I am often asked about what a good strategy report
looks like – the kind you would submit to your Board and then use to guide your
organization for the coming years.
I have seen this done well by a number of
organizations, and done poorly by even more.
But, recently I had a chance to work with a group – Health Care for the
Homeless in Baltimore – which I think has done an excellent job at this. They have made it public so you can check it
out here.
One of the great things about this report is that
I, as their consultant, didn’t write it.
When Kevin Lindamood, their CEO, held a conference call with the
strategy committee who had been working on the process to review the report,
one Board member asked “Who wrote this?”
This is a particularly hard-nosed Board member. So, I held my breath after Kevin said “I
did.” The Board member said “Well . . . I’ll
just say that I have seen many, many strategy reports from nonprofits over the
years . . . and this is the best one I have ever seen.” Exhale.
Certainly, I collaborated with Kevin on the
report. But it was his words, his
perspective that captured the work that the strategy planning group had done
for a few months.
If I was you, I would be asking “So what?” Who cares if it was a good “report?” Great question.
I am teaching a Nonprofit Strategy course to
graduate students at the University of Maryland this term and I tell the
students that the test of a good strategy is that it actually informs reality –
implementation. I submit that because
Kevin wrote the final report, and owned it, that it gave the organization a
better chance of actually implementing it.
So, last week we had Kevin in as a guest speaker
to the class. And guess what? The strategy his Board approved back in July
is actually rolling along in the implementation phase. It’s not easy. None of this “making a difference” stuff is
easy. But the vision, goals, and
strategy they set are guiding them as they lay out their annual operational plan
and work to serve the homeless of Baltimore even more effectively. Staff work groups are being formed around
each goal and they are engaged in making their vision and goals a reality. Now that’s a great strategy report.
Do you have a strategy that is actually guiding
your performance to make even more of a Mission Impact? A consultant can facilitate your process, but
don’t let a consultant write your strategy – it’s yours.
For more
ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog
and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com You will find free resources you can
download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at
no cost. You can also check out my book,
Mission Impact: Breakthrough
Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if
you are interested. And you can follow Sheehan
Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.
