What does your community stand for?: How to uncover your mission and manifesto

Every online community was created for a reason. 

In our Digital Community Leaders report, we asked community leaders about the primary purpose of their online community and the top three answers we received were:

• Enable peer-to-peer engagement and networking (73.8%)

• Provide belonging and add value to stakeholders (49.2%)

• Gather insights to improve offer and impact (43.1%)

These statistics show that many online communities are working towards similar goals. However, what makes every online community unique is its mission and manifesto. 

What is a mission and manifesto?

Your mission and manifesto are the guiding principles that define the goals and values of your online community. They help you to align your team’s efforts and attract the right community members who share your vision. 

Without these, you’re leading a business with no fixed purpose or point. It can be very easy to lose track of what’s important to your brand and go off-track as a result.

Mission vs Manifesto: What's the difference?

Let’s first understand the differences between a mission and a manifesto. 

Mission

Your mission is the long-term goal that your community aims to achieve. When we talk about mission, you need to ask yourself questions like: 

• What is the thing I want my community or business to do? 

• What’s the big idea?

• How can our mission inspire and motivate our team and target audience?

Your mission is the overarching statement you use to describe what your community does, not how your community does it (we’ll get into that soon).

For instance, let’s look at Nike’s mission statement:

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.
*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

By using the asterisk to confirm that every body is an athlete, Nike keeps its mission accessible to its audience. This is crucial as nearly 30% of community users are looking for brands to be inclusive. 

Strava is also very intentional with wording in its mission statement, opting for ‘movement’ instead of a more niche option such as ‘sport’: 

We’re the leading platform for movement.

These considered decisions by Nike and Strava ensure that their mission stays broad and removes the chance of siloing their brand from the offset.

Manifesto

After you’ve decided on your mission (or your ‘what)’, it’s time to move on to your ‘how’. 

Your manifesto is all about how you’ll achieve your mission. It should outline the actions you’ll take to help reach your goals and the principles that will guide these actions.

It’s important to note that your manifesto is more flexible than your mission, and should be adapted to suit the community’s needs. 

Think of your mission as the destination and your manifesto as the roadmap. You’re always aiming to get to the same place, but the route you take may change along the way.

Should my brand and online community have the same mission?

Many community managers and leaders come up against this question, and the short answer is not necessarily. 

Of course, you need brand-community synergy, but the mission of your company and online community often serve slightly different purposes and audiences. 

For your brand, the mission typically focuses on the broader business goals and long-term vision. 

On the other hand, the mission of your online community should be more specific to the community’s goals and members’ needs.

Let’s say a company specialises in selling allergen-free baking products. 

The company’s mission might be “to help everyone enjoy the sweet things in life”. This mission is: 

• Accessible to anyone interested in baking (particularly those looking for allergen-free alternatives)

• Focuses on the purpose and overall goals of the company (to sell allergen-free baking products) 

Now, say this same company starts an online community to encourage those who use their allergen-free products to share their recipes and tips. 

The online community’s mission could be “to inspire a passionate community of bakers who cater to all.” 

This mission is tailored to the specific reason for the community, including:

• Its purpose (to share allergen-free baking knowledge)

• The problems it aims to solve (helping create a space where recipes are shared and bakers are inspired) 

• The values that encourage member interactions (inclusivity with baking, creativity with recipes, and support from like-minded people)

As you can see from this example, the community’s mission feeds into the company’s overarching mission. The community’s mission plays its part in ‘helping everyone enjoy the sweet things in life’ by creating a space where recipes and knowledge are shared. 

Remember that shareholders will want to see how your online community is helping the brand, which is why your mission must help the company achieve its objectives. 

Aligning your company’s and community’s missions will also help maintain consistency across your organisation and ensure your internal teams stay united in any decision-making. 

For instance, if there’s talk of introducing a new process or product, your mission helps bring everyone back to the purpose of why you’re doing what you’re doing and decide whether the new process/product makes sense for that.

Three ways your mission and manifesto help your online community

There are many reasons why having a clear mission and manifesto are important for your online community, but here are our top three:

1. To guide behaviours and interactions

We spoke about positive nudging in a recent article, and your mission and manifesto are some of the best ways to encourage good behaviour right from the start. 

When your mission and manifesto successfully show what your community stands for and your values, you help guide how members interact with each other. This can create a positive, respectful, and supportive environment where everyone feels safe and encouraged to participate.

2. To improve brand trust and loyalty

Transparency about your community’s mission and values helps to build trust with its members. In fact, more than half of consumers say they feel connected to a brand when the brand aligns with their values. 

Members are more likely to remain loyal and become advocates for your online community when they see that the community’s actions align with its principles.

3. To increase consistent member engagement

A clear mission and manifesto can inspire members to get involved and take their very first step on the participation ladder. 

When they believe in the community’s purpose, members are more likely to: 

• Take part in discussions

• Contribute content

• Support community initiatives 

At Steadfast Collective, we regularly talk about the role of the ‘Chief Repeating Officer’. What we mean by that is the person who reaffirms what your community is trying to do so that everyone knows what they’re working towards.

The same goes for your community members.

Your mission and manifesto help you to quickly articulate and remind your members what your community does, why it exists, and why they’re investing time in your community space. And the more you’re able to iterate this to your members, the more likely you are to keep people engaged and interested. 

Giving clear direction to your online community

If you’re looking to improve engagement or conversion in your community, it might not be a surface-level fix. Your community might lack a clear purpose or have conflicting goals that are stopping you from reaching your goals. 

We create community-led platforms that allow your members to thrive and interact easily. Whether you’re at the start of your community journey or looking to change your platform, let’s talk!