Strategic planning
Q: I’ve suffered through strategic planning processes before...a lot of brainstorming, but not a lot of prioritizing. We ended up with an overwhelming laundry list of things to do. But we had no clear way forward. How will it be different this time if I collaborate with you?
A: At Grace Social Sector Consulting, we make sure strategic planning is engaging, equitable, participatory, and dare I say FUN. There’s time and space for brainstorming AND prioritizing. If your group comes up with more than 5 strategic priorities, we'll narrow the focus to no more than 5 big goals.
Q: At my last organization, the strategic plan was so long and complicated that no one could wade through it or use it. Pointless! I want to avoid that. Will I if I hire you?
A: Yes indeed. Here’s why: Grace Social Sector Consulting believes in creating plans that marry aspirations with the real world (i.e. reasonable and doable). You’ll finish our process with a 1- to 2-page strategic plan that:
Q: My organization has a ton of stakeholders. I am not sure how to effectively involve them in the planning process, without it feeling like we have too many voices and opinions to sort out. How do you handle this?
A: When we team up, you’ll choose your ad hoc strategic planning committee—a small group of up to 5 people to guide the process. This small, manageable group will decide who’s interviewed, who’s in a focus group, and who’s surveyed.
Then we’ll involve your key leaders in the planning process, via a series of guided conversations that consider both the right brain and the left brain. Grace Social Sector Consulting will kick off these planning sessions with summaries of the key themes that emerged from interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Each online session will consist of fast-paced, 2- to 3-hour online conversations that each build on previous sessions and/or a longer in-person retreat.
Through these facilitated conversations, your group will easily identify key priorities + success criteria, and more clearly envision your future. And we’ll get buy-in from key constituents by building in rounds of feedback and input.
Q: What will happen after Year 1?
A: We at Grace Social Sector Consulting know that life changes too fast to invest too much time in trying to create an implementation plan that’s longer than one year. As part of our work together, you’ll agree on how and when to review your Year-1 implementation plan, and how and when to create your Year-2 and Year-3 plans.
Q: Our last strategic planning session included an in-person retreat. Can this be done remotely instead to make it easier for more people to participate without travel?
A: Absolutely. Using a combination of video conferencing and digital collaborative tools, your group will enjoy a series of focused 90-minute to 3-hour conversations. Each session builds on previous sessions. By experiencing the process in manageable pieces with time to digest in between, your group will more easily identify key priorities + success criteria, and more clearly envision your future. Remote options can also save your organization money, and make the process more accessible and manageable for volunteers and staff.
A: At Grace Social Sector Consulting, we make sure strategic planning is engaging, equitable, participatory, and dare I say FUN. There’s time and space for brainstorming AND prioritizing. If your group comes up with more than 5 strategic priorities, we'll narrow the focus to no more than 5 big goals.
Q: At my last organization, the strategic plan was so long and complicated that no one could wade through it or use it. Pointless! I want to avoid that. Will I if I hire you?
A: Yes indeed. Here’s why: Grace Social Sector Consulting believes in creating plans that marry aspirations with the real world (i.e. reasonable and doable). You’ll finish our process with a 1- to 2-page strategic plan that:
- identifies your top, high-level goals
- establishes success indicators
- generates a detailed, first-year implementation plan with accountability and timelines
Q: My organization has a ton of stakeholders. I am not sure how to effectively involve them in the planning process, without it feeling like we have too many voices and opinions to sort out. How do you handle this?
A: When we team up, you’ll choose your ad hoc strategic planning committee—a small group of up to 5 people to guide the process. This small, manageable group will decide who’s interviewed, who’s in a focus group, and who’s surveyed.
Then we’ll involve your key leaders in the planning process, via a series of guided conversations that consider both the right brain and the left brain. Grace Social Sector Consulting will kick off these planning sessions with summaries of the key themes that emerged from interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Each online session will consist of fast-paced, 2- to 3-hour online conversations that each build on previous sessions and/or a longer in-person retreat.
Through these facilitated conversations, your group will easily identify key priorities + success criteria, and more clearly envision your future. And we’ll get buy-in from key constituents by building in rounds of feedback and input.
Q: What will happen after Year 1?
A: We at Grace Social Sector Consulting know that life changes too fast to invest too much time in trying to create an implementation plan that’s longer than one year. As part of our work together, you’ll agree on how and when to review your Year-1 implementation plan, and how and when to create your Year-2 and Year-3 plans.
Q: Our last strategic planning session included an in-person retreat. Can this be done remotely instead to make it easier for more people to participate without travel?
A: Absolutely. Using a combination of video conferencing and digital collaborative tools, your group will enjoy a series of focused 90-minute to 3-hour conversations. Each session builds on previous sessions. By experiencing the process in manageable pieces with time to digest in between, your group will more easily identify key priorities + success criteria, and more clearly envision your future. Remote options can also save your organization money, and make the process more accessible and manageable for volunteers and staff.
Impact mapping
Q: We send evaluations at the end of each program. Is adding an impact mapping process really necessary?
A: Post-program evaluations (AKA smile sheets) typically only gather data on how much participants enjoyed an experience. And certainly, how attendees experience programs IS important. Yet mapping the program impact and getting clear about desired outcomes allows you to ask questions that test your assumptions and learn the extent to which your programs are meeting your goals—or falling short.
Q. We are not grant funded. Is impact mapping still worth the effort?
A. Having insights into institutional funders from impact mapping is definitely useful. The process also deepens your board, staff, and all internal stakeholders’ understanding of your programs. Impact mapping generates alignment among your stakeholders on your desired outcomes for the program and your organization. And you may uncover some desired outcomes that your program currently can’t deliver that point to possible program enhancements.
Q. I have heard impact mapping called a “theory of change.” Is this the same thing?
A. Essentially an impact map is the same as a theory of change or a logic model. In some instances, the language of “theory of change” can be intimidating to some constituents, so at Grace Social Sector Consulting, we use the term impact mapping.
Q. Impact maps and theories of change seem to assume linear relationships between actions and outcomes. Our programs have many elements, and the people we serve have many life aspects that impact their experiences. How does your process account for this?
A. Yes, impact maps simplify what is rarely simple. And the map is not the territory. Impact maps are never meant to capture all the possible permutations. Each person participating in your offerings will have their own unique experience. Our process generates insights into which program elements and intended outcomes to focus on, and can help you demonstrate how changes are unfolding for participants—beyond just reporting how many people participated.
Q. We already track how many people participate in our programs. How is this different?
A. Tracking how many people are participating in each of your programs is important to track interest. Yet you can go deeper, and begin to capture data on what’s changing for participants. What are you hoping they’ll walk away with after participating? What will be different in their lives? By identifying these elements, and then creating ways to capture this information, you can demonstrate your impact.
Service Audit
Q. We are good at adding new things and new initiatives. But we rarely think about what we might stop doing. How would this process help us?
A. This is one of the most common problems among nonprofits. Nonprofit leaders tend to be ambitious, and want to do everything they can to further the mission of their organization. Yet every organization has resource limits. It’s good practice to periodically take stock, and assess whether everything you are doing is fully aligned with your mission. Whether you are fully capitalizing on your organization’s unique strengths and competencies. And whether each program contributes to your organization’s sustainability.
Q. We have a couple initiatives that are beloved by a small but influential constituency. Leadership has been loath to tackle these conversations. How might this process help?
A. This is one of the exact situations that this process is designed for. By looking at your program and service mix as a totality—with common criteria instead of program by program—you have a greater chance of enjoying more deliberate conversations about the strengths and challenges of each initiative within the organization.
Q. What happens once a program or initiative is identified as an item for the “stop” list?
A. Ultimately what you do about any program and the results of the audit is up to your organization. There are a number of alternative paths available. You might decide to change the program, so that it demands fewer resources yet continues to serve those invested in it. You could choose to look for a partner organization to take over the program. You might slowly sunset the program over time. Or you could shut it down….along with other alternatives as well.
A. This is one of the most common problems among nonprofits. Nonprofit leaders tend to be ambitious, and want to do everything they can to further the mission of their organization. Yet every organization has resource limits. It’s good practice to periodically take stock, and assess whether everything you are doing is fully aligned with your mission. Whether you are fully capitalizing on your organization’s unique strengths and competencies. And whether each program contributes to your organization’s sustainability.
Q. We have a couple initiatives that are beloved by a small but influential constituency. Leadership has been loath to tackle these conversations. How might this process help?
A. This is one of the exact situations that this process is designed for. By looking at your program and service mix as a totality—with common criteria instead of program by program—you have a greater chance of enjoying more deliberate conversations about the strengths and challenges of each initiative within the organization.
Q. What happens once a program or initiative is identified as an item for the “stop” list?
A. Ultimately what you do about any program and the results of the audit is up to your organization. There are a number of alternative paths available. You might decide to change the program, so that it demands fewer resources yet continues to serve those invested in it. You could choose to look for a partner organization to take over the program. You might slowly sunset the program over time. Or you could shut it down….along with other alternatives as well.
Organizational Assessment
Q. I am thinking that it might be a good time to do strategic planning, but I am not sure, what are other options?
A. When leaders are feeling that ‘something is not quite right’ often a first go-to is to think it is time to do strategic planning. Taking the first step of doing an organizational assessment instead gives insight into what is really going on in your organization and what folks are thinking about. With this information you are then able to make more informed decisions about where to focus your energy.
Q. I am sensing that something is out of alignment within the organization, but I am not sure what others think. How might an organizational assessment help?
A. By taking stock of your current state and engaging all your key stakeholders in the assessment process, you will learn where there is agreement on what are the key issues and where there is a variety of opinions. You will learn what your stakeholders see as your strengths and challenges and what is most important to focus on right now.
Q. Once an organizational assessment is complete, will Grace Social Sector Consulting help us address the issues that are identified?
A. It depends on what the findings reveal. When the assessment points to a need:
- to prioritize what the organization is offering, a service audit would be a natural next step.
- be able to demonstrate the outcomes of your programs, impact mapping would be a natural next step.
- for a short or mid-term plan, strategic planning would be a natural next step.
When the assessment points to other needs, Grace Social Sector Consulting will refer you to other nonprofit consultants to address those issues.