– Are you ready to launch a strategic planning or renewal process, and wondering if this is the right time?
– Are there unique considerations you need to address?
We provide the following strategic services:
- Assessing the type, depth and breadth of strategic planning required for your non-profit
- Reviewing, refreshing and renewing your current strategic plan or framework
- Designing and facilitating a strategic planning process from start to finish
- Environmental scanning and consultations
- Board and stakeholder interviews
- Community consultations and client surveys
- Guidance to equip your team to undertake a strategic planning process or project themselves
- Facilitation of Board and staff planning sessions
Essential Support
Effective strategy frees leadership to say ‘no’ to some things, in order to say an emphatic ‘yes’ to what will make the greatest difference to the cause.
– Sharon Broughton
Strategic planning is an essential support for non-profits to ensure impact towards their desired vision. A good strategy, framework or plan guides resource investment and staff action; builds a case for support; informs communication with the community, partners, and donors; and creates accountability for achieving the organization’s aspiration.
Photo: Sharon Broughton, Diabetes Canada
What does an effective strategy look like? It should be outcome-oriented, change-focused, role appropriate and framed by impact. It should energize everyone by being proactive, engaging the Board, staff, volunteers, and broader community with excitement about the vision, and be embedded within the organization at every level.
“A great strategy is more than an aspiration, more than a dream: It’s a system of value creation, a set of mutually reinforcing parts. Anchored by a compelling purpose, it tells you where a company will play, how it will play, and what it will accomplish.”
Cynthia Montgomery, The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs
Developing a strategic plan or strategy framework involves a formal process for examining what actions are necessary to move an organization forward, considering its environment and context. It builds on previous and current planning work, is informed by a good fact base, supported by engagement processes, and managed by a core group to drive the process forward. It takes a fresh look at the existing vision, mission, values, and directions based on what may have changed since they were last considered. And the process is often as important as the product in creating new commitment and energy toward key choices for the future.
If you need support in any of these areas, please reach out for a consultation to identify an approach tailored to your needs. Depending on the project, the consulting team may include at least one of our collaborators with complementary subject matter expertise.
Testimonials
Ruth Lee, Executive Director -CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses
“CARE Centre was fortunate to work with Sharon as our consultant and facilitator for our strategic planning process. She demonstrated a wonderful combination of someone who is down-to-earth, professional, visionary, a hard-worker and committed to our mission and our success. She took time to understand the unique reality and challenges facing our provincial non-profit, surfacing important insights from stakeholder interviews and client surveys.
Sharon led and facilitated our staff team’s strategy offsite, where she spent time ensuring that everyone felt respected and heard, creating a positive experience for us all. The Board strategy session and follow-ups were excellent, and our overall results moved us forward in important ways, setting us up for the future. We are pleased to recommend Sharon.“
Ruth Woolmer, Board Director – Georgian Bay Symphony
“The Georgian Bay Symphony Board is very pleased to have worked with Sharon Broughton and Daniela Nardi to create a new strategic framework to guide our impact for 2024-2030.
As a consulting team, they led a planning process that ensured effective input, thoughtful listening, consideration of our challenges and opportunities for growth, and made creative and practical recommendations specific to the community arts context. We appreciated their facilitation of our Board workshop, and their communication with the Steering Committee and the Board.
The Board has approved the new plan, including new aspirational Vision, Mission, Values and objectives, and are looking forward to implementing our priority actions. We are delighted to recommend Sharon and Daniela – they made the process straightforward, accessible, and achievable, which was much appreciated by our small volunteer-led nonprofit.
Pete Bombaci , Founder and CEO – The Genwell Project
“As a new social impact nonprofit, we were grateful for Sharon’s expertise and insights, her commitment to our cause, and her thoughtful, grounded approach to leading our team through the strategic review and getting us to such an exciting place.
Sharon’s role on our journey has made a difference, and we are delighted that she is now available to other NFPs that are looking to create a clear path to future impact in whatever area of purpose you may find yourself.”
Janet McCausland, Head of Corporate and External Affairs – Kindred Works
“Strategic, empowering and effective are the leadership qualities that stand out for me about Sharon. As a mentor, she has inspired me by her example of building culture that supports positive teamwork, shared leadership and delivering impact. From creating a new vision and strategic plan, managing through the pandemic, she grew the organization’s impact, built trust and the fierce loyalty of the team, and proved herself to be a leader of the highest esteem.“