may jeopardise funding because donors either misunderstand its purpose or believe donations are now unnecessary.
3. It may threaten organisational culture by applying market-based approaches and bringing in too broad a range of practitioners.
4. The organisation will lose focus, and stray too far into the commercial realm, neglecting its social/charitable mission and voiding agreements.

Signs of Drift

This isn't an exhaustive list but if you find yourself doing any of this, it could be a sign you have moved too far away from your original purpose.  In no particular order:

• A large turnover of personnel
• Cruising along and not changing
• Chasing publicity
• Constant dramatic firefighting
• Chasing money over mission

Avoiding Drift

• Make sure your mission statement / charitable objects are EVERYWHERE and are referred to.
• Once reports / revues or statements are compiled, cross reference them to the objects.  If they are different, can you justify why?
• Consider ‘extra-curricular’ activities they cohesive to the arena or cause?