What is the Difference Between a Mission and Vision?

Put simply, a mission is the business of a nonprofit or company, and usually includes the approach that the organization employs. A vision describes the future position of the organization; what it hopes to achieve through its work after a specific period of time. Defining the vision is a core step in strategic and business planning. It provides a waypoint from which to work backward; defining a vision spurs an organization to develop plans, allocate resources, and evaluate success over time calibrated to well-defined benchmarks.