“Here we are again,” Rachel thought. “All of us sitting around the table dreading what lies ahead of us today.”
Strategic Planning. What about those words were exciting? Not. One. Thing. What was it about those words that caused everyone to wish they could be anywhere else but around the conference room table?
Earlier, Rachel had taken time to review resources to help her plan well for the meeting. https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/strategic-planning-nonprofits. As their city and state were climbing slowly out of the worst of the COVID-19 struggles, it was time to reevaluate. Time to move forward. She revisited and reconsidered different models of strategic planning: https://bloomerang.co/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-nonprofit-strategic-planning/ She knew that just because something worked well pre-COVID-19, it didn’t mean it would continue to work well now. It was the time to dust off the old model and start fresh.
Rachel, Executive Director of their area-wide anti-trafficking organization, looked around the table and wondered what each person was thinking.
Jerod, Finance Chairman, stared at the spreadsheet on his laptop. He wondered how to tell everyone their grim financial status.
Diane, Advancement Director, wondered if now was the time to schedule person-to-person meetings. She knew that’s where she shined. There was only so much she could do on a Zoom call.
Carole, Program Director, was excited to share how the anti-trafficking awareness and prevention programs were strong. The need to keep children and teens safe during COVID-19 had intensified during the past very strange year. Carole felt the urge to reinvigorate the programs and move forward with an aggressive awareness campaign. But she needed funding. Carole made a note to talk with Diane about available options.
Ken, Communications Director, looked at his long To-Do List: create social media posts; conduct a phone interview with a recent trafficking victim; write a blog about that story; Edit and post it. All that needed to be done by 5 p.m. today. He knew Rachel wanted a redesign of the website. Who has time for that? All he wanted was coffee. Ken headed to the break room before the meeting started. On the way, he wondered what they were ordering for lunch.
Daniel, the Board Chairman, glanced at his watch. Two minutes late. He wanted Rachel to get the meeting started. He knew strategic planning was important. Needed to get it done. But he had a potential new board member to meet at dinner tonight. Time to get this meeting going.
Just as Ken arrived back in the room with his steaming cup, Rachel distributed the agenda for today. Number one on the list:
“What kept you awake last night?” Rachel asked. She wanted to know what was foremost on the minds of her staff and board members. They went around the table expressing their concerns and worries, both personal and work-related:
· The baby couldn’t sleep because she was coughing.
· Would there be enough income to cover expenses for salaries at the end of the month?
· When would COVID-19 be only a bad memory?
Next question: What do you think we are doing well as an organization right now?
· Continuing to inform at-risk teens in the public schools about the dangers of trafficking.
· Getting that message out loud and clear on all social media platforms.
· Receiving generous funding after an online auction event.
Now that everyone seemed encouraged and engaged, Rachel asked the next question: What do we do to move forward with our mission now?
Rachel referred to the list she prepared in advance:
1. Evaluate our current financial situation.
Jerrod presented the grim report. It showed a downward trend over the past COVID-19 year. Yet, bottom line, they were still meeting payroll. Still giving regular prevention presentations. Still communicating through all available channels.
2. Build for the future.
How do we become stronger now in finances as well as programming? Carole shared how strong the programs were. But there was so much more to do. They all knew it took increased funding to make that happen. Diane shared some possible hybrid funding events they could consider.
3. Reinvigorate our stakeholders.
Diane shared how many calls to donors she had made in the last quarter and the outcomes from those calls. While income hadn’t matched her goals, it was still good. Diane took time to remind monthly and major donors of the results of their giving. She shared stories with them that Dan provided about trafficking survivors; comments from local hospital staff who received prevention training; and how volunteers assembled hygiene kits for survivors in a restoration home.
Daniel detailed how he had asked board members to request time on local community group meeting agendas to share specific needs of their organization. He knew that as they talked about the strengths and needs of their organization, it reenergized them to invite others to be informed and consider regular, ongoing giving.
4. Prevent mission drift
Rachel read their mission statement and reminded the team that their purpose was huge and more important than ever. Diane shared the powerful story of a young woman rescued from trafficking.
This was Rachel’s opportunity to remind them of what their organization valued the most. And then she moved into bringing their vision into sharp focus. She explained that remembering shared values allowed them to adjust course without going off mission.
5. Increase your reach
Ken shared the numbers on how many people had engaged via social media in the last quarter. He read some encouraging comments from supporters about the latest blog.
Ken’s coffee had gotten cold. But now he was more concerned about getting feedback on how to make the website stronger instead of getting a fresh hot brew. More importantly, he wanted to help more people be prevented from a life of danger, abuse, disease, and prostitution. He knew those were consequences of a person who had been trafficked. He wanted to make his stories more impactful.
After lunch, the team made a list of initiatives to strengthen their organization in every area. They identified critical actions for a specific time period to stay on course with their vision and values. Rachel planned to use that list over the next several months. She would revisit each point during a set of meetings with her team and the board.
Strategic planning hadn’t been as painful as she imagined. She looked around the table again. Rachel knew the most important thing that happened that day wasn’t a list of plans to implement. It was experiencing a unified team. Focused. Passionate. Purposeful.
She felt reenergized. Time to get back to work.