inspiring insight for times of changing conditions and organizational challenges
STRATEGIC PLANNING
IDENTITY AND BRANDWORK
We help our clients find clarity on who they are on a fundamental level. We identify bedrock principles and gain an understanding of the DNA that is the essential source of their power in the marketplace. From this precision flows strategies and operational implications for customer-facing activities — together, these elements comprise their brand. Crystal clarity about the brand brings unexpected insights into the most impactful products to develop and offer; optimal pricing; and ideal strategies for positive outcomes in the marketplace.
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION
We facilitate and guide our clients in gaining a clear understanding of where they fit into the existing ecosystem. This allows for penetrating insight into where the true strategic opportunities lie within the core mission and vision of the organization. Once these strategic opportunities are clearly understood, we develop an action-plan to implement these opportunities with confidence and excellence.
BUSINESS PLANNING
Based on our long history leading and advising organizations, we help our clients create detailed business plans that forecast and resolve facility needs, budgets, marketing and programming activities, staffing plans, and outreach. These are the blueprints for actual results.
FUNDRAISING STRATEGY
We guide nonprofit organizations in developing solid, sustainable, and successful approaches to raising funds. This includes helping to understand their relationship to the potential funding community and expanding ways to deepen that relationship. We help our clients establish and evolve tactics to develop a pool of potential donors, contact those donors, and frame the “case.” We educate clients on the best way to cultivate donors across time, make the ideal requests, and steward the relationship after a gift is made. We help our clients and their donor base thrive.
PROGRAM, PRODUCT AND MARKETING
PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
We infuse principals with heightened aspirations and attainable strategies to develop a credible and well-thought out product or program identity and curriculum — and target markets that cohere with those products and/or programs. We guide leaders in developing realistic enrollment and recruitment efforts for key staff, faculty, and clients. As part of product development, we help institute a pricing and cost strategy for all educational and/or material offerings from our faculty. We create fiscal goals and develop a program strategy that generates as much revenue as possible within the facility, staffing, and size constraints of the project. In learning institutions, we advise on a conceptual model for how much of the program content is delivered by core staff and how much by traveling faculty.
MARKETING STRATEGY AND EXECUTION
We formulate and consult on a marketing and sales plan that is resonant with the mission, values, and brand — and at the same time sufficiently well thought-through to effectively underpin the strategy, tactics, and financial projections of the company. Together, we facilitate and contribute to creative discussions among the principals as we create the written marketing plans. It will establish a marketing budget, articulate a real world marketing strategy, and target avenues of communication. The plan also establishes timelines for pre-opening and post-opening communications (for new organizations) and details the correspondence between marketing efforts and the expected sales returns from those efforts. We collaborate with our clients and graphic-arts professionals to generate compelling pieces of communication — both online and in print — that are successful in the marketplace and that enhance the brand and mission. As part of our strategy and execution planning, we budget for staffing costs associated with the marketing plan.
COACHING
LEADERSHIP COACHING
We support clients with ongoing leadership coaching — from the C-Suite to the nonprofit board — in order to increase success in achieving their goals and optimal performance. We help leaders thrive in the face of the inevitable, unforeseen challenges that arise in life and business — even when their identity, brand, strategy, and business plan are rock solid. Because of the importance of coaching, we offer both direct coaching services for leaders at the executive level and we also help establish affordable, consistent coaching and mentoring programs throughout the organization. This enables development of a reliable leadership pipeline and ensures that efforts to produce a vibrant culture are consistent. The leaders in any organization are the key resources needed to succeed in achieving mission and financial goals. Executive level leadership and managerial positions are also among the most expensive. Consistent, experienced coaching takes this precious resource and makes sure the organization is leveraging their talent in the most effective way possible.
PARTNER COMMUNICATION
It is common in organizations to have two partners who have trouble working together. Either they co-founded the enterprise or are the two most significant leaders within the organization. These partners often have different strengths and styles. These differences begin by creating a source of strength and dynamism within the organization. Unfortunately, over time that original power and creativity has become a source of discord and differences in vision and leadership aims. When this happens it can create significant problems within the organization. We specialize in working with partners to find ways for them to communicate and work together to provide coherent and aligned aims and strategies. We also help them develop agreements and skills for how to handle conflict in the future so that the organization can benefit from the combination of their strengths and styles and not be hobbled by them.