Predicting Mission Alignment and Preventing Mission Drift: Do Revenue Sources Matter?

Activities of nonprofit organizations do not always align with their missions, a managerial problem termed as “mission drift.” Mission drift is difficult to operationalize and quantify; thus, as a critical issue, only a few conceptual pieces or empirical case studies have explored this topic. This paper develops innovative measures to operationalize “mission alignment” using data science methodology, and examines the impact of revenue sources on mission alignment. By using the cosine similarity of text between a mission statement and program description, four measures of mission alignment are devised: the sum cosine similarity, average cosine similarity, weighted sum cosine similarity, and weighted average cosine similarity. Text analysis indicates that a majority of the programs evidence educational purposes, and for-profit business plays an important role in foundations’ projects and funding. The regression analysis shows that personal donation and service revenue can increase mission alignment,while organizational donation and membership dues decrease mission alignment.

Illusions of Inclusion: University Policies that Perpetuate Exclusion of Students of Color

The purpose of this paper is to explore the policies, practices and procedures of inclusion across three universities in the San Francisco Bay Area: Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, and the University of California at Berkeley. Using a rubric which measures inclusion based on a three point set of criteria (equity, sustainability, and mission-alignment), the authors analyzed four common statements in which inclusion policies for traditionally marginalized students and students of color are contained: university mission statement, diversity program mission statement, diversity statement, and values/goals statements. The analysis revealed that although the values/goals statements align with the missions of the three institutions analyzed, there is often incongruence between the diversity program mission and diversity statements and the missions of the universities. This tension reflects the practice of institutions of higher education to draft policies that reflect inclusion language for diverse populations without making the necessary structural changes that impact values, attitudes, and practices.

Mission Alignment and Operationalization: The Case of the United World Colleges

This research study explored how a large, complex global educational organization operationalizes its mission and socializes its constituents to support its mission and values. The study’s unit of analysis was the United World Colleges (UWC), a group of complex international schools whose multi-campus and multinational structure shares a values-driven and activist-oriented mission. With an interest in exploring causation, the researcher employed case study methods to understand how this large organization brings its mission to life on a daily basis.Extensive interviews, observations and document analysis at five units of the organization led to eight themes consistent across all data collected. The research study revealed that the following factors play a significant role in mission operationalization and alignment: (1) The entrance and exit strategy for members of the organization; (2) selection of the organization’s members; (3) curricular choice and teaching methods; (4) use and structure of the physical space; (5) programming; (6) residential life; (7) reflection; and (8) simplicity and tangibility of the mission statement.The study has implications for international schools and organizations keen to create strategic alignment between their mission and daily operations. The findings in the study are generalizable and could inform international organizations in their attempt to implement best practices and make resource allocation decisions to maintain mission fidelity.

Predicting Mission Alignment and Preventing Mission Drift: Do Revenue Sources Matter?

Activities of nonprofit organizations do not always align with their missions, a managerial problem termed as “mission drift.” Mission drift is difficult to operationalize and quantify; thus, as a critical issue, only a few conceptual pieces or empirical case studies have explored this topic. This paper develops innovative measures to operationalize “mission alignment” using data science methodology, and examines the impact of revenue sources on mission alignment. By using the cosine similarity of text between a mission statement and program description, four measures of mission alignment are devised: the sum cosine similarity, average cosine similarity, weighted sum cosine similarity, and weighted average cosine similarity. Text analysis indicates that a majority of the programs evidence educational purposes, and for-profit business plays an important role in foundations’ projects and funding. The regression analysis shows that personal donation and service revenue can increase mission alignment,while organizational donation and membership dues decrease mission alignment.