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Congratulations Walden School!
Congratulations to the Board and staff of Walden School on the approval of their strategic plan. It has been an honor and a pleasure working with this amazing team over the past several months to facilitate their planning process. In partnership with families, Walden School provides an educational environment - both academic and social - that fosters a lifelong enthusiasm for learning and challenges individual students to reach their full potential so they may flourish in a diverse and changing world.
Eastern Area Community Ministries (EACM) Strategic Planning Kickoff
The kickoff of strategic planning captures the promise, excitement, and anticipation of what an organization is and can be. Excited and honored to facilitate the strategic planning process with Eastern Area Community Ministries that kicked off this week.
Growing Together: Board Retreats that Build Trust and Elevate Performance
A highly effective nonprofit Board grows together as a team when they unite behind a mission and a bold, audacious vision. An integral part of that growth is the opportunity to step back from the regular business of Board meetings to allow for reflection, evaluation, and critical discussions. When planned thoughtfully and executed well, a Board retreat can be a vital tool that builds trust and strengthens relationships among Board members, while helping to ensure that the Board team is positioned to govern effectively. A retreat may also allow a divided Board to address conflict or pull together to address a critical issue. Here are a few brief tips to make your next Board retreat a success:
Clearly articulate and build consensus among Board leaders as to the "why" of the retreat.
Focus on 1 or 2 objectives; avoid trying to tackle everything in one retreat.
Work with an external facilitator you trust to craft an agenda that addresses the objectives while still allowing time for Board members to socialize and build relationships.
Document key points of discussion and commitments for follow-up
Consciously seek opportunities to inspire the Board team and reconnect to the mission
Have you had a particularly moving or impactful experience at a Board retreat? We'd love to hear about it. If you would like to discuss creating a creating an engaging and inspiring retreat for your Board team, let's talk!
Outstanding Nonprofit Leadership Conference at John Carroll University
Extremely grateful for the opportunity to speak at last week’s inaugural nonprofit leadership conference at John Carroll University. Program Director Dani Robbins and Graduate Assistant Hannah Hill and team did a phenomenal job organizing the gathering and it was an honor to join the attendees and other outstanding speakers. I love the vision of the Nonprofit Administration Program — “Developing Unapologetic Social Justice Leaders!”
NE Ohio Nonprofit Leadership Conference Presented by John Carroll University
I am excited to be speaking at the inaugural NE Ohio Nonprofit Leadership Conference on Friday, May 6th, 2022. John Carroll University’s Nonprofit Administration Program, in concert with The Ginn Institute for Corporate Social Responsibility, has gathered speakers from across the nonprofit landscape to discuss cutting-edge ideas about data, leadership, fundraising, justice and equity. I will be leading a session on Finding Your North Star Through Strategic Planning. For more information, click the link below. Hope to see you there!
Highlands Community Ministries Strategic Planning Kickoff
Energy. Excitement. Anticipation. The kickoff of strategic planning captures all of this and more! A strategic plan informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities. Excited and honored to facilitate the strategic planning process for Highlands Community Ministries that kicked off this week.
PCCYFS Conference
Honored to lead at session at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth, & Family Services (PCCYFS). We had a fantastic interactive discussion on strategic planning and I enjoyed meeting so many talented leaders dedicated to improving the lives of children and families.
Finding Your North Star Tm Through Strategic Planning
Strategic planning doesn’t have to be a drag, unduly burdensome, or excessively complex. A strategic plan serves as a roadmap to enable an organization to set priorities and measure progress. It informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities. Enjoyed discussing a healthy, evidenced-based, and exciting approach to strategic planning on yesterday’s webinar hosted by DCM Associates.
Latest in Donor Advised Fund (DAF) and Foundation Reform Proposals
Proposed legislation working its way through Congress right now could dramatically alter the philanthropy landscape, and bring about significant changes that reverberate through the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Honored to present a webinar on the Latest in Donor Advised Fund (DAF) and Foundation Reform Proposals for LawPracticeCLE. You can access the webinar either live on April 6, 2022 from 2pm-3pm ET or on demand.
Keela Panel Discussion: The Secret to Successful Nonprofit Leadership
Excited to join a talented panel tomorrow for a free discussion-style event sponsored by Keela entitled “The Secret to Successful Nonprofit Leadership.” Fellow panelists Sabrina Walker Hernandez, Sean Kosofsky, and I will discuss how nonprofit leaders can improve their decision-making skills, navigate current challenges and set themselves up for long-term success. This session is an excellent opportunity to get answers to any questions you have about board fundraising, imposter syndrome, decision-making, compliance, or any specific nonprofit leadership issues. Click below to register for free and hope to see you tomorrow!
United Spay Alliance Conference
Honored to present a session entitled “Not Business As Usual: Translating Vision Into Reality” at last week’s United Spay Alliance Conference. Joined by my friend and colleague Karen Little, Executive Director of Alley Cat Advocates, our session focused on developing a compelling mission, vision, and values and then supporting them with thoughtful business and strategic plans. United Spay Alliance is a national animal welfare organization dedicated exclusively to promoting affordable, accessible, and timely spay/neuter services as the solution to the crisis of cat and dog homelessness.
Westhaven Foundation Board Retreat
A Board retreat presents an opportunity for Board members to lift their gaze, reconnect to the mission of the organization, and focus on critical priorities and opportunities that lie ahead. It was a privilege to facilitate a Board retreat with the leaders of The Westhaven Foundation. The mission of The Westhaven Foundation is to serve the community through financial support and volunteerism and to be a catalyst to help others in the community conduct programs of their own.
Strategic Planning Webinar
Enjoyed co-leading a webinar yesterday on strategic planning with my friend and colleague Gary Romano of Civitas Strategies. It was an awesome discussion and special thanks to the Institute of Management Consultants for the invitation.
Camp Hendon Board Retreat
Healthy nonprofit Boards intentionally create time and space for growth, development, and renewal as a team. Honored to facilitate a Board retreat this past weekend with the amazing team from Camp Hendon. The mission of Camp Hendon is to give children with diabetes life-changing experiences, empowering each of them to take control of their unique journey.
Strategic Planning With Harbor House
A strategic plan serves as a roadmap to enable an organization to set priorities and measure progress. It informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities.
Enjoyed a fantastic first strategic planning session with the team from Harbor House. The mission of Harbor House is to empower individuals with disabilities and their families to lead fulfilled and productive lives.
Finding Your North Star Through Strategic Planning
In any profession, certain words and phrases provoke reactions from cringing to shrieking, eye rolling to angst. For too long, strategic planning has been one of those cringe-inducing phrases for nonprofit leaders. Perhaps scarred by a past planning effort, many nonprofit leaders and Board members describe lengthy, laborious, and ultimately ineffectual processes that failed to translate their organizational vision into reality. There is hope, and a path to a far more energizing and effective plan!
A nonprofit’s vision represents its north star, that destination and desired future state all activities, programs, and actions orient towards. A strategic plan serves as a roadmap to enable an organization to set priorities and measure progress. It informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, Board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities.
While there arguably may have been a time in the past when lengthy 5-10 year plans that took up to a year to produce were relevant, the landscape for nonprofits now changes far too quickly and far too dramatically to rely on this approach. Instead, many nonprofits have switched to a more agile approach of strategic planning that seamlessly can transition into implementation. Three important keys are integral to chart an effective and engaging strategic planning course:
Purpose:
Gaining clarity and consensus around the purpose of their strategic planning need enables an organization to understand the context and environment in which the planning will occur. Has a previous plan term expired? Is the organization preparing for an expansion? Is there an internal or external challenge confronting the organization?
One of the main purposes and benefits of a thoughtful strategic planning process is the opportunity to better understand the ecosystem or the time and place in which your nonprofit is existing. Many organizations use only their own internal data and perspectives during planning. While internal data is important, it should also be complemented with outside perspectives. These outside perspectives should include those closest to the organization, such as those served, current funders and organizational partners, as well as those who an organization may connect with in the future (such as lapsed donors or foundations to which an organization always applies, but never receives an award).
Once an organization has a firm grasp on its ecosystem, the purpose of its strategic planning efforts can transition to embracing tough choices and decisions. What must we accomplish? What must we let go? What resources or capacity will we need? It is in this robust discussion and decisionmaking process that the value of strategic planning becomes clear.
People:
Any planning process is only as effective as the leaders who will embrace and own it. Who will you include in the planning? Who will "own" the planning effort? Who will facilitate the process? Put a slightly different way, another question I routinely ask Board leaders at the outset of a strategic planning process is, “Who isn’t currently in the room who should be? A universal truth of Board governance, and planning, is that the people in the room determine the questions that are asked.
Therefore, it is vitally important that nonprofits discuss at the outset of their strategic planning process the role that various stakeholder groups will play. Effective strategic planning gathers input and data from a wide variety of sources, synthesizes it, and then enables a smaller group of core leaders to make critical decisions. The most effective planning processes tend to have a core team of 5-7 organizational leaders, ideally representing both Board and staff members.
Process:
Defining the process, or series of steps, to lead your nonprofit to planning success requires thoughtfulness and intentionality. Engaging with a skilled facilitator or Consultant to work with you to craft this process can allow the Board and senior leadership team to be fully present and actively participate in the plan creation, rather than bogged down in the facilitation of the process. In consultation with their facilitator, nonprofit leaders should evaluate the planning processes that have worked well with their team in the past and the type of process needed to confront the challenges of today. Will your Board and key staff team respond better to a full-day retreat or a series of shorter sessions? Will you need to revisit the mission, vision, and values of the organization or do they still reflect the organization’s north star?
Strategic planning is one of the most important and impactful efforts nonprofit leaders undertake. However, it can also be a process that can give even the most seasoned and capable leaders pause. This is especially true for the transition from strategic planning to implementation, which is one of the most likely times for efforts to be derailed and for vision never to be realized. Nonprofit leaders must look for a process that works for them and their Board. Finding Your North Star ™, developed by Gary Romano of Civitas Strategies, is one such research-based process for strategic planning that has proven highly effective. It is grounded in five key components designed to move planning teams from understanding their organization’s ecosystem to preparing to navigate emergent strategy to monitoring and refining the plan to ensure progress:
● Principles of Design
● Goal-Setting;
● Metrics of Success;
● Strategy Design; and
● Action Planning.
A systematic process ensures that steps are not skipped promotes accountability and results in a plan that is bold, yet rooted in a sustainable business model -- a plan that is likely to move your nonprofit one step closer to your north star.
Against a backdrop of countless challenges for nonprofit leaders and Board members, strategic planning can sometimes seem like a daunting undertaking. However, if you begin with the 3 P's of Purpose, People, and Process, you can set your organization on a path towards a successful outcome.
Strategic Planning with Harbor House
Strategic planning enables nonprofits to marry bold vision, compelling opportunity, and thoughtful planning into a roadmap that will guide the organization towards mission success. Honored that Harbor House has partnered with us to facilitate their strategic planning process, which we kicked off last night. Harbor House is where love, hope, and empowerment are interwoven, as this dynamic team empowers Individuals with disabilities and their families to lead fulfilled and productive lives.
Gratitude for 2021, Excitement for 2022
From Board retreats to strategic planning and conference keynotes to coaching, we are grateful for the memories and relationships of 2021. NTC was privileged to work with organizations in more than 13 different States last year, and we continue to be awed by the leadership of nonprofits and honored by those who have chosen us as their partner. We are excited by the opportunities and challenges ahead in 2022 and ready to hit the ground running!
Case Studies in Leadership and Adult Development
Excited to share the publication of Case Studies in Leadership and Adult Development, in which I co-authored a chapter with friend and colleague Dr. Denise Cumberland, Ph.D. Our chapter is entitled “Helping a Nonprofit CEO Pivot Her Leadership Style.” Special thanks to editors Kristina LaVenia and Judy Jackson May. You can check out the book on Amazon by clicking the button below.
FREE Webinar Dec. 8 2021: Ethical Nonprofit Fundraising, Donor Privacy, Tainted Money and other Hot Topics
Asking for and accepting donations often raises unexpected ethical dilemmas. I invite you to join me this Wednesday, December 8 for a FREE webinar sponsored by DCM Associates to learn what some of those dilemmas might be, how to deal with them, and how to implement best practices to ensure that your organization maintains a stellar reputation for ethical fundraising.