We work with social sector organizations to develop multi-year strategic plans that maximize impact, sustainability, and scale—and engage diverse stakeholders in your cause.
Social sector organizations exist to do things that the private sector can’t—yet many principles of business strategy apply equally to private and social sector organizations. The two sectors are also inherently intertwined: nonprofits rely on the private sector for philanthropic support, and changes in the external economic, technological, and political landscape affect both sectors equally and simultaneously. Our deep experience across both sectors ensures we bring operational and revenue rigor to nonprofit planning without losing sight of what makes mission-driven organizations fundamentally different.
The biggest difference between strategic planning for nonprofits vs. for-profit ventures is culture. In the private sector, one stakeholder group (the CEO, shareholders, an internal clique) often has hierarchical power in decision-making, but in a nonprofit, multiple stakeholder groups typically share power, including veto power: board members, founders, powerful donors, public sector benefactors, community representatives, staff, volunteers. Creating a shared vision for growth, and sticking to it, requires more delicate negotiation.
A good nonprofit strategic plan is specific about the scope of need the organization serves, honest about how much of that need is currently being reached, and rigorous about what programs, revenue, and operations must do—together—to close the gap. It translates into goals with owners, timelines, and accountability structures that connect board and ED -level ambition to daily work.
We have led strategic planning and change management initiatives with:
- Omidyar Network
- Clinton Foundation
- Children’s Day School
- Apollo Alliance
- New Tech Network
- FACES SF
- Moneythink
- Misnomer Dance Theatre
- Small Magic