Building a Purpose Statement

Guide Tool Communications Strategy Private Sector Purpose Strategies

20 January 2026

by Rachel Firth

5 minutes of reading

Every great brand starts with a clear sense of why: its purpose for existing.

But a purpose statement isn’t the same thing as a slogan or a tagline: this is important to communicate who you are externally, but must be based on a purpose statement that guides internal stakeholders: employees, boards, and suppliers.

For companies that are driven by more than profit alone, a purpose statement can serve as the heartbeat of your brand, defining what you stand for and how that belief shows up in everything you do.

And yet, only about one in three Fortune 500 companies publish a formal purpose statement (Source: Purpose Brand, 2024). That means most of the world’s leading brands haven’t clearly articulated what drives them, opening an opportunity for you to differentiate yourself and provide clarity both to your internal and external audiences in a few simple steps.

Purpose Statement Examples

Here are some examples of purpose statements from some of the leading brands that have published them:

Nike: “We exist to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

Patagonia: “To build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”.

Ben & Jerry’s: “We love making ice cream, but using our business to make the world a better place gives our work its meaning.”

What do they all have in common? They’re simple, powerful, and suggest that these companies don’t exist exclusively to sell and make money, but to contribute something to society. And digging deeper, we can see that each of these examples do this, both through their products and services, as well as through social impact initiatives that each of these companies are also leading.

Purpose ≠ Mission ≠ Vision

So where to begin with drafting a purpose statement for your own business? To start, here are three important definitions that are often used interchangeably, but serve different roles:

Mission defines what you do.

Vision defines where you’re going.

Purpose defines why you exist — what you care about and why it matters.

Drafting your purpose statement

Try using the below template as a starting point:

I believe in/ feel passionately about …X… because… Y.

Therefore in my role as Z, I will always/never …

What are your X, Y, and Z? And how are you finishing this statement?

Your X and Y make up your purpose: from pay equity to equal education access to climate change, you already know at your core what these look like for you and the reasoning behind that.

And your Z is already clear too, though you may have several — from your LinkedIn bio to the role you play in the lives of different individuals or groups. Perhaps you are basing your purpose statement on your role as CEO of a company. Or it might be more relevant in your case to base this on your unofficial role as a mentor, an advocate, a community leader, or a respected voice within your industry or sector.

Finally, how you finish this statement is your guardrail. This is the boundary you place in order to live and breathe your X and Y. Some examples:

“Compromise on worker rights or fair wages”

“Ignore our environmental impact”

“Stay silent on issues that matter to our community”

“Prioritise profit over people’s wellbeing”

“Work with clients/partners who contradict our values”

“Make decisions without considering social impact”

“Sacrifice quality for quick profits”

“Exploit vulnerable communities”

This is your bottom line. What puts your purpose into practice. What sums up how you will step up to ensure youi live up to your values. So, what will it be?

In short: your purpose is your compass. Define it well, and everything else — your company mission, vision and strategy — will naturally point in the right direction. Your purpose doesn’t have to be catchy or become widely recognised, it just has to feel right and authentic to your brand and help to drive your mission forward internally. The clearer you are about why you exist, the easier it becomes to align your culture, partnerships, and communications around something meaningful.