Initiating Change: Strategic Planning for Nonprofits with Expert Dr. Collette Portis, Episode 1 of 3
Today's episode features Dr. Collette Portis, an award-winning business strategist, who joins Wendy to discuss the fundamentals of strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. They cover the importance of not trying to handle everything in-house, the roles and responsibilities of key participants, the necessity of hiring an outside expert, and essential preparatory steps before the first strategic planning meeting. This episode is the first of a three-part series on strategic planning, focusing on actionable steps and effective implementation.
Links:
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://www.youtube.com/@BossLevelEngaged
https://www.instagram.com/thenonprofitnook/
00:00 Introduction to Strategic Planning
00:35 Welcome to The NonProfit Nook
01:20 Introducing Dr. Collette Portis
02:11 The Importance of Strategic Planning
02:47 Defining Strategic Planning
03:54 The Role of Strategy in Nonprofits
07:40 Who Should Be Involved in Strategic Planning?
07:58 The Role of External Consultants
09:10 Engaging Different Levels of Leadership
13:28 Involving the Board in Strategic Planning
15:09 Strategic Planning for Small Nonprofits
16:19 Finding the Right Consultant
18:15 Funding Your Strategic Planning
19:13 Alternative Funding Sources
21:09 Utilizing Local Resources
21:48 Exploring Free and Paid Resources for Nonprofits
23:09 Preparing for the First Meeting with Consultants
24:24 Conducting Initial Assessments and Consultations
29:25 DIY Assessments for Nonprofits
31:42 Key Elements to Assess in Nonprofits
36:59 The Importance of Technology and Disaster Recovery
39:14 Conclusion and Next Steps
Mentioned in this episode:
Transcript
Do not try and do it yourself.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I need people to understand that if you work inside an of an organization,
Speaker:you are in a, like, it's like you're in a forest and here's the tree.
Speaker:The tree is right against your nose.
Speaker:And if the tree is against your nose, nine times outta 10, you might know that
Speaker:there's 10 trees around you, but you don't know that you're standing in the
Speaker:midst of, of hundreds of trees and you don't know what those trees look like.
Speaker:You don't know what trees are in trouble, what trees are doing well,
Speaker:because you're way too close to it.
Speaker:Welcome to The NonProfit Nook, the podcast for nonprofit leaders, board members,
Speaker:and community change makers who want to build stronger, smarter organizations.
Speaker:I'm your host, Wendy Kidd, a longtime business owner and nonprofit leader,
Speaker:and I'm here to bring you real talk, real tools and real stories to help
Speaker:you thrive in the nonprofit world.
Speaker:I'll be talking with local nonprofit leaders, community change makers
Speaker:and experts in everything from board development to fundraising and digital
Speaker:tools, sharing real stories and simple strategies you can actually use,
Speaker:because running a nonprofit is hard, but you don't have to do it alone.
Speaker:Let's get started.
Speaker:Today's guest is Dr. Colette Portis, award-winning business strategist,
Speaker:speaker and author of five books.
Speaker:As founder and CEO of Red Development Group, she's helped businesses scale from
Speaker:zero to six figures in months and guided leaders to build agile, profitable teams.
Speaker:Named one of Fort Worth's top 15 coaches and 2023 Entrepreneur of the
Speaker:Year, Dr. Collette brings decades of experience in leadership, operational
Speaker:growth, and community impact.
Speaker:And trust me, she sent me a whole book of impressive accomplishments that I somehow
Speaker:managed to condense into this short intro.
Speaker:But her work in nonprofits is why she is here.
Speaker:And I want to thank her not only for being my guest, but for her work that
Speaker:she's already done in the nonprofit world.
Speaker:So welcome Dr. Colette.
Speaker:Thank you, Wendy.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Speaker:I'm excited about the conversation.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:So I want to preface this by telling my listeners that you and I have
Speaker:already talked about it and we have so much to talk about in the area
Speaker:of strategic planning that we are going to do a three podcast series.
Speaker:So today's is the first one, and we're going to talk about what strategic
Speaker:planning is and all that good stuff.
Speaker:But just know that we are going to get to the actionable steps.
Speaker:It's just going to be in a future podcast.
Speaker:So stay tuned.
Speaker:'cause Dr. Collette's going to bring it all.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I'm so excited.
Speaker:So excited.
Speaker:So am I. I am always excited about helping the people who help others.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:You're so good at this.
Speaker:You're so good at this.
Speaker:Okay, well, so let's start off with what is strategic planning?
Speaker:What is it and why do we need it?
Speaker:So I am, um, a Christian woman.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But I mean, even if you're not Christian, I just think the stream of
Speaker:words we call a sentence makes sense.
Speaker:And there's a scripture in Habe two and two that says, write
Speaker:the vision, make it plain.
Speaker:So he that finds it may run with it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Most people think that strategy is about deciding what they're
Speaker:going to do, and that's part of it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But strategy is really about writing it down so someone else
Speaker:can assist you in getting it done.
Speaker:Because my belief is that greatness cannot, it is impossible for greatness
Speaker:to happen without other people.
Speaker:I would agree with that completely.
Speaker:You could be great, but how do you know if there's not someone to use it?
Speaker:Try it.
Speaker:Test it.
Speaker:You would never know.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So strategy is that like how do you take what's in your mind, put it down
Speaker:on a piece of paper in a way that would allow someone else to pick that piece of
Speaker:paper up and carry your vision forward.
Speaker:That's what strategy is.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And I think it's important to note that strategic planning is not just goals,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:There's so much more to it than just creating a vision
Speaker:statement or a goal list.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Um, and that's, that's what we're, that's why I wanted to do this series, is
Speaker:because strategic planning is a big deal.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And it should be something that your organization does to stay true to the
Speaker:mission and to help the mission grow.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And if they're not doing it the right way.
Speaker:They are wasting their time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And they're wasting everyone's time that's in the room and
Speaker:they're wasting their staff's time.
Speaker:If they didn't bring the staff into strategic planning again, we're going
Speaker:to get to that, but they're wasting everyone's time that is involved in
Speaker:it if you are not doing it correctly.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And so I really want to make sure that people understand what it is.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And how to do
Speaker:it and how to implement it.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And if fortune 50 companies spend thousands of dollars,
Speaker:sometimes millions to plan.
Speaker:Then don't you think that that would mean that this is something that's
Speaker:very important to do and, and I want to pause for a moment because I know
Speaker:that there's somebody thinking, well, we're not a Fortune 50 corporation.
Speaker:Yes, we're a nonprofit, and I say all the time that we have to understand
Speaker:that a nonprofit is a corporation that has a different type of tax structure.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:It's absolutely a business.
Speaker:It is absolutely a corporation and it just has a different type of tax structure.
Speaker:So there are principles in business.
Speaker:That you still need to practice and follow, and planning and strategizing
Speaker:is one of those principles you need to practice and follow.
Speaker:You don't have to.
Speaker:Yeah, that's the truth.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You can just, you know, you can just throw seed, throw seed
Speaker:around and, and see what grows or.
Speaker:You can decide where your seed goes, why your seed goes there, and what you
Speaker:intend for it to do when it gets there.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, work smarter, not harder.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Well, and I think that a lot of people are.
Speaker:When they say, I'm a nonprofit, not a business, I, I think what
Speaker:I hear people saying from that is that they see business as corporate
Speaker:and unfeeling and without passion.
Speaker:And I am here to tell you, as a small business owner of
Speaker:over 20 years, I have passion.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I had passion when I started my business, and that's
Speaker:why I started my business.
Speaker:Small business owners are passionate.
Speaker:They're just doing it in a different tax classification, that's all.
Speaker:They're still going for profit.
Speaker:A nonprofit should be making money absolutely to be able to stay sustainable,
Speaker:so there really is no difference other than the tax classification.
Speaker:The other thing that people don't realize is as small business
Speaker:owners and as nonprofit leaders.
Speaker:They got into this a lot of times for the passion Yes.
Speaker:Not to run a business.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And so that's my purpose in life right now is to get nonprofits to realize that
Speaker:we can help you do well in business.
Speaker:Just because you didn't have that muscle when you started your nonprofit
Speaker:doesn't mean you can't develop it.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:So that's why we're doing this and this is why this is going
Speaker:to be a three part series 'cause we got so much to talk about.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And Wendy,
Speaker:I think you make a great point because in this season.
Speaker:Right now with funding being, you know, moved and, and so much uncertainty, yes.
Speaker:Nonprofits have to now figure out how to create funding for their organizations.
Speaker:They no longer have the option to sit around and wait for someone
Speaker:else to bring them funding.
Speaker:They've gotta figure out how to generate it.
Speaker:They have to be strategic.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay, so let's, let's start with the basics.
Speaker:Who should be participating?
Speaker:Who should be in the room?
Speaker:For the strategic planning sessions.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And you know, we're going to have these meetings.
Speaker:Who should be in the room and who should guide it?
Speaker:I think those are two very different questions.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So let's start with who should guide it?
Speaker:Do not try and do it yourself.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I need people to understand that if you work inside an of an organization,
Speaker:you are in a, like, it's like you're in a forest and here's the tree.
Speaker:The tree is right against your nose.
Speaker:And if the tree is against your nose, nine times outta 10, you might know that
Speaker:there's 10 trees around you, but you don't know that you're standing in the
Speaker:midst of, of hundreds of trees and you don't know what those trees look like.
Speaker:You don't know what trees are in trouble, what trees are doing well,
Speaker:because you're way too close to it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So bring in an outside expert with fresh eyes.
Speaker:Fresh ideas to come and ask you the right questions to get
Speaker:you to where you want to go.
Speaker:So that's number one.
Speaker:Yes, it should be led by someone outside of your organization.
Speaker:And it could be the same, someone that comes back every year, but
Speaker:they're not there every day with you.
Speaker:They're not in the day to day.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:So they see your organization differently and what they can hear is.
Speaker:How people are making their decisions, how people see your organization.
Speaker:'cause those kinds of things are driving their decisions.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And then they can help you to build a strategy.
Speaker:So that's one.
Speaker:The other people that are in the room are your C-suite.
Speaker:Your C-suite needs to be in the room, all of them.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Explain what a C-suite is.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Because remember we're talking to nonprofits.
Speaker:They might not be familiar with that term.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:So your executive director should definitely be in the room.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:If you have someone in charge of HR, they should definitely be in the room.
Speaker:Your fractional CFO should definitely be in the room.
Speaker:If you have a COO, they should be in the room.
Speaker:Your board chair.
Speaker:Should be in the room with that for the initial start.
Speaker:'cause developing your strategy takes time.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It is not a one day and we're done kind of thing.
Speaker:So initially your top leaders need to be.
Speaker:In that room.
Speaker:Secondarily, your second level leaders need to be in that room.
Speaker:Your program manager, your client relationship manager, need to be in
Speaker:that second phase because your upper level management team, your high
Speaker:level managers, they're going to decide what does vision look like?
Speaker:Are we still on track?
Speaker:Is it still the same?
Speaker:Do we need to make an adjustment to our mission?
Speaker:Have we met the goal?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Let's, let's talk about, and I know it's not a nonprofit, but McDonald's,
Speaker:they used to want, you know, a hundred thousand burgers sold and
Speaker:now you look at their sign and it just says, billions of burgers sold.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:They, but they had to keep adjusting.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Year after year because they, they got there, uh, Wendy and I are alum of
Speaker:Goldman Sachs, 10,000 small businesses.
Speaker:Woohoo.
Speaker:They are on their way to 20,000.
Speaker:They are right.
Speaker:They are, they have gone past the 10,000.
Speaker:They have gone past.
Speaker:It is behind us now.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:And now they had to adjust the goal.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they had to adjust the mission.
Speaker:So your, your upper level meet leadership team makes that decision.
Speaker:What's the vision or how do we need to make an adjustment to the mission?
Speaker:And then your second level leadership team comes to join them to say, okay, we've
Speaker:decided what mission is, what vision is, what goals are now, how do we get it done?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Your strategy is about how we get it done.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Which is the difference.
Speaker:'cause some people think a strategic plan and a business plan are
Speaker:the same thing and they're not.
Speaker:No, not at all.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Your strategy is talking about steps to getting the mission done.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And so you're a second level.
Speaker:Management is helping you with steps.
Speaker:They know their departments, they know their teams.
Speaker:They know what, what kind of human capital you have and you don't have.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they can inform the strategy to say, we want to develop this
Speaker:technology, but we don't have anybody in this organization that's tech savvy.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So now we need to decide, do we outsource that or do we bring
Speaker:somebody in house to develop that?
Speaker:For us.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And then lastly, you want your individual teams, whoever's responsible for that
Speaker:department to run it by those, the others that are in that department.
Speaker:To say, get everybody on board.
Speaker:Get everybody on board.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:What do you think?
Speaker:This is what we're thinking about doing.
Speaker:Do you think this is going to be effective?
Speaker:And the reason why that is important is because if I'm the
Speaker:one doing the task every day.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And all of us have probably experienced this.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:New plan happens.
Speaker:They do something new, they change the software, and now it takes you
Speaker:20 more minutes to do a task that took you two minutes to do because
Speaker:they never did ask the people.
Speaker:That we're actually doing the work, whether or not there's
Speaker:some changes we should make.
Speaker:What do you like?
Speaker:What do you, what do you not like?
Speaker:Yeah, so you should have different layers and different levels at which
Speaker:your team is being engaged with the strategic planning process,
Speaker:and you should always be assigning.
Speaker:Portions of that strategy to somebody in your organization.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So that they know who is responsible for making sure
Speaker:that this strategy goes forward.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So I'm going to sum up what we just said.
Speaker:So everybody catches this.
Speaker:There are more.
Speaker:There's more than one meeting happening.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And who is in that meeting depends upon where you're at in the process.
Speaker:Absolutely right.
Speaker:So our first meeting is our top level leaders.
Speaker:Absolutely top level.
Speaker:We're talking your board members, we're talking your, your C-suite.
Speaker:We learned what C-suite is your C-suite and board chair.
Speaker:Board chair.
Speaker:So not the the whole board.
Speaker:Not
Speaker:the whole board.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:That's an important point.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So talk to me about that.
Speaker:So your board chair's responsibility is to, to ensure that vision is going forth.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And the organization is being fiscally responsible.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:They are doing what they said they're going to do.
Speaker:Well, your board chair needs to make sure.
Speaker:Of one, what you said you were going to do, why you said you were going to do it,
Speaker:because then that now they've gotta go.
Speaker:Um, convince all these high powered com people from your community that
Speaker:this is the direction to go in.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they have to hold them responsible for helping you get there.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And if they don't know that and they're left out mm-hmm.
Speaker:Then you bring them this idea and they're like, what and why would you do that?
Speaker:And.
Speaker:We had momentum over here and why would we change that?
Speaker:And the board is, or we have, we've developed or built this
Speaker:board in this way for this purpose.
Speaker:Because your board might shift and change based on what your company's goals are.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:Which is why most boards, their tenure is two years.
Speaker:Because the organization is going to look different about every two to five
Speaker:years, it's going to look different.
Speaker:So you need a different set of people supporting you if your board chair is
Speaker:not in the room, is not lending their voice to how those top level people who
Speaker:oversee your, your executive director.
Speaker:If they're not involved in this process, then what happens
Speaker:is you've gotta disconnect.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And you lose your board.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Or your board starts to feel like they're your employee and not your
Speaker:board member and so they go away.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So have the board chair in first.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Board members come in at the next one.
Speaker:Now let me ask you this.
Speaker:I'm going to back us up even a little more.
Speaker:When we're talking baby nonprofits, little tiny nonprofits
Speaker:who, they just have a board.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's all they got.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They don't have any staff.
Speaker:Is it just those people that's in the room?
Speaker:Is it all of those people, or do we still need to limit it to just the board chair?
Speaker:That's doing this first step,
Speaker:so that's a very good question.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:When you have tiny small profits, the smaller, small, uh, nonprofits, then
Speaker:my suggestion will be your executive director, whoever their right hand is.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because there's almost always one, there's always that volunteer.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then you're going to have your board chair and whoever
Speaker:your board chair's right hand is, which is normally your vice chair.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And your treasurer and your secretary.
Speaker:So your
Speaker:officers, your
Speaker:officers are who are going to be assisting you mm-hmm.
Speaker:In making those decisions.
Speaker:The other piece is if you're a smaller nonprofit and you have say, um, somebody
Speaker:who's responsible for technology and things like that, they're going to be that
Speaker:second level, but they need to be there.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So now that we know who needs to be in the room,
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:And we know that we need to bring somebody else, yes.
Speaker:From outside into this room, what do we look for in that
Speaker:person that we're bringing in?
Speaker:Oh, first off, what you want to do is you want to find out how
Speaker:long have they been doing this.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You want to pay attention to their process, to their onboarding process.
Speaker:If they're not asking you a bunch of questions, then they're
Speaker:probably not the right one.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because what they're going to do typically is come in and
Speaker:tell you all of their ideas.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And how they think you should be doing it better.
Speaker:But I, my.
Speaker:My son-in-law is an anesthesiologist, and one of the things that I say
Speaker:to him all the time is, every time you go into that room, I need you
Speaker:to understand that that person is the absolute expert on their body.
Speaker:They just haven't been able to figure something out.
Speaker:And your job is to listen to them enough to help them figure it out.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:You are not the expert on that body.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And it's the same when it comes to any consultant.
Speaker:If consul, if your consultancy is not.
Speaker:Asking you lots of questions and measuring.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Which we're going to get to that.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Then they probably are not the right ones.
Speaker:And I know a lot of us have experienced strategic plans happening,
Speaker:and it never gets implemented.
Speaker:The statistic says 83% of them don't get implemented past, oh,
Speaker:I believe the first 90 days.
Speaker:83% y'all.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:83% is so true.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But primarily because that consultant came in to give you their ideas.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:As opposed to understand the organization, see what you have, see what you can
Speaker:improve, and see what you don't have in order to inform your strategy.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But while understanding where you are trying to go.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Let
Speaker:me ask
Speaker:you
Speaker:this, and I know this is not one of the questions I asked you before pre
Speaker:podcast, but I'm just going to go with it.
Speaker:Go with it.
Speaker:Because you know, everybody out, there's thinking, well, how much do
Speaker:I have to pay somebody like that?
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I personally, I have looked at these consultants, so I have a clue, but I'd
Speaker:like for you, the expert in the field, to give them an idea of what to expect.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's going to completely depend on size of your organization.
Speaker:If you're a smaller, tinier nonprofit and you want somebody to come in and
Speaker:do strategy for you, you're going to be looking at maybe about $25,000.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:If.
Speaker:They, they are a real strategist, and let me define that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Real strategist means that they're not coming in to just
Speaker:write something with you.
Speaker:They are coming in with tools to measure where you are.
Speaker:They want and need to know what your current state is.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then they are going to write your strategy, which is why it may seem like
Speaker:it's a high price tag, but what you get on the back end is more than a document.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You actually understand the value of what you have and the people
Speaker:you have, which I think is part of what gets missed in non-profits.
Speaker:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:If no one has $25,000.
Speaker:Sitting on their table, where, where should they look?
Speaker:Um, if they don't have $25,000 sitting on their table and they
Speaker:really need somebody to do it mm-hmm.
Speaker:Then my suggestion is, recruit, recruit, recruit.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Find you someone Yes.
Speaker:In the industry that is really, really great, that loves your
Speaker:mission and is willing to come and do it, but you have to use the same
Speaker:sponsorship people to Yes.
Speaker:They give them sponsorship credit throughout the year.
Speaker:They're title sponsored.
Speaker:Absolutely, yes.
Speaker:And then you also have to make sure that.
Speaker:You still are picking the right person.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Don't just, and I see this mistake happen all the time.
Speaker:Don't just say Yes because they decided to offer it to you.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Because a lot of times it wastes your time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And it still doesn't end up being beneficial, but you spent time doing it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, so you want to make sure that that's happening, but if you
Speaker:don't have the money, absolutely.
Speaker:Go find a sponsor.
Speaker:That's always.
Speaker:I think go find somebody who loves your mission, but make it beneficial to them.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:End of the tax year, people are trying to get rid of money.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:All of the time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So there's also, um, um, uh, what planned giving.
Speaker:You know, yes.
Speaker:Your, if your board members, if you've got board members, maybe rather than
Speaker:them paying, you know, board dues or whatever every year, maybe they've
Speaker:made your organization a beneficiary on their policies or something like that.
Speaker:One of the great ways to raise funds for this is to find out who you know
Speaker:that has stock sitting somewhere, who is willing to give you a little bit.
Speaker:'cause they didn't have to come out of their pocket for it, right?
Speaker:There's so many ways to, to there is to get it done.
Speaker:My mother used to say, there's so many ways to skin a cat.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You just have to know that you can, and you have to be determined to do it, and
Speaker:then your, your subconscious will open up to a, to give you opportunities to get
Speaker:it done.
Speaker:Well, and I think that they, they also need to look at local
Speaker:programs that support this, right?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:You've got your local incubators for small business.
Speaker:You're a business too.
Speaker:You qualify for this people.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I can't tell you how many times I'm going to say that.
Speaker:You are a business too.
Speaker:Look at those who are supporting small businesses will support
Speaker:your nonprofit as well.
Speaker:You've got your local SBDC.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:The Small Business Development Center.
Speaker:Call 'em up.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Guarantee you they've got somebody that volunteers with them.
Speaker:Maybe they'll just do a discounted rate for you.
Speaker:Maybe they can't give you a whole $25,000 for free.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Well maybe they're going to give it to half.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:You know, go to your nonprofit management certificate
Speaker:programs at the local colleges.
Speaker:Surely they've got somebody on staff they can recommend.
Speaker:There are resources out there.
Speaker:I know that here in North Texas, uh, one of our, uh, women's junior leagues Yes.
Speaker:Does it for free.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So, you know, again, look like, like Dr. Collette says, absolutely.
Speaker:Look at them and evaluate this resource.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Just 'cause it's free doesn't mean it's actually going to
Speaker:be worth anything to you.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But let's, let's look around and let's find somebody to help us with this.
Speaker:One of the things I tell people too is a lot of my mentors are in books.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I have written a book called G.O.A.L.I.E.. It walks you step by.
Speaker:If you have a tiny, smaller nonprofit, G.O.A.L.I.E. is going to be it.
Speaker:If you have a bit of a, a larger nonprofit, JUST Strategy
Speaker:is going to be it for you.
Speaker:Take it in a room with your team once a week and spend an hour
Speaker:or two hours on each section.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Thinking about it, yes.
Speaker:At least in writing something down, I ask all the questions that you need to ask.
Speaker:Now, of course, it doesn't come with the assessment piece and all of that
Speaker:kind of stuff, but if you say, have $10,000 and instead of 25, then you
Speaker:did that strategy piece on your own using a book, and then you went to
Speaker:someone and said, we need to measure some stuff inside the organization,
Speaker:then you could, you could do that.
Speaker:There's so many ways to get it done.
Speaker:Yes, for sure.
Speaker:Yes, I, yes, all of it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So let's talk about, now that we, we know who we've got in the room, we
Speaker:know who we're having come in here.
Speaker:Let's talk about the prep work before that first meeting.
Speaker:What are we doing before that first meeting?
Speaker:Yeah, prep work.
Speaker:Before the first meeting is all about interviewing consultants.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And know that you get to interview them, just like you hire anybody
Speaker:else into your organization.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Interview them.
Speaker:Use ai to help you determine what questions you should be asking
Speaker:a consultant who's going to come and support you with strategy.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:If you do not know Ai Chat GPT, we will talk about it.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I promise.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:We'll have a podcast on it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Use that tool to help you interview.
Speaker:Don't go with the first person who said yes, or the person
Speaker:who offered it for free.
Speaker:Determine how much of an impact you really want to make in your organization.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:What do you really want to do in the next 12 months?
Speaker:And if it's big things, then be intentional.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:About who you.
Speaker:And ask your friends.
Speaker:Ask around.
Speaker:Ask people you know in your industry who they've used.
Speaker:Who they've encountered when they were still in corporate America and ask
Speaker:for referrals, and then do your due diligence in interviewing them to make
Speaker:sure they're a fit for your organization.
Speaker:What is that person that they hire once they've interviewed and they
Speaker:hired, what is that person going to do for them before the first session?
Speaker:What they should do, mm-hmm.
Speaker:Is initially a conversation.
Speaker:With whoever is running the organization.
Speaker:So if it's the executive director, they want to know what the executive
Speaker:director's hopes and dreams are for their legacy that they will leave.
Speaker:You notice how I just said that?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Not just the organization, but what legacy do you want to leave?
Speaker:So when you leave here, what do you want people to say you've
Speaker:done right when you left?
Speaker:A lot of times we don't realize that we have the opportunity to
Speaker:do that, and I tell my clients, you get to write your own eulogy.
Speaker:Because really that's what life is.
Speaker:You writing your eulogy.
Speaker:You get to tell people what they're going to say about you on that day.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so that first meeting is really that.
Speaker:What is it that you want people to say about you at the point that you're gone?
Speaker:It really should be a conversation around that.
Speaker:There's going to be some questions about revenue and profit and, and
Speaker:fundraising and all of that kind of stuff, and questions about
Speaker:your board and that kind of thing.
Speaker:But for the most part, that conversation should really be about what is it that
Speaker:you want to leave behind when you're gone.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:And then what else are they going to do?
Speaker:Because I know that there's assessments that you guys do.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So now for us.
Speaker:Once we do that initial, um, consultation, our next step is to do
Speaker:what we call an operational snapshot.
Speaker:And you go to the doctor, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they're going to put your arm in a sleeve.
Speaker:'Cause they want to take your blood pressure.
Speaker:They might prick your finger because they want to take, they want to check your iron
Speaker:or whatever, or blood sugar, whatever.
Speaker:They're going to look in your ears.
Speaker:They might have you stick your tongue like they, there's, you know, you're going to
Speaker:get on this scale that we all hate, right?
Speaker:But you gotta do these things because they have to understand is the human breathing,
Speaker:is the human alive?
Speaker:Is the human working efficiently?
Speaker:Are they alive?
Speaker:Is the body warm?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right to the right temperature.
Speaker:They really should be doing that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Is the organization alive?
Speaker:Is it surviving?
Speaker:Is it dying?
Speaker:Is it thriving?
Speaker:You are somewhere in there.
Speaker:And that snapshot is going to say, in these different departments, in
Speaker:these different areas inside of your organization, we are going to ask,
Speaker:it's like almost a hundred questions.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But we are going to ask you this.
Speaker:Whole list of questions because we want to understand what the heartbeat is.
Speaker:We want to understand is the blood pressure high or low?
Speaker:We want to understand whether or where you are, because if I come in
Speaker:to a smaller nonprofit, or let's say I come into a larger nonprofit, like
Speaker:a United Way or something like that.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:And I'm not talking to them about their director of
Speaker:marketing because they have that.
Speaker:And I'm not considering that, then I have totally missed it.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Likewise, if I come into a smaller nonprofit and I'm asking them about
Speaker:a director of marketing and they're like, lady, we don't have that.
Speaker:We pass out diapers.
Speaker:That is the extent of what we do.
Speaker:We are very small, but we are trying to grow.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You gotta know who you're talking to.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:We say all the time, know your audience.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I, I need to know who I'm talking to.
Speaker:I need to know what.
Speaker:You're doing well, I need to know what you can improve and I need to know what
Speaker:your complete and total blind spots are.
Speaker:And so that initial assessment helps us to understand that.
Speaker:And when we do that for, um, nonprofits in particular, we don't
Speaker:even charge them to do that assessment.
Speaker:We don't charge them for the consultation.
Speaker:We don't even charge them for the operational snapshot.
Speaker:Then we take that data, not for for profits.
Speaker:We, we charge for it, but then we take that data and that data helps us to
Speaker:decide what additional assessments need to, to be deployed and then what is the
Speaker:strategy for helping this organization get to where they need to get to.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So all that
Speaker:is done before you even sit down with those key members?
Speaker:Oh, the whole leadership team?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah, because I can't, if I don't know that if, if we do an
Speaker:operational snapshot and, and it measures sustainability mm-hmm.
Speaker:In different areas of your company and you have a zero when it comes to finance.
Speaker:That already lets me know.
Speaker:You can't even afford to bring us in right?
Speaker:To do, um, a, a strategic planning with you.
Speaker:But I can refer you to SBDC.
Speaker:Yes, I can refer you, I can tell you, you know, purchase this book and
Speaker:take it and do it it with your team.
Speaker:I can give you some resources to support you where you are.
Speaker:But if I don't do that measurement now, I have you in a room talking
Speaker:to you about giving me $25,000.
Speaker:When you're already trying to make sure that you pay the two people that
Speaker:you have on staff, and that is unfair.
Speaker:And in some cases I think quite abusive.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Because you haven't figured it out.
Speaker:And now the, the folks who take care of our people all the time
Speaker:are feeling bad about who they are.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And feeling like they're not doing a good job of taking care.
Speaker:Of people right.
Speaker:When they
Speaker:really are, right.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So let's, let's talk DIY a minute.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So if we're going to do this assessment ourselves mm-hmm.
Speaker:What are these things?
Speaker:You talked about blood pressure, and we talked about blood
Speaker:sugar and all those things.
Speaker:What are those elements that we should be looking at as, as nonprofits?
Speaker:What we should we be assessing before we sit down to do strategic planning?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So, wait, I have a, a book called CEOs Finish First.
Speaker:I think I'm terrible about remembering.
Speaker:I mean your own books.
Speaker:And you don't remember the names.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:But it is a book that has this checklist.
Speaker:It is a checklist for you to go through and you can, if you put a
Speaker:check mark there, you get one point.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:If you didn't put a check mark there, guess how many points you get?
Speaker:None.
Speaker:None.
Speaker:And then you tally it up at the end of each section and then at the end of it.
Speaker:All, and now at least you have some idea of where you are.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You can understand whether or not the budget that you have set, because a lot
Speaker:of times, especially, uh, for smaller nonprofits, we have our budget and
Speaker:we think like, okay, this budget, we did a budget, it's great, we present
Speaker:it to our board and things like that.
Speaker:But then you can't figure out what happened with the money.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it's like, I, wow.
Speaker:I know we had money, but what happened?
Speaker:What did we spend it on?
Speaker:What did we spend it on?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And nine times outta 10, what we find is that means that your budget
Speaker:is not constructed correctly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it's never going to help identify where your, see where you're starving,
Speaker:you know where you're doing great.
Speaker:It's not structured in the right way to help you understand that, well,
Speaker:you go through this checklist and this checklist is going to help you go.
Speaker:Oh, right.
Speaker:So we didn't put that in
Speaker:there.
Speaker:Probably should add that.
Speaker:Just curious, is your checklist somewhere on your website that they can get to?
Speaker:No, no, no.
Speaker:You can buy the book on just Amazon book.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:You can buy the book on Amazon, but we're not the only, you know,
Speaker:we're not the only game in town.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But that is a resource that you can use.
Speaker:I tell people all the time, don't try to go it alone.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You don't do that.
Speaker:I've been doing this for 31 years.
Speaker:I know, right.
Speaker:It's not what you do every day.
Speaker:So the likelihood that you will figure it out mm-hmm.
Speaker:Is the thing that kills a lot of businesses.
Speaker:Well, of course.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:We all think we can do it on our own and we all know you shouldn't.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, okay.
Speaker:It sounds like some elements of this checklist is going to be, yeah.
Speaker:How's your budget been?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Compared to what your actuals are.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, are we doing assessments of what the community thinks of the nonprofit?
Speaker:So we do a survey mm-hmm.
Speaker:To see what the community thinks of the nonprofit.
Speaker:But I will tell you before we even get to that place.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The very first thing we need to understand is what does your team think
Speaker:of Well, I was going to say that next.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:What?
Speaker:And not just what does your team think of the nonprofit?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:How is that driving the, their decisions every day?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Because the truth of the matter is you don't really care what they think.
Speaker:What you really care is how does their thinking impact my organization?
Speaker:That's what you really want to matter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, you should care what they think.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:But you want to measure, you want to understand how, uh, how is your decision
Speaker:making driving my organization or hurting?
Speaker:My organization.
Speaker:You want to know that?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You want to understand where your executive director is.
Speaker:If you are a board chair, you want to know whether your executive director Yes.
Speaker:Is treating the organization like it's just a job for them.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:As opposed to being the visionary of the organization and, and driving that vision.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Those are two different seats to sit in.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And two different ways to make decisions.
Speaker:So you also want to make sure that you're measuring, that.
Speaker:You want to make sure that you are measuring, who do I have on my team?
Speaker:What does my take an inventory of your human capital?
Speaker:And I don't mean I've got 10 men and five women.
Speaker:I don't mean that, I don't mean by ethnic group, I don't mean by religion,
Speaker:I mean by what kind of skills, knowledge, information, decision
Speaker:making, all of that kind of stuff.
Speaker:Do they have, and more importantly, what is it that they don't have?
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:'cause if I don't know what they don't have, then how is
Speaker:it that I'm growing my team?
Speaker:I will keep hiring the same people, getting the same results.
Speaker:I think of, I think of the, uh, the board matrix, right?
Speaker:What you've got a board matrix, you're looking for certain skills for that board.
Speaker:You should have that same mat matrix for your staff.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And if you don't have that matrix, you need to start building one.
Speaker:And you can easily do that by asking your staff.
Speaker:What's your education?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Where, where do you, what do you excel at?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:What are you good at?
Speaker:What do you love doing?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:These are key questions that you can ask of your team so that when you're doing
Speaker:your assessment, that's part of your, your human capital, like you talked
Speaker:about, but it's also something that when it comes to implementation, yes.
Speaker:You know who you can go to for these things.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Wendy, we just, we have an assessment that we do specifically around
Speaker:who is your team and what, what kind of human capital do you have.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And we just did it last week with, um, another company that's our client,
Speaker:and there was a team member that the owner was really like, I think I'm
Speaker:going to have to let my rockstar go.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Like, I just, because there has been so much conflict and all of that,
Speaker:and we did this assessment and I was like, we, what we discovered is.
Speaker:Your rock star is still a rock star.
Speaker:You just have your rock star in the wrong place asking your
Speaker:rock star to do the wrong thing.
Speaker:And then afterwards, the, the owner and that particular employee had a
Speaker:conversation and the the owner was like, well, I know you want to do this.
Speaker:And the employee was like, I never wanted to do that.
Speaker:Like I never wanted.
Speaker:Oh my goodness.
Speaker:But you, if you don't know how to ask the right questions and discover the
Speaker:right things, you never get to that.
Speaker:And it was a five minute conversation.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And now that person within less than seven days is in the right seat.
Speaker:Doing the right thing and is killing it.
Speaker:That's lovely.
Speaker:Just, just with something that very simple.
Speaker:I mean, that goes back to my whole conversation with Kendria on feedback.
Speaker:If you don't have that feedback loop, you're not going to
Speaker:know this stuff people.
Speaker:So go back and listen to that podcast.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Because you're going to need that for your strategic planning.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So we talked about assessing budget.
Speaker:We talked about assessing human capital.
Speaker:What your team thinks of the organization, what the community thinks about the
Speaker:organization, what else are we assessing?
Speaker:We're assessing identity.
Speaker:Identity.
Speaker:That's a good one.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Identity yes.
Speaker:Of the organization.
Speaker:What's the majority of the folks you have around you?
Speaker:Because that's impacting your day to day.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's impacting your output, that's impacting the level of impact that
Speaker:you leave on your, your clients, your customers, your community, whatever.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:If you, um.
Speaker:I have a, a friend who works for a certain company and they, her
Speaker:department feels like they're the, they're, they are the company.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The other department is always the one that's causing the problem.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And it's like, and so I'll say things to her like, have you ever considered if
Speaker:they weren't around, what would happen?
Speaker:Have you ever, 'cause Yeah.
Speaker:Because oftentimes what happens is we don't understand the value.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And sometimes, especially as leaders, we will go hire a bunch of people like
Speaker:us and we don't even realize that we, things aren't getting done in the way
Speaker:we need them to get done, done, because.
Speaker:We haven't diversified.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Our folks, yes, we've got a bunch of people that are the same here.
Speaker:Coming back to assessing your human capital.
Speaker:Yes, yes.
Speaker:But then the other thing you gotta measure is where are we technologically?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because you, you are going to get left behind.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:There, there's no possibility.
Speaker:It is an absolute, you will get left behind if you're
Speaker:not technologically savvy.
Speaker:Where are you with that?
Speaker:Are you paying for too much tech or do you not have enough tech?
Speaker:Or are you in the right place?
Speaker:Does the tech you currently have serve you at the level that you are now?
Speaker:But does it serve you in your growth stage?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I had a, one of
Speaker:my other podcast guests actually said to me.
Speaker:Nonprofits are typically 10 years behind when it comes to technology.
Speaker:Oh my God.
Speaker:I actually would think it would be longer.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I do.
Speaker:Um, I agree because we're, we're talking some of the things that I hear.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:You know, like not wanting, I was having a conversation with a, a nonprofit founder
Speaker:and, uh, she was upset because she got a new board chair and the board chair wants.
Speaker:The board to use GroupMe.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:As opposed to texting?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Or just email and she's going, I don't want to learn anything new and
Speaker:I don't want to, I said, that's fine.
Speaker:You don't have to learn anything new.
Speaker:She's like, well, it's going to take me, you know, the 10 minutes is going to take
Speaker:me to understand and know this thing.
Speaker:I said, but what if that 10 minutes could save you 10 days?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Wouldn't it make sense to do it?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It's going to save you time.
Speaker:I said, right now you're sending individual messages.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And spending time to hit the button 10 times where you could put it
Speaker:in one place and hit the button one time and go on about your day
Speaker:because you have way too much to do.
Speaker:So if you, if you're not implementing technology, using technology and
Speaker:creating parameters around how it gets used inside your organization, right?
Speaker:Don't just implement.
Speaker:You need some parameters Yep.
Speaker:Around how it gets used in your organization.
Speaker:You have to do that.
Speaker:You've gotta be responsible for your data.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Your client's data,
Speaker:that's, that's such a huge issue I think in, in all small
Speaker:businesses, not just nonprofits.
Speaker:People are not thinking about the security of the data that they're
Speaker:working with, and they don't think about it until it's too late.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And it's, that happens every time.
Speaker:So that's a whole nother podcast I need to do when you talk about technology,
Speaker:how to get people up to date on technology and all that good stuff.
Speaker:So, um, we're running outta time, so I'm going to wrap up.
Speaker:What else?
Speaker:Is there anything else that you think that they should assess
Speaker:that we have not talked about?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Disaster recovery.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:Business continuity and succession.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Which gets missed 99% of the time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Strategists just don't do it.
Speaker:Yes,
Speaker:they don't do it.
Speaker:And you have to do it except, um, Lord, um, well that was one of those situations.
Speaker:9/11 People needed these nonprofits, COVID people needed nonprofits.
Speaker:More than that, if you have no business continuity plan, if you have no disaster
Speaker:plan, if you have no succession plan, then what happens to your organization when
Speaker:somebody decides that they're leaving?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Or somebody doesn't decide that they're leaving and they're just gone.
Speaker:Like, well, what happened?
Speaker:And I'm going to add to that list.
Speaker:Most nonprofits don't have an exit plan.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:And it is required by the IRS on how they handle when they shut down.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And most of them don't know that.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:So that, that should be part of the strategic planning mm-hmm.
Speaker:As well, is that exit plan.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:So, okay.
Speaker:We have a lot that we have talked about.
Speaker:In a very short amount of time, but I don't think it's
Speaker:short, but it feels short.
Speaker:Um, so I'm going to put a lot of this in our show notes.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Guys, I'm going to give you lots of links of different resources that
Speaker:we've talked about in these show notes.
Speaker:Um, and next time what we're going to talk about is.
Speaker:Going through and actually developing that strategic plan, what it's
Speaker:going to look like, how long it's going to take, all that good stuff.
Speaker:And then the third episode is how we're going to implement that plan.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So thank you, Dr. Collette.
Speaker:You're welcome.
Speaker:This is fantastic, and I cannot wait to get started on our next session.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I look forward to it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Thanks guys.
Speaker:See you next time.
Speaker:Bye.
Speaker:Thanks for listening to The NonProfit Nook We're building better nonprofits together.
Speaker:If you found today's episode helpful, please subscribe, leave
Speaker:a review, and share it with other nonprofit leaders who need support.
Speaker:Follow The NonProfit Nook on social media and sign up for our email
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Speaker:You can also visit The NonProfit Nook.com to see the show notes and leave a comment
Speaker:telling me what topics you want next.
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Speaker:See you next time.
