Influence of Mission and Vision on Financial Sustainability of NGOs in Kenya

Abstract

Purpose: The organization's vision and mission are the first step of any strategic planning process. They are used as a context for development and evaluation of planned and emergent strategies. Vision statements have been tremendously accepted as a crucial part of the strategic management process for organizations of all types for profit, a multinational or a small and medium scale enterprise. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of mission and vision of financial sustainability of NGOs in Kenya.
 Methodology: A desktop literature review was used for this purpose. Relevant seminal references and journal articles for the study were identified using Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria entailed papers that were not over 10 years old.
 Findings: Mission statements are good in capturing corporate level strategy in terms of scope, boundaries and value creation. They are a broad overarching statements around which other strategic principles like vision, strategic capabilities, strategic intent, objectives and goals, core values, standards of behavior as well as business models evolve. A good vision facilitates growth in an organization will make sense to the organization’s citizens and expand their minds in terms of possibilities while at the same time remaining feasible. An effective organizational vision and mission statement translates directly into an organization’s success which can be measured by continued competitive advantage, improved sales, solid leadership, greater employee commitment, increased shareholder value.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practices: The study recommended that NGOs should implement mission and vision as planning strategies. This is because vision and mission significantly influence organizational performance. Moreover, NGOs’ strategic leadership should ensure that the vision and mission of the organization are effectively communicated and adapted by all employees.