By: Alaa Abu Anas Some charitable projects start with a question: How do we establish a society? How do we create an endowment? But the more important question that should precede this is: Why are we establishing this entity in the first place? And what impact do we want it to make? Licensing is an important step, but it is not the real beginning. The beginning is in the clarity of the idea, understanding the need, identifying the beneficiaries, knowing the problem the entity will work to address, and then building the vision, mission, and goals on this basis. From practical experience in endowments, societies, and the non-profit sector, I see that one of the recurring mistakes in the establishment phase is starting to formulate the vision, mission, and goals before the entity's identity and actual need are clarified. This results in linguistically beautiful but general statements that can be placed in another entity's file without significantly changing its content. And herein lies the problem. The vision is not a beautiful phrase to put in a file. The vision answers the question: Where do we want to go? If we have, for example, a society working in the social and developmental field, its vision might be: A cohesive and sustainable society where individuals enjoy better opportunities for life and empowerment. As for the mission, it answers another question: What will we do? For whom? And how? And among its examples: Contributing to improving the quality of life for beneficiaries and empowering them through sustainable development programs and initiatives, effective partnerships, and efficient and transparent institutional practices. Then come the goals to transform the vision and mission into clear directions upon which programs and initiatives can be built, such as: - Contributing to improving the quality of life for beneficiaries. - Building individuals' capacities and empowering them educationally and professionally. - Developing sustainable impact development initiatives and programs. - Strengthening partnerships with relevant parties. - Developing volunteer work and community participation. - Enhancing the financial and institutional sustainability of the entity. But the important thing here: These are just examples, not a ready-made template to be copied for every entity. A Quran memorization society is not like a housing society, and a social development society is not like a society specialized in education, health, or orphan care. And so is the endowment. An educational endowment differs in its purpose and priorities from a health endowment, and a general charitable endowment differs from an endowment dedicated to a specific purpose. The construction of an endowment should primarily stem from the will of the endower, their conditions, and their purpose, not from ready-made rhetorical phrases. Therefore, before writing the vision, mission, and goals, ask: 1- What is the need we want to address? 2- Is establishing a new entity the most suitable solution for this need in the first place? 3- Who is the real beneficiary? 4- What will this entity provide that existing entities do not provide sufficiently? 5- What is the impact we want to see after years? 6- Do we have the capacity and resources to achieve this? If the answers are clear, writing the vision, mission, and goals becomes easier and more truthful, and establishing the entity will be based on a stronger foundation. Conclusion: - Do not start establishing a society or endowment from papers and templates. - Start with the need, then the idea, then the impact, and then build the entity. - Because success does not begin with obtaining a license, but rather begins much earlier: - When you know why you are establishing, for whom you are working, and what lasting impact you want to leave.