Helium - A non profit mission statement contains the general philosophy, general goals, and major specific benefits that the organization provides to the community, the nation,or the world. The mission of the organization, once well defined, serves as a template for everything that the organization does. Any major deviations from the mission require a major change to the mission statement. 

The major areas of importance in mission statements include: clarity of language in describing and presenting the face of the organization to the public and to benefactors; serving as a template for projects and programs to prevent goal diversion; and serving as a template to prevent goal displacement, which can lead to confusion and the ultimate breakdown of non profit structure.

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