Impact and Strategic Clarity
Planning: Pre-Kickoff Materials
Innoweave
October 2012
Collaborating to accelerate social impact
Agenda
• Introduction to this process and expectations
• Introduction to your organization
• Next steps and deliverables before Nov 16th
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Introducing The Bridgespan Group and team members
for Impact and Strategic Clarity Planning
The Bridgespan Group
Bridgespan collaborates with missiondriven leaders and organizations to
accelerate breakthrough social impact. A
nonprofit ourselves, we share our clients’
passion for building a better world.
Your Bridgespan teammates for the
Impact/Strategic Clarity project
Samantha Levine
Manager
Samantha.levine@
bridgespan.org
617-572-2336
(link to our website found here)
• History: Founded in 2000
• Services: Strategy consulting,
executive search, leadership
development, philanthropy advising,
and developing and sharing insights
• Offices: Boston, New York, and San
Francisco (~200 staff)
• Clients: 400+ foundations and
nonprofits globally
Chase Behringer
Consultant
Chase.Behringer@
bridgespan.org
617-572-2753
Jennie Funk
Consultant
Jennifer.Funk@
bridgespan.org
617-572-2653
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Reminder of the Innoweave Impact and Strategic Clarity
project goals
• Innoweave aims to provide community sector leaders
with new tools and processes to effect large-scale
change
• This project will help 14 nonprofit organizations to
examine your current efforts in a structured and datadriven way:
-What impact you aim to achieve
-How you will achieve it
-How you will measure your success
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The project officially kicks off on Friday, Nov 16 (although
preparation begins now!)
Oct. 15:
Participants
selected
Nov. 16:
First
workshop
• Prep for
Workshop 1
includes
creating a draft
Intended
Impact
statement
• Full details on
the prep
required
contained in
these materials
Jan. 17:
Second
workshop
• Draft your theory of
change - the activities that
you will pursue to achieve
Intended Impact
• Test theory of change
- Complete a program
analysis to determine your
past performance relative
to intended impact
- Gather external evidence
to see what implications
that research has for your
theory of change
March 15:
Official
project end
April 15:
Feedback
concludes
• Refine your theory of
change based on the
analyses
• Create a learning agenda
with the outstanding
questions to investigate
over the next 3-5 years
• Determine implications for
programs and operations,
develop implementation
plan
One-hour coaching calls with
Bridgespan every other week
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Fourteen organizations will be working in parallel
during this process
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A few words on the role of the “shadow coaches”
Why are there
coaches?
• Innoweave’s goal is to
increase the
capacity of the
community sector
• One strategy to
increase capacity is
training others to
support nonprofits
in gaining strategic
clarity
• The trained coaches,
well-versed in the
tools and approach,
can then take other
nonprofits through a
similar process
What role will the
coaches play?
• Coaches will
“shadow” this
process, attending
both workshops and
the regularlyscheduled calls
between your
organization and
Bridgespan
• While the coach’s
primary responsibility
is to listen and learn,
coaches may also offer
advice and thoughts
during discussions
based on their own
extensive nonprofit
experiences
Who are the
coaches?
• The coaches are local
community sector
leaders who have
been selected through
a competitive
application process
• We are currently
pairing a coach with
your organization
• The specific person
shadowing your
organization will be
announced shortly
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Expectations over the next six months
Commitment &
focus
Respect for
schedules and
deadlines
Confidentiality
Candid
feedback
• This intensive process involves hours of senior team
time beyond the regular Bridgespan check-ins
• In order to reap the benefits we ask that you
devote appropriate focus to the process
• With 14 nonprofits to support, we can rarely
accommodate changes to the check-in schedule
so please guard our time on your calendars
• Respect for deadlines is also an expectation
• During our workshops you may learn about each
others’ organizational challenges and key questions,
which we ask all nonprofits to keep confidential
• We seek to learn about both what is working well
and what can be improved
• We welcome feedback and ask that you share it
early and often
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Agenda
• Introduction to this process and expectations
• Introduction to your organization
• Next steps and deliverables before Nov 16th
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At our pre-kickoff meeting we would love to learn more
about your organization and answer your questions
Questions for discussion
• How would you describe the
overall goal of your organization
and the audience you aim to
serve?
• What are the central
opportunities and challenges
facing your organization today?
• What questions you are hoping
to answer through the project?
• What else are you most excited
to take away from this process?
Other topics that you may
have questions about
• You team structure for this
project
• What the actual work will be like,
and how much time it will take
• What to prepare for our Nov 16
workshop (also covered in the
next section)
• Anything else? Please bring
any and all questions to our
pre-kickoff meeting!
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Agenda
• Introduction to this process and expectations
• Introduction to your organization
• Next steps and deliverables before Nov 16th
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Next steps and deliverables before Nov 16th
1• Read “Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofits”
2• Watch a short video on Intended Impact/Theory of Change
Pre-work
(the link to which will be sent over email soon) and draft
your organization’s Intended Impact
3• Plan Board engagement
4• Begin gathering data for the Program Analysis
Logistics
5• Schedule check-ins with Bridgespan (via Doodle poll, the
link to which will be sent over email soon)
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1
Before the kickoff, please read “Delivering on the
Promise of Nonprofits”
• The article, written by three senior Bridgespan partners,
provides an overview of Bridgespan’s accumulated knowledge
on the importance of strong strategies, and how to develop one
• It explains four questions nonprofits should rigorously address:
–Which results will we hold ourselves accountable for?
–How will we achieve them?
–What will the results really cost, and how can we fund them?
–How do we build the organization we need to deliver those results?
• It also includes a case study about Harlem Children’s Zone
• We will refer to this at the kickoff and throughout the process
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There are several elements to strategic clarity,
intended impact being a critical element upfront
What are you
doing for whom
and how?
Your intended impact
statement answers
“What” and “For whom”
Priorities &
resources;
Organization
Measures
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Intended impact defines success for your
organization
What? For whom?
=
Intended impact
What is the
impact that you
will hold yourself
accountable for
achieving, in
what timeframe?
The following slides and the Intended Impact/
Theory of Change video (which will be emailed soon)
will help you prepare a draft intended impact
statement to bring to the Nov 16 workshop
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When crafting your intended impact statement, keep
your ambition realistic
Harlem Children’s Zone
Spanish Students Now
2009 budget: $40M
2009 budget: $1.5M
Over the next decade, Harlem
Children’s Zone (HCZ) will help
Spanish Students Now seeks to
help native Spanish-speaking
children aged 0-18 living in the
HCZ to make a successful
transition to an independent,
healthy adulthood, reflected in
achievement profiles consistent
students in Los Angeles to
graduate from high school
prepared for college and
careers.
with those in an average middleclass community.
Specific and
achievable
Specific, but not
as realistic, given
the budget
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2
Additional sample Intended Impact statements
• Homeless Youth Services (HYS) seeks to assist homeless youth age 12-23 in
Washington D.C. to permanently exit life on the streets.
• The Enrichment Program’s (TEP) target population is students of color living in
low income urban communities in grades K – 6 who are currently performing
below grade level in school. Within this group, the Program seeks to improve
individuals’ academic performance and self-concept, with the eventual goal of
increasing their engagement as positive members and leaders within their
communities.
• Increase by 50% the number of first generation college graduates from San
Francisco by 2015.
• The San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center provides direct services,
education, and systems coordination to prevent child abuse and neglect in San
Francisco and the greater Bay Area. Over the next 5-10 years, SFCAPC will
improve safety outcomes for children age 0-12 living in San Francisco and the
greater Bay Area who are at the greatest risk for abuse and neglect.
• Create a healthy, sustainable ecosystem and reverse global warming by reducing
carbon emissions to a safe, sustainable level, in part by achieving a mandated
combined average fleet fuel economy of 40 MPG in the U.S. transportation sector
within five years.
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2
Intended Impact template (optional – use only if
helpful to structure your thoughts)
• <Articulation of beneficiaries>
Target
beneficiaries of
<ORG>
• Outcomes we track while in our program
Target
outcomes we
intend to
achieve for
them
(and
measures)
- <Specific measure>
- <Specific measure>
- Etc.
• Outcomes we will track up end of program
- <Specific measure>
- <Specific measure>
- Etc.
• Long-term outcomes we intend to track/achieve
- <Specific measure>
- <Specific measure>
- Etc.
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3
Think now about how your board will engage
• Early on, the full board selects 1-4 people (“key board members”)
who are interested in being more deeply involved in strategic planning
• The key board members meet with the work group regularly to
provide input and advice every 3-4 weeks
• The key board members update the rest of the board at each of the
regularly scheduled board meetings
• At the end of the process, the full board approves the strategic
direction
• Note: in some cases, board members have served as full work group
members and attended all weekly meetings
Review your currently scheduled board meetings
and create a plan for board involvement using the
plan template sent over email
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3
Suggested topics and timing for engaging your Board
Potential Board
touchpoints
Oct. 15:
Participants
selected
Nov. 16:
First
workshop
• Introduce
this process
to the full
Board and
identify a
subset
willing to
engage
more
closely in
the process
• Schedule
regular
check-ins
with this
subgroup
Jan. 17:
Second
workshop
• Review
draft
Intended
Impact/
Theory of
Change
with the
subgroup
• Receive
early input
• Check in
with full
Board
• Review
early
findings
from
Program
and
External
Evidence
Analyses
• Refine
Theory of
Change as
needed
March 15:
Official
project end
• Discuss
implications
of analyses
on
programs
and
operations
with
subgroup
• Brainstorm
ideas for
strategic
direction
April 15:
Feedback
concludes
• Meet with
full Board
to present
and gain
approval
for
strategic
direction
and implementation
plan
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Also before workshop #1, start to fill out the Program
Info sheet needed to complete the Program Analysis
What is the Program Info sheet?
What is the Program Analysis?
• We have provided a template for
program information data that will
be crucial to have in business
planning, but can take time to
gather
• The act of gathering this data can
also be very revealing
-Comparing “target” vs. “actual” data
can generate important insights
about each program
-In addition, if you discover that it is
very difficult to gather certain
information, that is also a valuable
finding
• Begin filling these out now, and
ideally complete them by
workshop #1
• An analysis examining your past
program data to see how well you
are currently performing against
your draft impact statement
-Are you serving the intended
beneficiary group?
-Are they receiving the intended
services in the right doses?
-Who is (and is not) achieving the
desired outcomes, and why?
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Please indicate time preferences for your regular checkins with Bridgespan
•We would also like to schedule regular check-ins
between your organization, Bridgespan and the
shadow coach as soon as possible to decrease the
chance that future conflicts will arise
-As a reminder, we have meetings with all 14 organizations
every other week and as a result can only accommodate
rescheduling requests for truly extenuating circumstances
•Please fill out the Doodle poll (which will be emailed
to you soon) to indicate your availability ASAP, so we
can block time in all participant calendars
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Recap and details
Logis
tics
Pre-work
Next steps
How and when
1. Read “Delivering on the Promise of
Nonprofits”
• Bridgespan emailed this article; please
read for the Nov 16 workshop
2. Watch the Intended Impact/Theory
of Change video and draft your
Intended Impact statement
• Bridgespan will email the video link to you;
please draft your statement by Nov 16
3. Draft Board engagement plan
• Bridgespan emailed template; please send
to Chase and Jennie by Nov 12
4. Complete program information sheet
• Begin now, and aim to have an initial draft
completed by Nov 16
5. Go online to indicate which times are
best for regular check-ins
• Bridgespan will email the Doodle poll link
to you; please respond online by Oct 24
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Any other questions?
?
Feel free to contact us at any time!
Jennie Funk
617-572-2653
Jennifer.funk@bridgespan.org
Chase Behringer
617-572-2753
Chase.behringer@bridgespan.org
Samantha Levine
617-572-2336
Samantha.levine@bridgespan.org
Micaela Owen (logistics
and scheduling)
617-572-2769
Micaela.owen@bridgespan.org
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