To quote just about everyone, 2020 has been a difficult year – one of struggle and deep loss. As we approach Thanksgiving, with and without family and friends to celebrate, may we embrace that for which we can be grateful.
Adaptability. Compassion. Creativity. Equanimity. Patience. Resilience.
For weeks now, we all have been reading emails and website homepage notices outlining actions in response to COVID-19. As a consultant to nonprofits, I am deeply moved by the deliberations and decisions made by my nonprofit clients and other organizations I know. Daily, our clients are meeting human needs in profound ways. Most must push through to attend to their vulnerable clients and take care of their employees at the same time. Others are faced with the need to pull back for the safety and health of their staff and clients. Nonprofit responses are unique and situational.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “infrastructure” as: “The underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization).”
Not particularly alluring.
Programs and services. Working with clients. Effecting change. Now we’re talking. Yet, without effective infrastructure, these are not achievable.
Nonprofit chief executives and their board members do not simply wake up one morning with the following revelations:
Yet, nonprofit leaders confront these realities often. When I read a story or hear about a nonprofit in extremis, I wonder if the leadership has been asleep at the wheel. Did no one see the signs? Why did they not point these things out to each other? What were they (or were they not) talking about at board meetings?
At this time of year, I’m especially grateful to my clients, colleagues, and friends for the privilege of working and growing together. I’d like to share a few things that I’ve learned along the way – from you!
One of the great things about working with nonprofit leaders is the opportunity to learn new practices that are working for their organizations. These learnings are worth sharing with others across the nonprofit sector. Yet when nonprofit leaders gather with colleagues, it is usually with others in their field. It is not necessarily routine, for example, for a leader of a social service agency to meet with one from an arts organization. In my work with nonprofits of all kinds – arts, education, human services, community development, housing, and foundations – I often find myself as a conduit for this cross-pollination.
One of the most interesting and meaningful steps in the strategic planning process is engaging stakeholders, both internal and external. The insights you gain by eliciting a range of perspectives about your organization contributes to the creation of a high-impact strategic plan.
Internal stakeholders – namely, the board of directors and staff – have an intrinsic interest in the success of the organization they know so well. Each of these stakeholders has a unique and central voice in the planning process.
If you have ever been involved with your organization’s strategic planning process (and I’m assuming you have), you may have had concerns about the overlay of activity on an already high-tempo organization.
However, there is wisdom to the time commitment required in strategic planning. The process of creating the strategic plan necessitates a deep and extended encounter with the organization’s mission, vision, and goals – as well as meaningful interactions among the stakeholders.
Beginning with my first strategic planning engagement, I knew the process was as important as the resulting plan. Being a process person by nature, what could be better?
Let’s fast-forward through the entire strategic planning process to the time when the board of directors has officially adopted the plan.
