Episode 11

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Published on:

14th Oct 2025

From Plan to Action: Implementing Your Nonprofit's Strategic Vision

In this episode of The NonProfit Nook, hosted by Wendy Kidd, Dr. Colette Portis dives deep into the intricacies of strategic planning for nonprofits. They discuss how a robust strategy can lead to remarkable results, such as a nonprofit quadrupling its budget in a single quarter. The conversation covers the typical time frame for strategic planning, methods for accelerated planning, and the essential steps for effective implementation. Dr. Portis shares valuable insights on accountability, time management using brain science, and the importance of communication with internal and external teams. The episode is packed with practical advice and resources to help nonprofit leaders navigate their strategic planning and achieve their organizational goals.

00:00 Success Story: Nonprofit's Million-Dollar Strategy

00:25 Introduction to The NonProfit Nook

01:09 Strategic Planning Recap

02:27 Accelerated Strategic Planning with Red Development Group

02:58 Three-Day Business Strategy Retreat

04:50 Time Management and Brain Science

11:49 Implementing Your Strategic Plan

12:48 Aligning Meetings with Strategy

13:03 Maintaining Momentum and Celebrating Successes

13:48 The Importance of Weekly Tracking

14:26 Adapting to Change: A Real-Life Example

15:45 Communicating Your Plan Internally and Externally

16:44 Implementation and Regular Check-ins

18:06 Strategic Planning for Nonprofits

20:50 Success Stories and Final Thoughts

23:57 Conclusion and Call to Action

Links:

3 day Strategic Planning with Red Development Group

https://linktr.ee/reddevelopmentgroup

https://amzn.to/42h8UiE - JUST Strategy By Dr. Collette Portis

https://amzn.to/4ntu1a9 - G.O.A.L.I.E. By Dr. Collette Portis

https://amzn.to/3ImXHXd - CEOs Finish Strong: Learn What’s Weakening Your Company by Dr. Collette Portis

SBDC - https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners/small-business-development-centers-sbdc

Junior League of Collin County - https://www.jlcollincounty.org/community/meeting-facilitation-services/

https://www.bosslevelengaged.com/services-for-nonprofits-nonprofitnook

https://thenonprofitnook.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BossLevelEngaged

https://www.instagram.com/thenonprofitnook/

https://flodesk.com/c/G0H0UB

Mentioned in this episode:

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Transcript
Speaker:

Dr. Collette Portis:

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I have a non-profit client that we

did some strategy with, and as a

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result of that strategy, the first

quarter, they were able to bring

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in more over a million dollars.

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Wendy Kidd: Oh wow.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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This is a small nonprofit too.

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Wendy Kidd: What were they doing before?

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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They never, they about 250,000

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Wendy Kidd: So they

quadrupled their budget.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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In in the first quarter.

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Then they built for first quarter.

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Wendy Kidd: First quarter.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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Welcome to The NonProfit Nook, the podcast

for nonprofit leaders, board members,

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and community change makers who want to

build stronger, smarter organizations.

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I'm your host, Wendy Kidd, a longtime

business owner and nonprofit leader,

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and I'm here to bring you real talk,

real tools and real stories to help

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you thrive in the nonprofit world.

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I'll be talking with local

nonprofit leaders, community

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change makers, and experts in

everything from board development

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to fundraising and digital tools.

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Sharing real stories and simple

strategies you can actually use,

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because running a nonprofit is hard,

but you don't have to do it alone.

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Let's get started.

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All right, everybody.

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Welcome back to The

NonProfit Nook with Dr.

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Colette Portus.

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If you have been listening.

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You have already listened to episodes

one and two where we have been talking

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about strategic planning and how to do it.

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If you have not listened to episodes

one and two, I'm gonna tell you right

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now, you gotta go back and listen.

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Because we've already talked about who

should be doing strategic planning.

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We've already talked about how to get

your assessments and your preparatory

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homework done before you're doing your

strategic planning, and we've already

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talked about what all you should be

planning in your strategic planning.

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So we're gonna wrap up today with what

is going on with how long it should take.

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Give us some good examples and how

to implement this strategic plan.

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So welcome back, Dr.

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Portis.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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I'm excited to be back.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Mm-hmm.

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I am so excited about this series.

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So I, I am really excited today 'cause

we finally get to wrap this up and

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hopefully everybody will feel like they

have a plan for their strategic planning.

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Yes.

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So let's start where we kind of

left off at the last episode.

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Um, you know, we've, we talked about

how you have 15 different plans mm-hmm.

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That you're actually creating in the

strategic planning process, how long

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does it take you to create these plans?

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Yes, so industry average, it

takes about 10 to 18 months.

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Wow.

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To develop a strategic plan.

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Yeah.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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At Red Development Group, it's 90 days.

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Wendy Kidd: Oh, see, there you go.

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That's your shortcut right there.

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That's the reason to hire somebody,

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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remember?

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Mm-hmm.

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I talked about before being supported

by technology and things like that,

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and we have a number we, we've got.

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You know, a number of experts that

are on our team that help to support,

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um, ex expediting the process.

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But I mean, after 10 months, you're the

year's over, uh, we forgot what we said.

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Month one.

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That's right.

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So, uh, now I will tell you one of the

things that Red does is we host a three

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day business strategy, uh, retreat.

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Oh, okay.

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And you can get it done.

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In three days.

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Oh, that's amazing.

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So we actually walk you through,

it's an accelerated process.

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The cost, the price is way reduced

from what it's gonna cost if you

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just bring us in, um, to do it.

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But we will get it done in, in three days.

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So our next one is November

19th through the 21st.

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Oh, there you go.

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You get in a room.

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What's, what's amazing about the three day

experience that you don't necessarily get?

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Uh, when you are bringing us

into your organization mm-hmm.

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Um, is you are in a room

full of 30 other businesses.

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Okay, and we are working through this.

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Wendy Kidd: So it's

businesses and nonprofits.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Yes, yes.

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We are working through this and

you're hearing ideas and things

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like that from other people.

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You start to build these connections and

build these bridges, but you start to hear

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best practices that other folks are using

that you can implement into your strategy.

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Wendy Kidd: That's like

listening to cheat codes.

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It is like listening to cheat codes.

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I love it.

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I love it.

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Okay, so you have this three day retreat.

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Do you, do you wanna

share how much it costs?

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Wendy Kidd: Let's, let's talk about it.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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So we typically, when we

do the three day mm-hmm.

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We do it for $7,500.

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Okay.

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You get to send two of

your team members mm-hmm.

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To put together the strategy.

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Now granted it's three days, but

they've got two additional days

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of work that needs to happen.

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Right.

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And then what happens is

they submit that data to us.

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We package that data into an ebook.

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And then we send that,

we send it back to you.

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So now, oh, that's fabulous.

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Now you've got like this

manual that you use Yeah.

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To, um, to work through

your strategic plan.

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You're gonna love this part.

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So at the end of that three day retreat,

we end with our time management strategy.

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I love that.

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So I'm all about it.

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So each person walks away

with a time management.

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Um, planner.

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We teach them how to use that.

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We teach them how to get

through their strategy.

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So when you start to talk about

implementation, we are first helping

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you decide how to use your time.

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And then companies, uh, typically

what they will do is they will

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buy extra, um, time management

planners for the rest of their team.

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But this time management

planner is what you use in your

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meetings, in your standups.

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There you go.

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You're reporting based on what your

time management, uh, strategy, um,

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your time management planner has in it.

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So your time management planner, 30

things you need to do this month.

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There's typically 30 days in a month.

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If I did one thing a

day, then good, I'm good.

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But then how does the brain, so we

use brain science to develop this.

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Wendy Kidd: Of course, of course you did.

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Of course

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you

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did.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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To develop this, um,

time management planner.

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What does the brain, how does the

brain work when it's working on things?

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There's a such thing as flow.

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Mm-hmm.

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Flow says if you spend 15 minutes

intently focused on something, you

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will go into what's called flow and

you can stay there for up to two hours.

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So we wanna use that, right?

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Of course we do.

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So it, but any task that your brain

is doing at that two hour mark.

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It's maxed out.

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It is no longer gonna

be creative or anything.

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Now it is just in a pattern.

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So no creativity is happening

anymore, so you shouldn't be spending

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more than two hours on any task.

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Wendy Kidd: I can completely validate

this because if you guys know me, I've

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been an event planner for over 20 years.

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I refuse to have any meetings

go longer than two hours.

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Yes, because I found my couples,

my event planning clients, they

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could not focus past the two hours.

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It, it just, it would fall apart.

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It would be, it's hard.

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It would be everybody would be miserable.

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Nobody would be happy with the decisions

that were made after that two hour mark.

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We'd have to redo them later.

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It was ridiculous.

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So I'm glad there's actual

science to back me up on that.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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There's actual science to back you up

because what the brain goes is, okay,

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what, what is the pattern that I'm

seeing so I can repeat the pattern?

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Wendy Kidd: Mm-hmm.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Locks out creativity or the brain goes,

I am so tired of thinking about this.

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I'm gonna stop.

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Mm-hmm.

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And it does, and it, it just stops.

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So now the decisions you've made

after the two hours is like,

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oh my God, this is terrible.

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Which is why, when that happens,

then you go back and look at it and

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you're like, Ooh, this is so good.

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Wait a minute, what happened?

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You hit that two hour mark.

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Yep.

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So we train, we teach them how to manage

their time using brain science so that you

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are more effective at getting things done.

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And then we set their calendar.

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We help them to set their calendar

up so that they are getting work done

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in the midst of all the other things.

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Then we help them, we make sure

that they have a two hour block

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Wendy Kidd: mm-hmm.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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On their calendar every single day.

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But you have to communicate to your team,

to your family, to the people closest

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to you that this is my two hour block.

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My phone will be off.

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I'm not checking email, I'm

not doing any of these things.

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I'm not on social, I'm not doing it.

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I am focused on getting into flow.

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Now, people always go, well, can I

do an hour here and an hour there?

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You absolutely can, but let's

calculate the time, right?

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It takes 15 minutes to get into flow.

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If you spend an hour, that

means you got 45 minutes here

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and you got 45 minutes there.

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Right, which means you end up with

an hour and 30 minutes mm-hmm.

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Of flow.

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If you did one two hour block,

you've got one 15 minute that

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it takes to get into that.

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So now you've got two, I

mean an hour and 45 minutes.

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Mm.

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So you've got some extra time in the state

of flow, and flow happens when you go.

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Did I write that?

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Did I do that right?

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That's impressive.

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I was like, wow, I'm smart.

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Um, that's what happens

in the state of flow.

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So you want to use that and you

can use it on a daily basis.

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So we teach you how to do that.

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We teach you how to get your time

back so you're not working seven days.

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Thank you.

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How do you get done what you need to

get done in five to six days and take

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a day to do what you said earlier?

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Put your brain on vacation.

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Wendy Kidd: Yes.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Let it rest.

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Absolutely.

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'cause when you let it rest, it's gonna

come back stronger, better, and you're

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gonna be able to be more creative and

innovative and all of that kind of stuff.

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Yes.

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And you will see things

that you didn't see before.

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Wendy Kidd: Yes, for sure.

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Mm-hmm.

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For sure.

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Okay, so tell me the name

of your retreat again.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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It's the three Day

Business Strategy Retreat.

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Wendy Kidd: The three day

business strategy retreat.

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So it doesn't actually say strategic

planning in the title nonprofits,

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and it doesn't say nonprofit in

the title, but it is still for you.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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It is still for you.

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So

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Wendy Kidd: please, please, please

take, take advantage of that.

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I'm gonna have all the links

of course, in the show notes.

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But if somebody is doing this on their

own and they are trying to do this between

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all the board member hours and all the

volunteer hours and all the other people

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that we're gonna be involved, guys,

I'm just gonna say right now, you need

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to plan different times and sessions.

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Over X amount of months.

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Whatever you feel like your

group can do, do not try to do

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this all on a weekday night.

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No.

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Do not try to do this during

your board meeting, right?

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Do not try to do this

during your annual retreat.

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You won't get through it.

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You're not gonna get through it, and

you're not gonna do a good job of it.

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That's the point.

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Absolutely.

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Like you, you can get through it,

but you're gonna not do the bang up

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job that you think you're gonna do.

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And there are plenty

of resources out there.

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Of course Dr.

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Portis has some books on the topic.

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I actually have one that she

signed for me, which I love.

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She has books that you guys can, can read.

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There are other courses out

there that you can take.

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Um, there's the, uh, center

for Nonprofit Management.

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If you guys don't know about it,

they do offer a a six session course.

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That goes over six months to

help you do strategic planning.

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You might consider something like that.

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There are different ways to get it done.

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You don't have to reinvent the wheel here,

you don't have to figure it out yourself.

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There are people who will

help you get this done.

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You can talk to your local SBDC.

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You can talk to score.

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Yes.

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Are there any others that I'm missing?

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Colette?

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No.

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SB

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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C and SCORE are some good ones.

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Sometimes the business colleges.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, if their students are, if they

have that as part of their curriculum.

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Sometimes you, they can support you in

getting that done too as a class project.

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Wendy Kidd: Oh, there you go.

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Yeah.

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Talk to your local colleges, see

if they can help you out with that.

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Uh, okay.

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So we've talked about what we're doing in

the strategic planning, and we've talked

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about how long it's supposed to take.

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Once we're done.

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Mm-hmm.

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And I've heard people actually

say this, is that $25,000 PDF?

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Yeah.

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Wendy Kidd: That is not the goal is

to just pay for a piece of paper.

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Right?

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Absolutely.

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We all need to know how

do we make this happen?

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Absolutely.

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How do we

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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implement our strategic plan?

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Yeah.

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You have to be intentional

in the planning process.

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Mm-hmm.

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So you notice in our planning process,

we have that accountability report

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at the end of every single um, plan.

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Some who's responsible for it?

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What do they need to do?

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What does their reporting look like?

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Who do they report to?

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All of that stuff.

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So now you take that and now these

are the things that you're talking

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about in your standup meetings.

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These are the things you're talking about

in your 90 day reviews with your team.

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These are the things that are setting

the KPIs because part of that plan in

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the back or the the page, at the back

of the plan, the report is saying,

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what is the KPI connected to this plan?

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Wendy Kidd: What are, what are the,

the metrics that we can analyze

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as we go?

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How can we assess as we go,

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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what are we looking at on a

regular, weekly, monthly basis?

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Mm-hmm.

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What's the number?

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What's the activity that we're looking

at so that it gets reported in your, so

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your meetings aren't humdrum anymore.

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Your meetings are actually

pointing you to your, to your goal.

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So making sure that your meetings now.

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Are based around your strategy

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Wendy Kidd: and these are your board

meetings, these are your team meetings.

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These are not, this is

not just upper level,

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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correct?

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Absolutely.

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Wendy Kidd: You gotta talk to the

people who've got boots on the ground.

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Um, and it's important guys, because

if you're not assessing as you go.

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Two things are gonna happen.

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One is you're gonna lose momentum

because you forgot all about that plan.

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You put it on a shelf, you put it in

a file cabinet, you put it on hard

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drive, nobody's looking at it anymore.

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Right?

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Wendy Kidd: Right.

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Nobody's, and when nobody's think looking

at it, then nobody's thinking about it.

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Absolutely.

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So you're not actually implementing,

um, you're gonna lose your momentum.

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But number two, if you are measuring as

you go, you can celebrate your successes,

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which is gonna keep that momentum going.

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And you're gonna see the things

that aren't working very quickly.

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Yeah.

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And you can pivot.

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Absolutely.

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Everybody hates that word,

but I love that word.

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You can pivot, you can see that

this is, this program's not working.

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Absolutely.

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We're doing something wrong here.

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Absolutely.

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So we need to put pause.

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And we need to reassess.

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Yes.

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Right?

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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Absolutely.

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So that's also the, the, the

thing that's magical about the

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time management planner mm-hmm.

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Is on a weekly basis you

are now tracking Yes.

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So you know where you're behind

and where you need to make up.

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You don't wait until the end of

the year and go, oh my God, we

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are going to miss the mark, you

know, at the end of the week.

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That you missed the mark, so

now you know where to put it in

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and make it up the next week.

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But to your point, this isn't a plan.

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You write it and you're done.

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This is, you make tiny tweaks along

the way because things happen.

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Sometimes you get to a goal faster,

sometimes the whole world changes and

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that thing's not even relevant anymore.

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And so you, you do away with that.

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This strategic planning process

that we used saved our business.

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We started, uh, Red Development

Group September of:

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Oh my goodness.

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March of 2020.

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Goodness.

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COVID happened.

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Yes.

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We had a, um, national tour that we

st,:

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Wendy Kidd: Of course,

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Dr. Collette Portis:

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and without this plan, we would

not have known how to pivot.

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What to do in our business in

order to sustain the business

405

:

so that it could keep going.

406

:

And there were a couple of

tweaks that we needed to make.

407

:

We made them and we kept going.

408

:

We didn't feel the pressure and

we made a, we made a significant

409

:

amount of money because we only

had to make a couple of tweaks.

410

:

We didn't have to figure it all out.

411

:

We only had to figure

out a couple of things.

412

:

Wendy Kidd: That's amazing.

413

:

Mm-hmm.

414

:

That's amazing.

415

:

And I think that that is.

416

:

Something that we all forget

that the world changes underneath

417

:

our feet and we all know it.

418

:

Mm-hmm.

419

:

It's ingrained in us, but we, we forget

that we can actually make plans that

420

:

will help us get through those times.

421

:

Yeah.

422

:

You know, we can build

that, that thinking muscle.

423

:

Absolutely.

424

:

We're making our strategic planning

so that we have the ability to

425

:

go, oh, because we have been

assessing, so when the world

426

:

changes, we know it's not a surprise.

427

:

And we can make plans

to take care of that.

428

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

429

:

And, and let me add this.

430

:

Once your plan is done, you need to talk

to your internal and your external team.

431

:

Wendy Kidd: Yes.

432

:

I was just gonna ask you this.

433

:

Mm-hmm.

434

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

435

:

If you've hired an attorney firm,

there are portions of that plan that

436

:

your attorney firm needs to know about

and you need to have a conversation.

437

:

So your next meeting with them, you

need to be talking to them about

438

:

the portions of that plan that is

relevant to their work for you.

439

:

Yeah.

440

:

Your accountant, your CPA.

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:

Needs to be.

442

:

You need to be talking to them about

what's relevant, what your financial

443

:

goals are, all of that kind of stuff.

444

:

Wendy Kidd: They need to

be tracking it for you.

445

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

446

:

Absolutely.

447

:

Absolutely.

448

:

Yeah, absolutely.

449

:

And then when they create your

budget or you create your,

450

:

however you do that, there should

be a line item for every plan.

451

:

Yes.

452

:

And there should be dollars

connected to every plan.

453

:

Yes.

454

:

And that needs to be tracked.

455

:

Wendy Kidd: And if you guys just

listen to my podcast with Kelsey,

456

:

with Educated Bookkeeping, she

has settings in QuickBooks that

457

:

she needs to set up to track

458

:

your

459

:

plans.

460

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

461

:

Yes, absolutely, absolutely.

462

:

So implementation is not about creating

the plan and then letting it sit.

463

:

Correct.

464

:

It's about creating the plan, delegating

who's responsible for the plan.

465

:

And then checking back with them on a

regular basis to see how they're doing.

466

:

Yes.

467

:

Not micromanaging them by no

stretch of the imagination, but

468

:

you're saying, how's it going?

469

:

How can I support you?

470

:

What additional resources do you need?

471

:

Wendy Kidd: Is it working?

472

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

473

:

Is it working?

474

:

Mm-hmm.

475

:

Do we need to make a tweak?

476

:

What you are finding out what's going on?

477

:

They should be sending you a

report every single month on

478

:

their area of the strategy.

479

:

It is.

480

:

We've given you the report.

481

:

It's connected to the plan.

482

:

Yeah.

483

:

So complete the report,

have them send it to you.

484

:

You review that, and then you meet with

your team to say, here's where we are.

485

:

Because if for some

reason sales is off, yes.

486

:

Right?

487

:

Then who do you think we should talk to?

488

:

Marketing.

489

:

What are you doing?

490

:

Social media, what are

you doing, branding?

491

:

What are you doing?

492

:

Community events, what are you all doing?

493

:

Mm-hmm.

494

:

Because it may not be

a sales issue, right?

495

:

It could be an issue somewhere else,

but if we've been paying attention and

496

:

marketing has been failing, then we

can expect that sales might struggle.

497

:

Wendy Kidd: Absolutely.

498

:

Well, and I think that it's important

for the nonprofits as well to talk

499

:

about what their strategic plan is.

500

:

Because it's part of what they do.

501

:

They need to be communicating

it to the donors.

502

:

Absolutely.

503

:

They need to be communicating it to

the community that they're serving.

504

:

They're saying you need to be able to say,

Hey guys, we are now gonna do X, Y, Z.

505

:

Absolutely.

506

:

To accomplish that, we are

gonna need one, two, $3

507

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

508

:

and fundraising around it.

509

:

Wendy Kidd: You are gonna

need to hold this event.

510

:

Mm-hmm.

511

:

Because that's what's gonna

help us focus in on, it's gonna

512

:

help us bring in the money.

513

:

All the things.

514

:

Yeah.

515

:

You know, you need to reach out to the

new partners in the community that now

516

:

might be a better fit for you because

of what those plans are gonna be.

517

:

Absolutely.

518

:

So there's a lot of information that

comes out of that plan that also has to

519

:

be communicated, not just to your teams,

not just to accomplish it, but to promote

520

:

it in the community and make sure that

it's actually happening and people know

521

:

what's going on with your organization.

522

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

523

:

And then guess what, when you decide

that you're going to submit that grant.

524

:

Guess where your data's coming from.

525

:

Yes, those reports.

526

:

It's so much easier now.

527

:

You just pull data down because

people are reporting to you all the

528

:

time about how you're impacting the

community, what your results are,

529

:

what you need, those kinds of things.

530

:

And it makes, it just makes work easier.

531

:

Yes.

532

:

Because now you're doing

work informed by data.

533

:

Which is informed by the plan

you've created with the intention

534

:

of getting to your mission.

535

:

Wendy Kidd: Yes.

536

:

And if you're tracking it as

you go, it's so much easier to

537

:

do your next strategic plan.

538

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

539

:

Absolutely.

540

:

Absolutely.

541

:

Because that plan, the working

of that plan is gonna tell

542

:

you what needs to come after.

543

:

Wendy Kidd: Absolutely.

544

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

545

:

What needs to come next.

546

:

Wendy Kidd: Absolutely.

547

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

548

:

So strategic planning for me and, and, and

remembering that a strategic plan is not

549

:

a business plan, they are not the same.

550

:

Mm-hmm.

551

:

Strategic planning is the key.

552

:

It's the, that's the reason why Fortune

50 companies, fortune 500 companies

553

:

are doing it because it is the key

to getting to where you want to go.

554

:

It's your roadmap.

555

:

It's your GPS, it is your guiding star.

556

:

It is the light that is

lighting the path to get you.

557

:

Did I give enough analogies?

558

:

Wendy Kidd: Yes, I love it.

559

:

I love it.

560

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

561

:

To get you where you need to go.

562

:

Yeah.

563

:

If you want to get there and you wanna

be successful, then make it important.

564

:

And it could mean, for

instance, with my team.

565

:

The second week or the third week

of of December, we take off, I

566

:

take my team somewhere and we go

sit in a room for a whole week.

567

:

Mm-hmm.

568

:

And we plan mm-hmm.

569

:

What does, what did last year?

570

:

What did we do this year?

571

:

Mm-hmm.

572

:

And then how does it compare to last year?

573

:

Mm-hmm.

574

:

And then, all right, well, what

do we want to do the next year?

575

:

Create the process of getting it

done and make it, make it a big deal.

576

:

Wendy Kidd: Absolutely.

577

:

Absolutely.

578

:

Okay.

579

:

So I know you've gotta have

a success story or two.

580

:

Okay?

581

:

Yeah.

582

:

And I would really love to hear about

some things that you have made happen.

583

:

For the nonprofit.

584

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

585

:

I have a non-profit client that we

did some strategy with, and as a

586

:

result of that strategy, the first

quarter, they were able to bring

587

:

in more over a million dollars.

588

:

Wendy Kidd: Oh wow.

589

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

590

:

This is a small nonprofit too.

591

:

Wendy Kidd: What were they doing before?

592

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

593

:

They never, they about 250,000

594

:

Wendy Kidd: so they could

quadrupled their budget.

595

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

596

:

In in the first quarter.

597

:

Then they built for first quarter.

598

:

Wendy Kidd: First quarter.

599

:

Wow.

600

:

Yeah.

601

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

602

:

And then they built

relationships with Chick-fil-A.

603

:

They built relationships

with American Airlines.

604

:

They built relationships with all of these

bigger, um, companies and organizations,

605

:

bank that support what they do now.

606

:

And they are like killing it.

607

:

But it is all because of, they sat down

and was intentional about their strategy

608

:

and they were able to share that.

609

:

Wendy Kidd: And that's, I think the

number one thing is being intentional.

610

:

And I, I, I, I know everyone does

the strategic planning and they

611

:

all love to say, well, we do this

every year, but I hear so many

612

:

people from the smaller nonprofits

telling me, it was just my board.

613

:

Mm-hmm.

614

:

There was a lot of brainstorming and

not a, not a whole lot of action.

615

:

There was a whole lot of talk.

616

:

Yeah.

617

:

But not a lot of action.

618

:

Yeah.

619

:

Um, or we just didn't have

the money for our plans.

620

:

Yeah.

621

:

And I think that all comes back

to is the strategic, strategic

622

:

planning was not data driven.

623

:

Mm-hmm.

624

:

You didn't do any

assessment right upfront.

625

:

Right.

626

:

Um, I think that you didn't have

the right people in the room.

627

:

Yeah.

628

:

And you certainly didn't have

any plans on how to implement it.

629

:

Absolutely.

630

:

And I think that's what

it all comes back to.

631

:

So, um, are there any words of wisdom

that you want to leave the group with?

632

:

Now that we've talked about

all the different levels?

633

:

Yeah.

634

:

Have we, have we missed anything

that our nonprofits need to

635

:

know about strategic planning?

636

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

637

:

I would say, um, don't make an excuse.

638

:

If you intend to win, be

intentional about winning.

639

:

Wendy Kidd: Yes,

640

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

641

:

go do the work.

642

:

The book that we use, the tools

that we use to walk our clients

643

:

through are available on Amazon.

644

:

Yes, it is.

645

:

You, you can get it for 35 bucks, right?

646

:

And sit down with your team and

walk through the whole process.

647

:

Don't skimp.

648

:

Don't, don't feel like as a

nonprofit, this doesn't apply to me.

649

:

The question is, how does it apply

to us as a nonprofit, because

650

:

you're not creating revenue.

651

:

Well, most of you aren't creating revenue,

but you're absolutely fundraising.

652

:

Change the word, but be intentional about

it, and not just being intentional about

653

:

getting it done and, and checking the box.

654

:

Know that getting it done gets you

to the, to the, the starting line.

655

:

Wendy Kidd: Exactly.

656

:

Dr. Collette Portis:

657

:

Implementing it inside of your

organization and making sure

658

:

that you are using it, and it

is informing your every day.

659

:

Is what's going to get

you to the finish line.

660

:

Wendy Kidd: Absolutely.

661

:

It's like we both said earlier,

you gotta make the time.

662

:

Absolutely.

663

:

You gotta make the time to be successful.

664

:

If you are are doing that now,

you'll be successful in the future.

665

:

If you wait to do it in the future, you're

not gonna be successful till way later.

666

:

Absolutely.

667

:

So, uh, I hope everybody has gotten

as much out of this as we have.

668

:

I know we've had a great

time talking about this.

669

:

Thank you so much for sharing what you

guys do for your clients and what that

670

:

strategic planning should look like.

671

:

I think that that is such an

eye-opener for so many people.

672

:

And guys, I hope you

really benefit from this.

673

:

So thank you so much for

listening and we'll see you

674

:

next time on the NonProfit Nook.

675

:

Thanks for listening

to The NonProfit Nook.

676

:

We're building better nonprofits together.

677

:

If you found today's episode

helpful, please subscribe, leave

678

:

a review and share it with other

nonprofit leaders who need support.

679

:

Follow The NonProfit Nook on social

media and sign up for our email

680

:

list for extra tips and updates.

681

:

You can also visit The NonProfit Nook.com

682

:

to see the show notes and leave a comment

telling me what topics you want next.

683

:

Your feedback shapes the show.

684

:

See you next time.

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About the Podcast

The NonProfit Nook
Tools, Tips & Real Talk for Changemakers
Welcome to The NonProfit Nook — the podcast for nonprofit leaders, board members, staff, and community champions who want to strengthen their organizations and make a bigger impact... without burning out in the process.

I’m Wendy Kidd—business owner for over 20 years and nonprofit leader for just as long. I created this show because I know how overwhelming it can be to lead a nonprofit. Most of us didn’t get into this work thinking we’d be running a business—we just wanted to help people. But the truth is, running a nonprofit *is* running a business, and I’m here to help make that part easier.

Each week on The NonProfit Nook, you’ll get real talk and real tools.
We’ll dive into the nuts and bolts of nonprofit management—strategic planning, budgeting, board engagement, donor communication, volunteer recruitment, and more. No fluff—just practical advice and conversations that help you work smarter and lead with confidence.

You’ll also hear:
- Stories from inspiring North Texas nonprofits and the local heroes behind them
- Tips from experts on marketing, digital tools, DEI, nonprofit culture, and sustainable leadership
- Real conversations about burnout, boundaries, time management, and self-care—because leadership shouldn’t feel lonely

Whether you're leading a nonprofit, supporting one, or just passionate about the mission, The NonProfit Nook will give you the tools, encouragement, and inspiration you need to thrive.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, leave a review to support the show, and follow us on social media @thenonprofitnook for more nonprofit insights, stories, and resources.

Let’s make nonprofit life a little easier—and a lot more impactful.

About your host

Profile picture for Wendy Kidd

Wendy Kidd

Wendy Kidd is a seasoned event planner, nonprofit leader, and small business consultant with over 20 years of experience helping organizations thrive. As the host of The NonProfit Nook, she draws on her deep knowledge of running a business, fundraising, volunteer engagement, and community building to share practical strategies and inspiring stories with nonprofit leaders.

Passionate about equipping nonprofit professionals with the tools they need to create lasting change, Wendy brings an approachable, encouraging style to every episode—making complex topics simple and actionable.