A vision is the “big picture,” values-based idea you and your stakeholders identify for your program or system of programs. It is an ideal picture of what the program will accomplish, so it should be aspirational. Your vision serves as the primary driver of all decisions relating to the program, so it needs to be defined before anything else, and all should agree on it. After a vision is determined, you will not want to change it for a few years; the vision should be constant. A vision statement is something you can get behind and stay behind. For example, the Nature Conservancy’s vision is “to leave a sustainable world for future generations.” They are probably not changing that vision anytime soon. An example of an afterschool and expanded learning program vision statement is as follows: “Our vision is to provide equal access to the arts for all young people and families in our community.” Use Tool 36: Visioning Worksheet and Meeting Agenda to begin developing your vision. You should use the information you collected through your asset mapping or needs assessment to inform your visioning process. If funding permits, it is helpful to have an external person facilitate the visioning process. You will refer back to this vision as you begin to develop your goals, action steps, and theory of change, which are all described in more detail in this Toolkit.

Important note: A vision statement is not a mission statement. Your mission statement is important but often is tied to your organization and may either already exist (if you are part of a larger organization) or is something you create later in support of your vision and in partnership with your board of directors and other key partners (if you are a newly created independent organization). At this point, focus on crafting a vision for your program that aligns with your values and identifies your program’s aspirations.

Program goals are broad but understandable descriptions of how a program will achieve its vision. Goals often start with "to" statements. For example, two goals for a program whose vision is to provide equal access to the arts for all young people and families in a community may be as follows: (1) To provide a variety of arts classes after school and (2) to provide free tickets to cultural events for young people and their families.

After you have established your goals, you need to develop a set of objectives to support those goals. The difference between a goal and an objective can be confusing, and we recommend calling objectives action steps to avoid confusion. Action steps are the tangible activities to achieve your goals. For example: "Partner with local arts organizations to facilitate on-site arts classes." Tool 37: Goal Setting Worksheet will help you develop a set of overarching short- and long-term goals for your program and the action steps (objectives) to meet them.