The questions facing non-profit organizations are critical: How can we achieve our mission in the most effective way possible in a changing environment? How do we make the greatest impact on the largest number of people? Given resource limitations and a multiplicity of needs, how can we focus our efforts most effectively for greatest benefit and impact?
Strategic thinking and planning provides organizations with a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals. It is valuable for creating “the big picture” as well as for guiding day-to-day decisions and evaluating progress and informing mid-course corrections when moving forward.
Strategic planning will enable your non-profit organization to:
- Clearly articulate your goals.
- Outline a clear path to achieving your desired outcomes and impact.
- Improve your organization’s self awareness including its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and its relative position in the marketplace.
- Give your staff and volunteer leadership specific things to work towards.
- Provide your stakeholders with a common language and shared meaning.
- Specify measurable goals and be accountable.
The most effective strategic planning processes are authentic and reflect the culture and ethos of the organization. With this in mind, I work closely with my clients to design state-of-the art approaches that are creative, agile, collaborative, inclusive, interactive, reflective, and data-driven and responsive to questions arising from the stakeholders.
I’d love to work with your leadership team to think and plan strategically in order for your organization to excel and thrive.
About a year ago, our advisory committee undertook the task of creating a strategic plan for our department in an effort to understand the needs of the community, measure the impact of our growth and programs over the last five years, and plot a course of action moving into the future… Leora’s guidance through every step of this process has been stellar, and her ability to envision and create a forum by which we gathered information, engaged our stakeholders, and brought forth solid and clear recommendations has been accurate and timely…
Leora Isaacs is a smart, energetic, creative professional who will stop at nothing to serve her clients until their needs are met…Most recently, the Workmen’s Circle partnered with Isaacs Consulting to build a new logic model for the Education Department to guide its path toward deepening and expanding its network of Jewish cultural schools. Not only did Leora create a workable model for a complex endeavor, she went above and beyond by strategizing with us about how to implement that model on the ground with specific, measurable goals; achievable plans; and an aggressive, yet realistic timeline. Most importantly, Leora continues to make herself available to us as we progress to ensure we are on track and have a competent sounding board. I would recommend Leora without reservation to any organization seeking a top-notch professional and consummate educator steeped in her field and attuned to the individual needs of her clients.
Dr. Isaacs is a superb facilitator of complex collaborative change processes — incredibly talented in walking the thin line between respecting and affirming all participants and positions and being enough of an ‘agent provocateur’ (as she calls herself) to get people to examine their assumptions and face difficult truths when necessary. At the same time, she is a generous coach and mentor for individuals, sharing her savvy with sensitivity and skill … She ‘leads from the center,’ as the current phrase goes, without self-aggrandizement, but with quiet strength. She’s thoroughly comfortable with lay people, indeed outstanding in working with them, and can present confidently to audiences in the hundreds. She’s a seasoned veteran with the vision, commitment to, and understanding of innovation and what makes it work that a young entrepreneur would aspire to.
How may I help you?
Let’s discuss the strategic needs of your non-profit organization. Please call (917) 570-3201 or send an email today.