Describes the mission statement of the organization.
This metric is intended to capture the organization’s mission statement, which expresses its reason for existence or core purpose. Mission statements establish the long-term direction and goals that guide an organization's daily operations, providing a foundation for an organization's activities, communications, organizational structure, and culture.
Internally, mission statements are often used to inspire employees, board members, and volunteers; guide leaders' decision-making; support the organization's theory of change (see Theory of Change [OD6350]); and help set goals (see Social and Environmental Targets [OD4091]). Externally, mission statements are often used to generate external support and communicate goals and aspirations to stakeholders.
Organizations can refer to the SPI4 (http://cerise-spi4.squarespace.com/), specifically Essential Practice 1a1, for additional indicators related to well-crafted mission statements. SPI4 is a social audit tool, developed for financial service providers, which can apply to any organization with both social and financial objectives.
Metrics identified as "cross-category" are those that are relevant to any IRIS+ Impact Category or Impact Theme (i.e., these metrics are not specific to any particular industry/category or theme).
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revision to usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
Immaterial change. Usage guidance updated to clarify "beneficiaries" as "stakeholders."
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
Immaterial change. Minor revision to definition language in order to align consistency of metric with catalog's structure and style.
March 2014 - IRIS v3.0 Released
No change.
November 2011 - IRIS v2.2 Released
No change.
February 2011 - IRIS v2.1 Released
No change.
September 2010 - IRIS v2.0 Released
Immaterial change. IRID ID changed due to framework upgrade. Minor revision to definition language for clarity.
September 2009 - IRIS v1.0 Released
New metric. Mission Statement (DES6) was developed via the Original IRIS Working Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).