DomusLeadership TrainingTOPIC - PlanningJune 2015

Planning…• Basic management function designed to achieve

the balance of needs or demands with the available resources

• Setting the direction and guiding the system to follow the direction

• Process includes identifying what you want to achieve (goals), how you will achieve your goals (strategies), who will be responsible and when the strategies will be achieved (action plan).

• Systematic & rational process of envisioning the future and translating this vision into goals, objectives, action steps and outcomes

Types of Plans

Plans

Business

Strategic

Project

Budget

CrisisFundraising

Staffing

Program

Corrective

Action

Today• Strategic Planning• Program Planning• Logic Models

Strategic Planning• Management tool for organizing the present on

the basis of the projections of the desired future.

Environmental Scan

Vision

Mission

Core Values

Hypothesis

Program Goals

Objectives

Activities

Action

Plan

Environmental ScanExternalObjective review of the current and anticipated factors that may impact your organization:• Political• Economic• Demographic• Competition• TrendsInternalOverview of your recent performance and organizational health – financial, culture, morale, development capacity

Domus Vision

Our vision is that no child shall be denied

hope, love, or a fair chance in life.

Domus Mission

Domus Kids is a nonprofit organization

serving children and familiesthrough a variety of programswithin the Fairfield and New Haven County communities.

Hypothesis

If… then… because…

• If = Independent Variable (intervention)

• Then = Dependent Variable (outcome)• Because = Research or Experience (etiology)

• If more low-income women get mammograms, then there will be lower rates of breast cancer.

• If you combine housing and support services, then families will strengthen their functioning and be able to live more independently.

Exercise #1Develop three hypotheses for one of the Domus program areas:• Community Programming• Chester Addison Community Center• Lion’s Den• Work & Learn

• Charter Schools• Domus Academy• Trailblazers Academy• Stamford Academy

• Residential Programming• Domus House• Passages

Goals• Fundamental issues you must address that give

direction for accomplishing the mission• Desired end • Not necessarily quantifiable

Objectives• Steps derived from the goals that answer the

question “how do we accomplish this goal?”• Should be SMART• Specific• Measurable• Achievable• Realistic• Timely

Objective Example• To recruit, develop and retain a critical mass of

diverse staff.

Strategies or Activities• Actions that are intentional parts of the program.• Done to bring about change.

Strategies Examples• To recruit, develop and retain a critical mass of

diverse staff.• How would you do this?• How would you measure?

Action Plan• When will your activities be accomplished and

who will be responsible

On to program planning…

Program Planning• Should always be aligned with agency mission• Should be aligned with strategic goals• Involve board members• Plan as a team• Involve clients or potential clients as much as

possible• Don’t worry about developing the “perfect” plan

Using logical models to planA logic model is a systematic and visual way to present and share your understanding of the relationships among the resources you have to operate your program, the activities you plan, and the changes or results you hope to achieve.

Why a Logic Model?• Keeps a balanced focus on the big picture as well

as the component parts. • Good evaluation reflects clear thinking and

responsible program management. • Creates an opportunity to chart your course. • Creates an explicit understanding of the

challenges ahead, the resources available, and the timetable in which to hit the target.

• Creates opportunities to learn continually while improving programs.

• Logic models strengthen the case for program investment (aids in development and collaborative efforts)

If Resources T

hen

Activities T

hen

Outputs

Th

en

Outcomes T

hen Impact

Logic Models are all around us.

Resources/Inputs

• The resources needed to support the specific activities you have planned to do:• Funding• Staff• Partners• Volunteers• Facilities• Equipment• Supplies• Licensing

Activities• Activities refer to what you do with your

resources. • These may include products – promotional

materials and educational curricula; services – education and training, counseling, or health screening; and infrastructure – structure, relationships, and capacity used to bring about the desired results.

Outputs• Outputs refer to what we do – the direct and

measurable products of a program’s activities or services.

• A program output, for example, might be the graduation rate, number of classes taught, meetings held, or materials produced and distributed; program participation rates and demography; or hours of each type of service provided.

Outcomes• Outcomes answer the question “What difference

does the activity make?”• Outcomes are specific changes in attitudes,

behaviors, knowledge, skills, status, or level of functioning expected to result from program activities and which are most often expressed at an individual level.

Impacts• Impacts are organizational, community, and/or

system level changes expected to result from program activities, which might include improved conditions, increased capacity, and/or changes in the policy arena.

How Logic Models Better Position Programs Toward Success:

Practical Uses

• Planning tool• Improve and assure accountability • Resource allocation decisions • Communicate and market your roadmap to

community change• Direct link to action

• Define the scope and scale of your work. • Focus attention on key outcomes and powerful

strategies for achieving these outcomes. • Provide a framework for sequencing and prioritizing

your work.

Planning tool

Improve and assure accountability • Provide a framework for gauging whether you are

achieving tangible goals. • Identify the prioritized outcomes and strategies your

initiative intends to document.• Measure or gauge your progress. • Provide a foundation for

“holding yourself accountable”

Resource allocation decisions • Provide a framework for investing resources in

strategies that are linked to your initiative’s prioritized outcomes.

• Guide decision making about how to spend limited resources.

• Provide a basis for discontinuing and refocusing funding to the most effective areas.

Communicate and market your roadmap to community change• Communicate your change roadmap to partners,

stakeholders, investors and the community. • Provide transparency to your work by clearly

identifying your prioritized strategies and expected accomplishments.

• Tells a consistent “story”

Direct link to action

• Establishes focus areas and direction for shaping programs, activities, policies, partnerships and other efforts

• Provides a reference point for measuring whether specific actions are effecting positive changes among your constituents (children, families, schools, etc).

• Maintains the “big picture” that guides your specific actions.

Program DesignOnce you are able to articulate your logic model, you have the skeleton of your program.

Break Out Session• Using the handouts work in teams (4-5) to build a

basic theory of change model for one of your programs.

• Plot the model on a flip chart page and post it on the wall

• 15 minutes• Present to the group (5 minutes each group)

Plan

Do

Collect Data

Analyze &

Reflect

Act & Improv

e

Evidence Based Practice

Evidence Based Practice

EBP

Best Researc

h Evidence

Clinical Expertis

e Client Values & Preferen

ces