Summary

We are a Kansas City neighborhood nonprofit with the stated goal to help the area`s most needy areas improve. By supporting voluntary and community action, we are able to help citizens of the poorest neighborhoods get the services they need. Our decisions are often made in a haphazard fashion, and in response to a crisis. A local funder wanted to help us systematize our operations by instilling a commitment to planning. They approached us to be part of a training session on implementation plans.

The Background

Getting smaller nonprofits to participate in, much less commit to, an implementation plan can be a daunting task. Typically, they`re struggling to make day-to-day decisions, so a commitment to planning seems like a luxury. This case describes how a funder walked a smaller nonprofit through an implementation planning process that enabled both organizations to derive a benefit.

The Solution

Things were bumpy at first as we saw planning as a luxury, and staff who attended the training found it hard to apply the principles when they returned to our office. In order to overcome these obstacles, the funder brought a planning module to all staff which was delivered onsite. Additional information was added to the training to make it more relevant to our particular situation. By using real examples, the importance of planning was able to hit home. As a result of the training, we now have an implementation plan for each of our programs which has dramatically increased our efficiency and ability to anticipate problems in the community. This implementation plan has also made us much more attractive to funders.

Lessons Learned

At the beginning, the planning message did not resonate with our staff. But after taking part in the training, seeing examples and working with the trainer, we are seeing a benefit. Individual staff have more confidence in implementing and maintaining our programs, and everyone, from staff to volunteers, are more involved in the process.