The founding trustees of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation established a clear and simple mission: “To improve the health and health care of all Americans.”  That mission flowed naturally from the original source of our endowment—a fortune derived from a large medical supply and pharmaceutical company—yet allowed a wide choice of philanthropic activity. Over time, the mission has proved both a powerful motivator and a recruiting magnet for staff and trustees. The clarity of our mission often has directed us to the institutionally correct decision.       In 1999, for example, RWJF embarked on a significant programming redirection, one that reflected our concern that the “health” part of our mission was getting short shrift. Our decade’s worth of work on the societal impact of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs had amply demonstrated that nonmedical factors were responsible for much suffering and that such factors cause tremendous unnecessary costs to the health care system. Although it was a dramatic shift for us, this change was easy to make because it fit so well with our mission.       Our mission defines who we are, motivates us in our work, directs and informs our expansion efforts, and even influences how we decorate our headquarters, where pictures of grantees and those they serve predominate. It achieves the right balance between providing focus and giving room for creative interpretation. I have seen other foundations pursue first one, then another program and goal, failing to achieve what they intended because they have not defined clearly where they are headed.       If your organization has a powerful mission, exploit it to the fullest extent possible, use it to energize your organization, and keep coming back to it. If your organization does not have a powerful mission, then consider changing it to something you can truly use. Page   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | >> © Copyright 2002 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Click to read our Web Policies