Strategic Planning with NP Strategies

There has been a lot of strategic planning going around lately. This weekend, YNPN San Diego spent all of Saturday discussing our strategic plan with the facilitation and preparation by NP Strategies. It was an amazing experience and with the help of a company that professionally facilitates these business planning conversations.

Prior to the in-person meeting, NP Strategies took the time to gather information through our database and both internal and external interviews. They reviewed our materials, including our visioning process from Van Dolah and Associates and were able to clearly and accurately synthesize the information. One of the best pieces of information we heard was that the YNPN San Diego's mission is clearly understood by both our internal and external stakeholders. With so many complicated and bulky mission statements in the community, this felt like a real success.

NP Strategies facilitated our strategic planning process with three primary individuals including their Executive Director, an intern, and a third associate who is actually a YNPN San Diego board member. So you could say that the strategic planning was facilitated both internally and externally. We benefited enormously from having an outside facilitator the day of the strategic planning retreat which allowed us to talk through all the pieces of the plan without wearing too many hats. As a result, the organization came away with a common vision and ownership of the organization; we became more concise in the direction of our programming and, therefore, our funding and communications.

Having an outside company that specializes in strategic planning helped YNPN San Diego to identify everything from our theory of change to the quality of our programs. If you have an academic program in your area that teaches strategic planning you could always consider having a student facilitate your strategic planning for low or no cost.

One of the ways that YNPN San Diego builds its "next gen" leadership is by providing them with access to experiences like strategic planning. Any organization can encourage younger staff and volunteers to join a board and learn more about the process so that they can bring it back to your organization, helping to serve your mission to grow and investing in the professional development of future leaders.

Many thanks to NP Strategies for all their help in focusing YNPN San Diego’s efforts and making sure that we are all moving towards the same goals with a common vision!

Highlights from Next Gen Governance Discussion

From Heather Carpenter, former YNPN San Diego board member and workshop attendee...

I thought it was quite fitting that Rosetta Thurman recently wrote the blog post "From Entry Level to Leadership: How to Join a Nonprofit Board of Directors" since this and other issues came up during YNPN San Diego's Next Gen Governance professional development workshop last Monday evening.

In this lively workshop, participants brainstormed and discussed a variety of next gen governance issues including:

• Qualities of emerging leaders and seasoned leaders;
  
• Possibilities of multi-generations collaborating in governance, and;
• Gaps to multi-generational governance collaboration.

In order for successful mult-generational governance collaboration to occur, next gen and seasoned leaders need to recognize each others qualities and strengths and overcome multi-generational gaps (described below).

Qualities of Emerging Leaders
*Flexible *Enthusiasm *Tech *Diverse *Savvy *Web 2.0 *Perspective (Geographic) *New Funding Sources *Risk Taking *Fresh Ideas *Open-Minded *Urgency *Innovative *Sustainable/Green *Networks *Willingness to Fail *Competitive Energy *Committed *Resourceful *Academic Knowledge

Qualities of Seasoned Leaders
*Established networks *Sustainability *Resources through connections and networks *Knowledgeable *Experienced *Storytelling *Execution *Confident *Efficient *Grounded *For-profit/nonprofit experience *Lifetime experience *Vision *Realistic *Emotional Intelligence *Community knowledge *Reputation *Roots

Possibilities of multi-generational governance collaboration
*Viewing the whole picture *Movement *Balance *Organizational and personal growth *Exchange of knowledge *Inclusiveness *Commonalities *$ *Sustainability *Continuity *Maintaining/sharing *Innovation/discovery/strategy *Dynamic organization *Stability

Gaps to multi-generational governance collaboration
*Engagement *Dialog *Articulate possibilities *Awareness *Confidence *Ego *Credibility *Common ground *Ability to see different perspectives *Fear *Lack of opportunities *Undervalued-next gen/seasoned *Next gen learning before we jump *Looking beyond stereotypes *Open to innovation *Co-mentorship *Retention *Organizational dynamics *What is redifing a board *Embracing change *All knowing versus organizational learning *Valuing Change *Compromises

For more information on Next Gen Governance, visit BoardSource's research on the topic by clicking here.

MANY THANKS to the generous in kind supporters for this event:

RYAN FEINSTEIN, World Cafe Host

VITO DISTEFANTO, Photographer

CONGRATULATIONS to our gift drawing recipients:
Wes Lindquist and Jessica St. Clair.
Wes received a $25 gift certificate to Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and Jessica received a gift certificate for one training at Nonprofit Management Solutions.

You can enter to receive a drawing gift certificate by making a donation at our next event on April 16th. Save the date & be sure to register for our one year Birthday Bash!

THANK YOU to all of the amazing volunteers who put together this fantastic workshop. Be sure to check out the photos from the event on our website and on the side bar here.

Join YNPN San Diego on May 30 for our next workshop - Powerful Partnerships: Intergenerational Coaching.