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Comprehensive Strategic Planning:
A Key to a Successful Future |
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strat·e·gy / stradəjē
: a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time
: the skill of making or carrying out plans to achieve a goal
At OAI, we advise our clients that a well-developed strategy is critical for a nonprofit to achieve its programmatic goals and execute its mission. A sound nonprofit strategy should:
- Respond to the external environment;
- Include internal and external stakeholder input;
- Be grounded in research and analysis; and
- Leverage an organization's strengths in pursuit of new opportunities.
Thoughtful planning must touch every facet of a nonprofit's work and operations. Strategy falls into two interrelated categories:
- Organizational and operational strategy; and
- Revenue generation strategy.
Organizational and Operational Strategy
Organizational and operational strategy answers these key questions:
- Are our programs relevant, competitive, impactful, and valued by external stakeholders?
- Do we have board and management alignment on organizational, programmatic, and fundraising goals?
- Do we have staff and board resources to operate effectively?
- Are we partnering effectively with other organizations to achieve maximum impact?
- Are we aware of market risks? Do we have the right systems in place to mitigate against these risks?
Organizational and operational strategy ensures a nonprofit is operating effectively and efficiently in pursuit of its programmatic goals and objectives.
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Involve Your Board and Donors in Creating Your Strategy
The process of creating an organizational or operational strategy is a great opportunity to enhance relationships with prospective and current donors and board members. Allowing high-value stakeholders to share their input increases their personal investment in your organization. If personally invested at the outset, these stakeholders are more likely to become more deeply involved with your organization in terms of time and funding.
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Due to limited staff bandwidth, competing priorities and lack of financial resources, many nonprofits only prioritize developing lofty strategic plans focused on attaining aspirational goals without identifying the leadership, financial, and infrastructure resources needed for implementation. Many nonprofits skip this step, stopping the planning process once the strategic plan is created. This results in the organization lacking the resources it needs to successfully execute its goals.
For these reasons OAI views strategy holistically, with organizational and revenue generation strategy inextricably linked.
Revenue Generation Strategy
Revenue generation strategy helps an organization answer several important questions:
- Does our mission and work resonate with current and prospective donors? Is it aligned with their expectations?
- Is our current donor pool committed to sustaining us in the future? Are there untapped opportunities that we should/need to pursue?
- Do we have optimum engagement levels from our board and staff leadership?
- Do we have the right internal infrastructure (including staff skills and systems) to support a fundraising effort?
At the most basic level, revenue generation strategy ensures an organization has the right mix of revenue streams to sustain its work in the near and long term.
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OAI offers clients a range of fundraising and organizational planning services to develop clear, research-based, and actionable strategies to generate revenue and strengthen an organization's ability to deliver programs effectively and efficiently. For more information about our services, please follow the links below.
"Failing to plan, is planning to fail." -- Alan Lakein
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New Client Announcement:
Imagine Schools
Imagine Schools
, a national network of public charter campuses, recently transitioned to a nonprofit organization. As a newly established nonprofit, Imagine Schools is now preparing to build a development operation to pursue national and local philanthropic support for its programmatic initiatives.
In March 2016, Imagine Schools engaged OAI to help identify opportunities for philanthropic support and create a two-year roadmap that defines the steps needed to build a fundraising program. Working in partnership with Imagine Schools, OAI will conduct an environmental scan, peer-organization research, donor prospect research, and stakeholder interviews to assess Imagine Schools' assets, determine opportunities for philanthropic support, and identify the strategies and resources needed to operationalize a fundraising effort. Understanding that a successful fundraising program relies on the active participation of board members, OAI will also assist Imagine Schools in further developing a board that drives both financial and programmatic success.
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As Heard at FundCon
"If board and staff leaders are not in sync, you're going to have a really tough time positioning your mission and getting others on board."
-- Steve Orr, Managing Partner at OAI, while moderating a panel on A Fundraising Mindset at New York Nonprofit Media's inaugural FundCon conference on March 16th.
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OA
I in the News
Vice President Craig Shelley
wrote an article on "Maximizing the Return on Investment from your Special Events" for New York Nonprofit Media. To view the digital edition of the magazine, please
click here
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OAI Speaking Engagements
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April 8, 2016
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Craig Shelley, Vice President at OAI, will be presenting on Engaging Your Board in Leading a Philanthropic Culture at the 34th Annual NAYDO Conference on YMCA Philanthropy in Detroit, MI.
For more information, click
here.
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April 21, 2016
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John Lehr, President at OAI, will be presenting on
Establishing a Culture of Philanthropy at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement's National Nonprofit Leadership Conference in McLean, VA.
For more information, click
here.
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| About Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI) Responding to the increasingly complex burdens on nonprofit leaders, OAI has developed a transformational approach to fundraising and strategy consulting. Our teams of experienced professionals seamlessly embed themselves with nonprofits to fundraise, to recruit and improve board leadership, to build consensus and direction through new strategies, and to provide executive, fundraising, and financial leadership. With offices in Washington, DC and New York City, OAI has partnered in our clients' success for 25 years, helping more than 600 nonprofits raise hundreds of millions of dollars for their causes.
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