{"id":509,"date":"2020-08-24T20:28:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T20:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divi.ameravant.com\/nonprofitkinect\/?p=509"},"modified":"2022-12-14T20:29:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T20:29:01","slug":"creating-a-roadmap-to-synchronize-the-board-to-your-nonprofit-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/creating-a-roadmap-to-synchronize-the-board-to-your-nonprofit-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Roadmap to Synchronize the Board to Your Nonprofit Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.19.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.19.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.19.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.19.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

You will find this\u00a0<\/span>article from Blue Avocado<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>very helpful in your nonprofit’s strategic planning, especially during COVID.<\/p>\n

by\u00a0<\/span>Joe Hnat<\/a>\u00a0on August 18, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

When I joined a nonprofit five years ago, I observed during our annual budgeting that we rarely launched new ventures or events. We were marching along the \u201cstatus quo\u201d path and the conditions for our clients, staff, and donors weren\u2019t improving. Something was not right.<\/h4>\n

What was I missing?\u00a0 Well, simply a plan.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0<\/span>roadmap<\/em>, by definition, is a strategic plan that defines a desired outcome and includes the major steps or milestones needed to reach it. With input from a few board members, we developed a method to create a roadmap, which soon became the precursor for the annual budgeting meeting.<\/p>\n

A few board members facilitated the roadmap workshop, and all board members and some staff attended. If there are some delicate topics to consider, an option is to have a non-biased facilitator.<\/p>\n

Participant Roles<\/h2>\n

The workshop will require six to eight hours of your board and staff\u2019s time. To be effective, the workshop should require the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • A facilitator who can keep the team on track and promote good inclusion by acknowledging and encouraging engagement with all the topics shared<\/li>\n
  • A scribe who can take detailed notes (use a computer or just handwrite on paper or a dry erase board)<\/li>\n
  • Participants who are attentive and ready with ideas\u2014participants should be very familiar with the budget, know the nonprofit\u2019s history, and stay current on events<\/li>\n
  • Two to three board members to collect data (i.e., number of clients served, monthly financials, client demographics) one to two months before the workshop; distribute the data ahead of the workshop to start the ideation process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Creating the Roadmap<\/h2>\n

    The main roadmap comprises of the following areas:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Theme<\/li>\n
    2. Current State<\/li>\n
    3. Ideal State<\/li>\n
    4. Gap Analysis<\/li>\n
    5. Future State<\/li>\n
    6. Three- to Five-Year Schedule<\/li>\n
    7. Action Register<\/li>\n
    8. Parking Lot Ideas<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Section 1.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

      \u201cTheme\u201d is focused on developing a few words that define your mission statement and your three- to five-year plan. The emphasis here is to have a theme that resonates with all board members and staff involved in the exercise. This part is important as it will help \u201cjazz\u201d up the team in brainstorming ideas for the \u201cFuture State\u201d and \u201cIdeal State\u201d sections.\u00a0 Spend 20-30 minutes.<\/p>\n

      Section 2.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

      \u201cCurrent State\u201d calls for the brutal honesty of assessing your nonprofit. We provided input on\u00a0<\/span>What is going well?<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>What could be better?<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>You can select other methods, like a flow diagram or questions to document your current state. Take the opportunity to get detailed with data and measurements. I suggest limiting this section to 30-60 minutes. Too much data (and honesty) could have the team spinning negatively on current state. It\u2019s a good idea to limit time and move onto the next section.<\/p>\n

      Section 3.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

      \u201cIdeal State\u201d involves your thoughts on what your nonprofit might be in a perfect world. How would your nonprofit look? Whom would you serve? What things or activities would not exist today? What are the numbers in revenue\/expenses?\u00a0 Do you expand or contract? Each team member should be brainstorming ideas and asking questions to improve a submitted idea. Spend about 30-45 minutes.<\/p>\n

      \"Ideal<\/p>\n

      Section 4.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

      \u201cGap Analysis\u201d is a comparison of the \u201cCurrent State\u201d and \u201cIdeal State.\u201d Identify the gaps and determine how you can get to the \u201cIdeal State.\u201d\u00a0 Is it resources, like people (more volunteers or certain skills)? Is it money? Is it missing data that will help you change behaviors?\u00a0 Document the list and use this in Section 5 \u2013 \u201cFuture State\u201d and Section 7 \u2013 \u201cAction Register.\u201d\u00a0 Spend 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

      An example of a gap analysis:<\/p>\n

      \"gap<\/p>\n

      Section 5.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

      \u201cFuture State\u201d is your vision on what your nonprofit will look like in the next two to three years. You won\u2019t be at that \u201cIdeal State.\u201d You\u2019ll be somewhere in-between, and you need to think about realistic plans for this section. Review your \u201cCurrent State\u201d and \u201cIdeal State\u201d to address a middle ground. What actions do you need to take to support the \u201cGap Analysis\u201d? Spend about 60-90 minutes.<\/p>\n

      Section 6.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

      \u201cThree to Five-Year Schedule\u201d involves listing activities and enablers in each year, for as far out as you can. Our initial roadmap only resulted in a two-year outlook. As your board members and staff experience this process, the outlook can be as far as five years. Examples of activities might be special projects, research, facility expansion\/maintenance, or performance-specific goals. Enablers are items that will help you complete the activities. Examples are specific committees, grants, new resources, or community partnerships. Spend 60-90 minutes.<\/p>\n

      An example of a three- to five-year schedule:<\/p>\n

      \"roadmap\"<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Section 7.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

      \u201cAction Register\u201d lists actions recorded during the exercise. Specify the activity, resources, supporting actions, and time frame. You might have 10 actions or 50 actions.\u00a0 If the list is too long, prioritize based on impact and cost. Also, try to share the workload. Don\u2019t give all the actions to Joe because he always gets things done. Get everyone involved. This will create an environment of teamwork that will ignite the energy to get to your three- to five-year objective. Spend 30-45 minutes.<\/p>\n

      You could create a table like this one:<\/p>\n

      \"table\"<\/p>\n

      Section 8.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

      \u201cParking Lot Ideas\u201d are ideas shared during the workshop that were considered good ideas (maybe \u201coff the wall\u201d), but were not added to the \u201cFuture State.\u201d The list is documented and stored for review at future roadmap workshops. Capture these ideas throughout the workshop and spend ten minutes documenting the ideas.<\/p>\n

      Our first roadmap workshop was incredibly successful. Our team was excited and uncovered many difficult topics during the discussion. The process of brainstorming, documenting ideas, and keeping on track was somewhat difficult, but there was a very positive feeling afterwards on seeing a two- to three-year plan. Our first roadmap energized us for the next two years and provided direction for new and existing board members and nonprofit staff. We currently schedule a roadmap update every November. This supports annual budget meetings in December and the annual event calendar.<\/p>\n

      I encourage you to have a three- to five-year plan\u2014call it a roadmap or something else. In the end, aligning to a plan will help synchronize the board and nonprofit staff to your mission. Good luck!<\/p>\n

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      You will find this\u00a0article from Blue Avocado\u00a0very helpful in your nonprofit’s strategic planning, especially during COVID. by\u00a0Joe Hnat\u00a0on August 18, 2020 When I joined a nonprofit five years ago, I observed during our annual budgeting that we rarely launched new ventures or events. We were marching along the \u201cstatus quo\u201d path and the conditions for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}