July 22, 2025
The Impact Issue #71: Articulate Your Vision Like A Pro!
Learn how to wow potential funders with your vision in this week’s issue.
Hi there! 👋
You probably know the future you want to create, but have you ever put pen to paper to share it? Or maybe you have an organizational vision statement, but it’s outdated and you’re not sure where to start to breathe new life into it.
That changes today!
In this week’s issue, we’ll share tips and resources to help you articulate your vision statement like a pro—along with new grants, networking opportunities, and more.
Welcome to The Impact.
Pitfalls and Pointers
⚠️ Pitfall: Having the Same Mission and Vision Statement
Don’t get us wrong—mission statements are incredibly important. But they shouldn’t replace your organization’s vision statement.
Vision statements are unique in that they should communicate your nonprofit’s overarching aspirations, hopes, and dreams for a better future. Without one, you’ll experience a lack of clarity on your organization’s future path. This often leads to soft grant applications that are missing a strategic focus and that don’t resonate with funders.
💡 Pointer: Integrate the Big Picture in Your Vision
Your vision statement should inspire potential funders to want to be a part of the difference you’ll make. Here are a few questions to ask that should help you dream big when crafting your statement:
- What would happen if our organization didn’t exist?
- If our organization is successful in every way, what would change?
- What does our ideal future look like?
Ultimately, your vision statement should be inspirational, aspirational, and help provide your nonprofit strategic direction.
📖 Keep reading for a refresher on vision statements and other core nonprofit elements!
Tech You Should Know
What: Canva for Nonprofits offers eligible organizations free access to all the premium features of Canva Pro, including their robust library of graphics and templates that nonprofits can customize to meet their needs.
How Grant Writers Can Use It:
- Create visual media. Use Canva to design infographics, vision boards, and social media posts that can be integrated into your communications strategy.
- Elevate your presentations. Use one of Canva’s professionally designed templates to help create an elevated look for your next board presentation, grant report, and so much more.
- Collaborate in real time. Share links with stakeholders and receive their feedback in real-time to help streamline approvals and collaborate with ease.
Keep in Mind:
You can apply for Canva for Nonprofits to access their full suite of resources at no cost to you. Otherwise, select pro features and images may be locked behind a paywall.
🎨 Take the guesswork out of graphic design with Canva!
Expert Perspectives
🏆 The Instrumentl Team on Connecting Your Vision to Strategy
Your mission and vision statements should inform your organization’s strategy every step of the way. But it can be hard to picture them, especially if they’re abstract. That’s where vision boards come in.
The Instrumentl Team hosted a workshop on creating vision boards to help nonprofit teams stay aligned and work toward the same goal.
Here’s their expert advice:
- Define what you want to visualize. Common elements to include on nonprofit vision boards are mission, vision, funding goals, projects, and ideal funders.
- Brainstorm with your team what these look like in practice. Pull stock images or images from previous projects. Collaborate with your team to develop a shared vision to drive connection.
- Arrange your vision board in a meaningful way. You can group ideas or goals together in quadrants or integrate them in a linear narrative to tell a story. Organize your vision board in a way that’s meaningful to your nonprofit.
- Keep your vision board accessible. If it’s physical, make sure your team can see it every day. If it’s virtual, revisit it during regular meetings. The more you keep your vision board accessible to your team, the more valuable it can be in centering your vision and connecting it to your overall funding strategy.
🏫 Watch the masterclass on creating a nonprofit vision board!
Opportunities Spotlight
🩺 Centene Charitable Foundation Grants
Who It’s For: U.S. nonprofits focused on increasing healthcare access, social services, and education
Next Deadline: November 28, 2025
Grant Amount: Up to $500,000
The Details:
The Centene Charitable Foundation is investing in communities, building programming that focuses on increasing access to healthcare, social services, and education. It serves those who rely on government-sponsored healthcare, investing in programming that addresses health and health equity for communities in need.
♥️ Edwards Lifesciences Foundation Grants
Who It’s For: Nonprofits focused on increasing treatment access and awareness for heart disease
Next Deadline: June 15, 2026
Grant Amount: $25,000-$250,000
The Details:
The Edwards Lifescience Foundation is committed to eradicating heart disease, one heartbeat at a time. They award grants to nonprofits focused on early detection, treatment, and recovery. Through their Every Heartbeat Matters philanthropic initiative, the Edwards Lifescience Foundation is hoping to impact more than one million individuals in underserved communities.
🔍 Don’t see your focus? Explore thousands of other grant opportunities now!
Networking Nook
💻 Webinar: Grant Management USA Live
August 25-26, 2025 | Virtual
Brush up on your government grants knowledge at this two-day training. You’ll learn how to navigate changing government regulations, prepare for upcoming deadlines, and more. This event will be beneficial for grant writers of all experience levels, as well as administrators for cities, educational institutes, and nonprofits. If you are unable to attend, it will be available to stream on-demand for 30 days.
Don’t Miss Out!
To check out more recent and upcoming live events, go here.
In Case You Missed It
📑 Article: The Ultimate Guide to a Strong Case for Support
Your case for support should inspire others to want to be a part of the difference your organization is making. In this ultimate guide, you’ll learn how to strengthen your case and win more grants with it.
📼 Video: How a Recovery Nonprofit Fuels Their Mission Through Grants
Learn how L.A. Recovery Connect leverages Instrumentl to streamline their grant search and secure more funding. This video testimonial shows how real clients use our services to make a tangible difference in their communities.
🎙️Podcast: Grant Writing Success Rates and Wins Don’t Mean You’re a Good or Bad Grant Writer
Join Holly Rustick as she shares insights on how to stop comparing yourself to others and what to focus on to win more grants. She’ll share actionable tips to help you understand how vanity metrics, including social media likes, may be misleading and what you need to do to break free from them.
Let Your Vision Guide Your Work
Your vision statement is a powerful yet concise summary of what your nonprofit hopes to accomplish. It’s up to you to leverage it to help guide your work and find best-fit funders that align with your values.
Thankfully, Instrumentl can help you narrow down funders by focus area. That way, you’re only looking at opportunities that align with your area of expertise.
🥳 Try Instrumentl free for 14 days and start letting your vision fuel your funding strategy.
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