Strategy + Planning to Ensure Your
Chorus Will Thrive
Welcome!
Christie Hammes
Director, Strategic Development
MAP for Nonprofits
A session for Chorus America’s Annual Conference
What’s possible when you do strategic
planning that might not occur if you don’t?
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Focus for this Session



Possibilities and benefits of S + P
The why, what, when, how, and who of
strategy creation
An approach to use or adapt
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
The Times We’re in…

Economic realities driving unpredictable change

Doing more with less (money and time)

Traditional funding sources dwindling

Financial viability of individual organizations
and institutions increasingly fragile
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
The Nonprofit Context: What Defines Success?
Bottom Line
Accountability
For-profit
Nonprofit
Clarity about Dual Bottom-Line
© MAP for Nonprofits 2011
Strategic Alignment
MISSION
&
ORG. VIABILITY
($)
EXTERNAL FORCES
• Opportunities
• Threats
INTERNAL FORCES
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Strategic Planning… Simple!
Determining:
1. Who we are.
2. What we intend to accomplish.
3. How we will accomplish it.
Future
Present
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Process and Product
 Strategic process
- Engages stakeholders; builds leaders
- Clarifies bottom line
- Generates innovation
- Drives relevance
 Strategic planning product
- Shared vision and roadmap
- Umbrella for all other plans
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Typical Components
Vision = The ideal future if ArtsRUs could fulfill
its utmost wish
Mission = The business we are in; “What good
do we do for whom?”
Values = The beliefs or guiding principles we
hold deeply as an organization
Goals = The what of strategic change during the
next 3 years
Benchmarks = Evidence at end of 3 years that
we’ve successfully accomplished goal
Strategies = The how of the goals
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Who’s Involved?
 Strategic Planning Team (SPT)
Drive, champion process; lion’s share of work
Communicate w/larger group
 Board and key staff (or volunteers)
Do pre-work and participate in retreats
Prepare to implement as appropriate
 Other stakeholders
Participate in scan; possibly retreat
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Various Traditional Approaches
 Critical Issues Approach
Focus on priority issues; use answers to clarify vision
 Scenario Approach
Choose from several “big pictures;” then build steps
 Goals Approach
Set major goals; (staff) build operating plans for each
 Alignment Approach
Get programs & resources in sync w/mission
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Some Less Conventional
Approaches

Strategic Thinking and Acting (La Piana, etc.)

Blue Ocean Strategy

Jim Collins’ Good to Great and the Social Sectors
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
The Good to Great Approach:
Characteristics of Great Organizations
“Hedgehog Concept”



What are you deeply passionate about?
What can you be best at in meeting
community’s needs?
What drives your resource engine?
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
The Good to Great Approach: Three Circles of
Hedgehog Concept
What are you deeply
passionate about?
What are you
best at in
meeting
community
needs?
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
What drives
your resource
engine?
Hedgehog Concept in Action
What are you deeply
passionate about?
All children in Minnesota
have caring adult mentors.
What can you
be best at in
meeting the
community’s
needs?
(niche)
MPM leads the state in building and Increasing recognition of
sustaining quality mentoring for every “relationships” as the medium
for children’s growth and
child.
development by professionals
Across the state, MPM …
in a range of fields
- sets the bar for & supports all
Demonstrated quality (see
forms of quality mentoring
benchmarks, Goal 1)
- drives the knowledge of how to
Robustness of state activity
close the gap
(see benchmarks, Goal 2)
- leads the charge for policy that
Number and range of committed
facilitates delivery of quality
financial supporters
mentoring
Strategic alignment
What drives
your resource
engine?
A “Generic” Process-2 weeks to 6 months
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Plan to plan
Clarify parameters
Conduct environmental scan
Envision the future
Identify strategic issues
Set Goals to address issues
Formulate strategies, action steps
Implement
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Key Ingredients
 Strive for divergent views
 Strive for consensus
 The more involvement up front the
greater likelihood of implementation.
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Implementation Tip…
A Culture of Learning

Meeting agendas reflect priorities
 Foster robust, meaningful discussion
 Learning mentality – quick evaluation, for example…
1. The issues we covered today were important to our
mission and strategic direction.
Disagree 1
2
3
4
5 Agree
Comments: _______
2. What was the most valuable contribution we made to the
organization's welfare today? ____________
Your Keys to Success?
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012
Wrap Up


Your questions and wisdom
Resources:
See Free Management Library at
www.mapfornonprofits.org
Or contact me:
chammes@mapfornonprofits.org
© MAP for Nonprofits 2012