At 07:51 -0500 29/10/06, daniwo59@aol.com wrote:
Actually, we have always had them. As a not fo profit in the United States, we are required to have a mission statement, because we are accepting money. People have a right to know what they are giving money to, and that is laid out in the mission statement.
For instance, Wikimedia cannot decide to spend 100,000 euros on sending food to Darfur because--even though it is a worthy cause--it lies outside the scope of our mission. This helps to ensure to our donors that the money they give us us used specifically for the development and spread of free content/knowledge.
Danny
Same in the UK. Charities must have set of objectives (called "objects").
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/UK_Wikimedia
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/
Gordon