A strategic plan serves as a roadmap to enable an organization to set priorities and measure progress. It informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities.

Enjoyed a fantastic first strategic planning session with the team from Harbor House. The mission of Harbor House is to empower individuals with disabilities and their families to lead fulfilled and productive lives.

As 2021 draws to a close and we prepare for 2022, many nonprofit leaders are looking for a bold, effective approach to planning.  We have one.

A nonprofit’s vision represents its north star, that destination and desired future state toward which all activities, programs, and actions orient. A strategic plan serves as a roadmap to enable an organization to set priorities and measure progress. It informs the direction of the organization, generates heightened engagement and ownership of the mission, and inspires staff, board, volunteers, and the community to envision bold possibilities.

NTC facilitates customized strategic planning engagements using the proprietary process Finding Your North Star™ which was developed by Gary Romano, founder of Civitas Strategies.  Our process is grounded in five key components designed to move planning teams from understanding their organization’s ecosystem to preparing to navigate emergent strategy to monitoring and refining the plan to ensure progress:

• Principles of Design;

• Goal-Setting;

• Metrics of Success;

• Strategy Design; and

• Action Planning.

"Finding Your North Star demystifies how an organization can effectively plan and how important it is for a strategic plan to come from the whole team. The process in Finding Your North Star makes the team approach not only possible, but realistic."
— Alison LaRocca

We customize the process for your needs and objectives and can facilitate all aspects of the work with your team, either on or offsite, including designing and facilitating planning sessions, guiding the development of your action plan, and helping your team to accessibly document your efforts throughout. We can also provide the resources, guidance, and coaching your team would need to self-execute the process. Additionally, we offer landscape assessments to help you better understand your ecosystem or can provide advisement in administering an internal evaluation. Most importantly we bring independent perspective and wisdom to bear in the crafting of highly effective strategy.

Grateful to Youth Today for publishing my recent article on Finding Your North Star Through Strategic Planning.

Nonprofit leaders and board members face countless challenges, and strategic planning can sometimes seem like a daunting undertaking. There is hope, and a path to a far more energizing and effective plan! If you begin with the 3 P’s of purpose, people and process, you can set your organization on a path toward a successful outcome.