Beyond Strategic Planning for your Organization

PARTNERS OF THE AMERICAS Steve Vetter, President & CEO

OUR STORY

WHO WE ARE

The Partners Network Includes:

Our mission is to connect people and organizations across borders to serve and change lives through lasting partnerships.

Partners envisions an ever growing

interconnected global neighborhood where

people

and organizations reach their fullest potential

through

long-lasting partnerships.

OUR LEGACY

Inspired by President Kennedy and founded in 1964 under the Alliance for Progress, Partners is a non-profit, non-partisan organization with international offices in Washington, D.C.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY

75 chapters in 33 countries 23 Partners Campuses 10 development programs in 20

countries $6.5 - $8.5 million dollar budget 55 Staff: 25 in DC + 30 field staff

Connect Serve Change Lives

10,000 VOLUNTEERS have contributed 1 MILLION HOURS

of service to equal $15 MILLION in professional expertise.

Over the past 10 years…

PARTNERS’ CAPACITIES

Food Security & Agricultural Development Sport for Development

Youth & Children

Climate Change & Environmental Protection

Professional Leadership Exchanges

Civil Society & Governance

Women & Gender Equality

Arts & Culture

THE “PARTNERS” APPROACH

“Being a volunteer, serving selflessly, is a position of power. It moves you from being a victim to being an agent of change. “

- Uma Viswanathan

TREND LINES FOR ANALYSIS

• 57,000,000 removed from extreme poverty in LAC

• More energy in the Americas than the Middle East

• By 2060, population in the Americas is larger than in China

• Growing Interest in Civil Society and NGO Service Providers

• More Latinos in the U.S. than anywhere else outside of Mexico

STRATEGIC PLANNING VS.

STRATEGIC ISSUE MANAGEMENT

“No one plans to fail. They fail to plan…”

STRATEGIC ISSUE MANAGEMENT

“Lets stop borrowing from corporate

America and Russia.”

PLANNING CHALLENGES

• Strategic Planning — Corporate Models: “From Russia with Love”

• Today’s Environment: Complex, Fast Changing and Competitive

• Without a strategy to adapt:

– Missed Opportunities

– Unanticipated Developments

– Stagnation, decline…closure

NON-PROFITS & NON GOVERNMENT

OBSTACLES TO SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC PLANNING

1. Reliance on antiquated corporate “strategic plans”

2. Failure to develop planning design to match outcomes

3. Failure to match plan to leadership and management

needs and levels.

4. Passive, non-engaged boards

HOW IT DIFFERS FROM STRATEGIC PLANNING

• Conscious focus on change

• Action bias and attention to implementation

• Selectivity in addressing limited strategic issues

• Avoidance of mechanical projections into the future.

• High level of collective involvement of both staff and board

• Commitment to continuous refinement and change

STRATEGIC ISSUE MANAGEMENT

• Resources Available for Strategic Change: A Clear Understanding of:

– TIME & STAFFING – MONEY – ENERGY

• REM Factor: Risk, Effort and Meaning

THE NARROW WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

SELECTIVE INVESTMENT IN CHANGE

CREATING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

FOR CHANGE

• Leadership—”The Servant Leader” by Robert Greenleaf

• Self-Directed Learning Goals and Agenda

• “White Water Management” or “Placid Lake?”

• Performance + Learning Reviews

• The Manager as Teacher and Mentor

5 KEY STEPS TO STRATEGIC ISSUE MANAGEMENT

1. Design—fit to needs of the NGO

2. Clarifying Values, Vision and Mission

3. Identification of Strategic Issues—identify challenges facing NGO that require immediate

attention.

4. Development of Strategic Change Projects

5. Implementation of Strategic Change Projects

#1. DESIGNING A PROCESS

Four major elements:

1. Outcomes

2. Constraints

3. Process and Structure

4. Required Resources

#2. CLARIFYING THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

• Values: Clarify the “Values” Statement

• Vision: A picture of a desired future

• Mission: Defines the boundaries and limits to

services, products, clients & their

role. Must have product, client & role.

#3. IDENTIFY & SELECT STRATEGIC ISSUES

• Change Challenges: Should we do something different to move closer to our vision?

• Selectivity is the Name of the Game — and Over-Extension is the

Greatest Risk

#4. DEVELOPING STRATEGIC CHANGE PROJECTS

• Gathering Intelligence on the Issue(s)

• Fashioning Strategic Change projects –a course of action.

• Building a Staffing and Leadership Team

• Bringing Board and Staff Together

#5. IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC CHANGE PROJECTS

• Establish a formal structure and process to manage strategic change portfolio

• Assigning explicit oversight of the strategic management program to a board and staff

committee

THE GUIDING COALITION

The Inner Core: Carriers of the Vision and Mission. The Difference Between Confidants and Allies: The Deep Trust Challenge

Energy Field:

STRATEGIC ISSUE MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE:

PARTNERS’ INTERPRETATION

OUR VISION

GOAL SETTING

Sample framework:

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CALENDAR

2012 Review & 2013 Preview

ANNUAL BUDGETING STRATEGY

March: 1st Quarter Board Review & Fiscal Budget Approval May: President Review and Approve Revised Budget based on Revenue and Expenses July: Mid Term Budget and Performance Review September: 3rd Quarter Review of Budget by Board and Senior Management November: Planning Process and Review/preview Starts Over

50 YEAR PROJECTION GOAL: STRATEGIC VISION

2014 2064

Financial Sustainability • Budget • Online Store Sells • Diversification of Funds • Foundation Endowment

$6.5 M $2,500 90% Government $1 M

$26 M $118,000 10% Government $50 M

Network Strength • Chapters • PartnersCampus • NGOs • University Affiliates

76 22 4 186

163 215 164 342

Good Governance • Board Meetings/Year • Communications • Leadership Training • Accreditations

3 2 Staff 1 Hr/1X/Year BBB Only

12 18 Staff 4 Regional Academies BBB + 4 Others

ADDITIONAL READINGS

QUESTIONS?