Incorporating Innovation into Nonprofit Strategic Planning
Does your nonprofit strategic planning process feel monotonous or even stagnant?
Is your process addressing all that is occurring in today’s rapidly changing marketplace?
A dynamic and effective strategic planning process is arguably one of the most integral parts of any nonprofit’s viability and success in today’s landscape. From evaluating and defining the eco-system to designing the vision and focus for the future, present day strategy must go beyond the conventional to incorporate innovation through the adoption of new services and the refining of existing services.
Given the fact that innovation cannot be delivered on-demand, it should be integrated into the organization over time until it becomes ingrained into the culture.
One method for accomplishing this is to utilize business modeling. As nonprofit consultants, we use business modeling with our clients to assist them in determining new ways of delivering value to those they serve. Business modeling starts with understanding what service area your organization would like to expand or reinvent, or perhaps conceptualizing new services or ways to deliver value.
It is important to have the right people as part of these conversations to ensure that multiple levels of perspective are heard and taken into account. When considering who to include, it is beneficial to map an internal and external ecosystem of all those that would be impacted by the modeling process. This may include individuals from your service/program team, finance department, HR, IT, marketing, end-users/consumers, funders, and/or donors. Structuring how you engage multiple stakeholders and points of view helps to ensure a higher probability of success.
Once your team(s) is established, begin by taking the time to evaluate each service line or revenue stream and determine how it has evolved or how it should evolve given the current landscape.
Ask yourself:
What will the future of our sector look like in ten years?
How will services be designed and used to address the variety of consumer personas and needs?
Capture your client experience by mapping a series of processes, data points, and interactions, so that it can be reviewed for modernization. Explore what systems can add capacity, what new ways of doing business can add better value, or how your staff can be supported or augmented in the process. Technology has jumpstarted new approaches to service coordination, delivery, and/or access and this has brought new competition into the market. It is likely that this will continue so organizations must figure out to evolve.
Business modeling may be used in conjunction with strategic planning or if necessary, can be completed as a stand-alone process in order to address current disruptors. Organizations that are focusing on innovation and new revenue streams may consider incorporating business modeling as a more detailed step in the planning process once strategic goals or areas of focus have been established. For example, if there is a strategic goal of increasing the revenue of a specific service, then one way to support the design of more detailed objectives and tactics would be to explore the business model of the future of that particular service. Understanding how to deliver new or expanded value, structuring capacity, and ensuring financial viability are all components to factor into the design.
“Breaking an old business model is always going to require leaders to follow their instinct. There will always be persuasive reasons not to take a risk. But if you only do what worked in the past, you will wake up one day and find that you’ve been passed by.” - Clayton Christensen