Building Sustainable Organizations
Creating strategic focus for the next stage of growth
SECTOR
Nonprofit
SERVICE
Strategic Planning, Employee and Stakeholder Engagement
FORMAT
In person
The situation
After 15 years of growth and impact in the rare disease community, the organization now known as RARE Foundation was looking toward its next chapter. With a new CEO, ambitions to significantly expand its size and reach, and plans to diversify fundraising, the Foundation wanted greater clarity about where to focus over the next several years.
The Foundation had built a strong reputation in policy and advocacy while also launching programs over time to address needs across the rare disease landscape. The opportunity was to step back and consider how those efforts fit together, where the organization could have the greatest impact, and how people and resources should be prioritized around its future direction.
The organization had successfully executed its previous strategic plan ahead of schedule. This time, leadership wanted to go deeper and engage a broader group of voices, including the Board, staff, longtime industry partners, and members of the patient community.
What we did
Springboard designed and facilitated a strategic planning process that combined broad stakeholder engagement with focused work by a cross-functional planning team.
Stakeholder input included a survey, individual interviews with Board members and industry partners, and focus groups with members of the rare disease community. The different forms of engagement were structured around common questions so the planning team could identify themes and perspectives across stakeholder groups.
Springboard also incorporated the Foundation's staff and Board retreats into the process. Staff considered a longer-term vision for the organization and provided input on potential strategic areas of focus. The Board reviewed stakeholder findings, considered the emerging direction, and provided input on goals and measures of progress.
Between those sessions, Springboard facilitated a series of planning meetings that moved the team from stakeholder insight to strategic choices. The process addressed mission, vision, and values; identified priority areas for the next three to five years; developed near-term goals and measures of success; and considered ownership, implementation, and accountability.
What changed
The engagement provided the Foundation with a strategic framework for making choices about its next stage of growth rather than simply continuing to add programs and activities.
By bringing together perspectives from the Board, staff, industry partners, and rare disease community, the process gave leadership a broader foundation for determining where the organization could have the greatest impact and where its resources should be concentrated.
The resulting plan connected a longer-term vision with priorities for the next three to five years, measurable goals, ownership, and implementation. It gave the Foundation a practical way to use strategy to guide decisions about where to focus, what to invest in, and how to grow intentionally.
The strategic planning workshop was incredibly well received by our team. The process kept people positively engaged throughout, and a number of team members commented that it felt different from strategic planning we had done before. It was an excellent experience and gave us strong momentum for the work ahead.
CEO, RARE Foundation
THE SERVICE BEHIND THIS WORK
Strategic Planning
Part of Building Sustainable Organizations.
A RELATED STORY