Our strategy management practice provides critical support for your organization's strategic planning process. Our strategy management projects will provide you with the data you will need to create a solid strategic plan and ways to monitor and measure your execution against that plan.

We offer a range of strategy management Service Grants to meet your needs and encourage repeat client engagements. We suggest you start with the Service Grant that best fits where you are in your strategic planning cycle.

As shown in the chart below, the strategic planning process follows a natural sequence. An organization must first be clear about its mission, vision and values as these will guide the organization through the planning process. Once this is done, the organization spends time doing research and laying the groundwork for stakeholders so that they are invested in the planning process and its outcomes. Once this phase is complete the organization will be prepared to begin the process of writing and adopting their new strategic plan. Once the plan is adopted, the organization can begin the measuring and monitoring phase, in which they will work to define success in implementing their new strategic plan. We offer support for both the research and establishing buy-in phase and the measuring and monitoring phase of your strategic planning cycle. If you are in need of facilitation for mission/vision or strategic planning we encourage you to visit one of our nonprofit strategic planning partners.

Mission & Vision Facilitated discussion to define mission, vision and values of the organization

Researching & Establishing Buy-In
Financial Analysis	Strategic Planning Preparation	Competitor and Collaborator Analysis
What do our programs cost? How much does it cost to run our Chicago office? How much are our different revenue generation strategies costing us?	Who are our stakeholders and how can we involve them? What is our operating environment like? What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats?	What are similar organizations doing? Who poses a threat? Where are opportunities for collaboration?

Strategic Planning Facilitated decision-making, stakeholder engagement, strategic plan writing, revenue and program forecast.

Measuring & Monitoring

Strategic Scorecard

What are the metrics you need to track to ensure execution against your plan? What reports does your team and board need and how often?

To learn more about the scope, deliverables and target nonprofit grantee for a specific Service Grant, click on the title.

• Competitor/Collaborator Analysis
  Do you know who you should work with and who you need to watch out for? The better you understand what similar organizations are doing, the better equipped you are to make good strategic decisions. Our team works with you to map the competitive landscape so you can understand who the players are. The team then creates detailed profiles for a targeted set of organizations, giving you the data you need to decide who might be a threat and where there might be strategic opportunities.


• Financial Analysis
  Do you know how much that initiative is actually costing you? Understanding costs is the cornerstone to informed decision making, but standard financial reports fall short when it comes to delivering the cost information you need. Not understanding the true costs of your initiatives puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to weighing financial decisions. In our Financial Analysis Service Grant, our team will help you define the costs associated with your important activities such as programs, expansion, or revenue generation. Once you understand your full costs, you can make better choices about strategic investments and initiatives, and offer hard facts to justify those choices to stakeholders.


• Strategic Planning Preparation
  Do you have the external data you need to make informed strategic decisions? Understanding the environment that you operate in and your unique situation in that environment is the key to good decision making. Our team works with you to understand the landscape of contextual information you need to do your strategic planning and works with you to better understand the associated opportunities and threats so you are well prepared to make strategic decisions. Throughout the scanning process the team works with you to ensure key stakeholder involvement, setting you up for better alignment during the strategic planning process.


• Strategic Scorecard
  How do you show your stakeholders that you are making progress against your strategic plan? Preparing your strategic plan is only the first step to mission success. Strategic execution is the key to achieving your goals. Monitoring and communicating strategic execution, however, can be a challenge. Our team works with you to translate your strategic plan into measurable targets and then provides you with a scorecard tool you can use to report your progress to your board and other stakeholders.