Services

Many nonprofits today are looking for ways to work with others to increase effectiveness, achieve maximum impact and extend their reach. Whether these are formal or informal arrangements, it’s important that the range of strategic alliances is explored by potential partners and the right model is determined.

Strategic alliances provide opportunities to better serve clients and customers, bring in needed resources and build stronger organizations. Strategic alliances span a spectrum of possibilities from partnering on a program to sharing back office services to mergers.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership works with nonprofit organizations to:

• Explore opportunities for potential partnerships
• Formulate ways for fair and productive partnerships
• Provide consultation on co-location, consolidation and mergers

We believe that strategic planning is the best way to address an array of challenges brought about by a changing environment. A successful strategic planning process examines and makes informed projections about both the internal and external realities to help an organization anticipate and respond to changes and move forward successfully. Strategic planning accomplishes this by re-examining mission, clarifying vision, articulating intended impact, analyzing spending and potentially re-shaping many aspects of the organization, including its internal structure, programs and fundraising.

Our approach to strategic planning begins with the impact that an organization wants to have on the community that it serves. In an era of declining resources, organizations must clarify their intended impact. What is success? The plan then outlines a strategy for reaching that goal.

Strategic plans provide organizational focus and clarity. They look to the future and offer structure to move forward. They also provide other benefits:

• Increase commitment to the organization and its goals
• Communicate organizational stability to the community
• Provide a foundation for fundraising, board development and marketing
• Create a way to measure success

If your organization has never embarked on a strategic planning process, it could be one of the best and most important decisions that the organization has ever made.

As nonprofit executives begin to recognize the value of leadership coaching, the Center for Nonprofit Leadership continues to offer one-on-one and team coaching to executives and key decision makers. Whether you are an experienced nonprofit executive or an emerging leader, a coach can bring a fresh perspective and new energy to what you are doing and where you want to go. Your leadership coach will provide a confidential space for reflecting, learning and creating actionable strategies for achieving impact

For more information about the Center executive coach, and how coaching can help you to be a more impactful leader, read our Coaching for Impact PDF.

Team Coaching for the Board Chair and Executive

Our team coaching approach provides consultation for the board chair and executive to facilitate the development of a productive relationship.

Looking to gain a new perspective on your organizational goals, objectives, challenges and opportunities? Facilitated board governance and executive retreats can also provide clarity or re-energize the board around strategic planning processes, organizational assessments and leadership development.

An experienced facilitator can help create an environment where leaders can discuss relevant issues and create actionable strategies for achieving the business of the organization. Organizational leaders are choosing facilitated retreats because they want to:

• Gain clarity in mission, vision and impact
• Cultivate a winning team to achieve an objective
• Set and achieve proactive, powerful goals
• Develop an organizational change strategy
• Build powerful and effective teams