The Art and Science of Setting Aspirational Goals

Aspirational goals motivate people to take action.

Connecting your mission to the aspirations of your audiences can inspire people to contribute their time, talents, and resources to your cause.

Our aspirations are our ideas about the kinds of people we want to be, the lives we want to live, and the world we want to live in. They’re usually expressed as desires for the future:

“I want a career that uses my talents and makes a difference.”

“I want to live in a neighborhood I’m proud to call home.”

“I want to use my talents and skills to make the world a better place.”

Ideas like these are key to motivation and action because they lead us to set goals and strive to achieve them. You can tap into them to power up marketing, management, movement building, and more.

The school of public health at a top university hired Hattaway to craft a message for a major capital campaign. We framed the campaign as an opportunity for donors to help achieve an ambitious goal: To bring together dedicated experts from every discipline, conduct groundbreaking research, and educate new generations of leaders to tackle the biggest threats to public health.

The tagline summed it up in a few words: Powerful ideas for a healthier world. This tied the school’s mission to an aspiration shared by all its stakeholders—to contribute to impact at a global level. The school credited the aspirational approach with helping the campaign raise nearly $1 billion.

Key steps to maximize motivation in support of your organization’s work are as follows:

1) Understanding the authentic aspirations of your stakeholders

2) Expressing those ideas in a powerful vision for the future

3) Setting goals that provide a clear path toward that destination

Listen to our Achieve Great Things interview with Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America: On Achieving a Bold Vision.