Creating a Mission Statement

[Cedric]

It’s impossible to be a great community manager if the community you manage doesn’t have a mission statement. Without a mission statement, how do you know what kind of culture you’re trying to develop? How do you know what kind of content should be encouraged? How do you know what kind of members you want to attract?

A mission statement is critical if you want to build a successful online community. The mission statement will influence your community’s rules and guidelines. It will determine how you grow and it will remind you (and your members) of the community’s purpose.

So, how do you come up with a mission statement? I like to come up with the mission statement myself when building a community from scratch. As the community grows, I’ll revisit it and see if it needs to be adjusted (normally, it will).

At this stage you can also invite members to band together to write the mission statement themselves.

However you do it, just make sure your community has one.

 

[André]

Damn man, that's like the wisest post i've read today.

Seriously i find myself in awe while reading your (*imo) astonishingly insightful opinions and advice & whatnot aye.

Tbh i'm kinda glad nzfsf abruptly went to sh#t coz being forced to step away seems to have afforded time to realize & regather myself, and for reevaluating the whole endeavour.

Only now realizing how blimmen messy nzfsf had gotten over the recent ~6 or so weeks, like,...waaaay off course from the originally intended mission—of which i am indeed guilty for dereliction thereof both theoretically and in the practical application & execution thus far.

Admittedly i did absolutely zero research before spontaneously purchasing the most basic XF plan back in Dec 22.

Prior to this i had no plans whatsoever for administering an online forum community.

The motivation arose subsequent to being silenced in a particularly dishonourable manner due to the admin from NZI and myself disagreeing on certain things.

i just wanted to freely express my individual self and so with nzfsf i wanted to enable an environment preferentially encouraging others their rightful freedoms for expression of their uniquely individuated self's too.

So far it's been a Trial by fire

Initially tried creating something similar-ish to a Mission Statement—although half-assedly so with a Governmental category—which seems to have been more or less disregarded since Aaron jumped onboard.

imma have to go create a proper Mission Statement now.

Thank you for sharing this wisdom Mr Cedric.
Very much appreciated man

 

[Reverie]

I think having a mission statement or a motto is super important because this guides your community in the direction of where you want it to go! If you don't already have one, a fun contest would be "Help us find out motto!" and you could vote between which was the best one and this would help make your community feel more involved!

Coming up with the motto is typically something I come up with before I open the forum because it helps me imagine the forum in its growth and see where I want it to go!