/ 01 /
Strategic Advising Can Help You Get There
My experience tells me that while our nonprofit leaders are still facing the traditional challenges — revenue constraints, board misalignment and apathy, lack of seasoned expertise — we need to begin to reimagine how to lead a nonprofit to successful, sustainable growth. If you are asking yourself, “Is there a better way?” — then you are in the right place.
For more than 40 years, I have lived in the nonprofit sector, leading advancement at large nonprofit institutions, serving as a CEO or Executive Director of multiple national nonprofits, and running my own consulting firm where I helped nonprofit organizations meet their missions.
What have I learned? Nonprofits continue to follow very traditional pathways and while that sometimes proves successful, I’ve found that it often leads to stagnation and a lack of engagement from vital stakeholders, making it difficult to scale. I have also learned that thought leadership and strategic counsel play a significant role in building a successful nonprofit leader poised to tackle these challenges.
If you are ready to engage in strategic thinking and leadership development to move you in the right direction, then I am happy to help you get there.
As a small organization, we were looking for strategic guidance to develop a path toward growth. We had numerous advisors and a lot of enthusiasm, but no clear, pragmatic partner who could help us build a plan and execute on it. Vicki’s willingness to dive right in and help, balanced with expertise and a commitment to a plan, made working with Vicki really appealing.
— Patrick and Lauren Belmonte, Co-founders of Change is Simple
/ 02 /
Offering
Nonprofit leadership can include the Executive Director/CEO, the Board President, the C-Suite Team, and even the Board’s Executive Committee. The key to effective leadership often lies in building relationships that will allow you to tackle, together, some of the most pressing issues facing the organization.
Our strategic advising sessions will focus on your development as a nonprofit leader, building your comfort with operations and fundraising, troubleshooting internal and external challenges, navigating the strategic growth of your organization, and other issues impacting you as the leader. Here are examples of daily challenges that can be addressed through our advising sessions:
Is there a strategic plan? Or at least strategic goals? Is the plan used to navigate the organization? Are the goals and objectives prioritized and assigned? Review timelines and determine how success will be measured. What role should you be playing?
Do you have the right board to achieve success? Why is a written position description important? What should it include? Explore committees and task forces, succession planning, onboarding, and orientation. Examine policy, procedure, compliance, and accountability.
Why is infrastructure key to success? Discuss staffing models, volunteer management systems, and financial basics such as budgeting, reporting, funds (reserve, capital, endowment), fiscal controls, taxes, and audits. Review program and service development and delivery. Ensure that the standards of excellence in nonprofits, nonprofit best practices, are being followed.
Sustainability requires sufficient and growing fiscal support. Explore all revenue streams and the fundraising process, including back-office data support (CRM/Donor database), the stewardship program, and the role of the board in fundraising.
Our Strategic Advising package includes 1:1 hour-long sessions, pre- and post-session materials, and access by email for feedback on pressing issues between sessions. Strategic Advising is offered in blocks of 10 hours for $3,000.
Vicki calls it as she sees it. Sometimes you just need somebody with a bit of distance to help you see when your habits, structure or practices aren’t serving the execution of your mission. Vicki brings a wealth of experience from interacting with many nonprofits and many boards across the years. Whether it is board practices, fundraising, or organizational dynamics, she has the experience (and the advice) to help you move to the next level. I trust her more than anyone to identify the practices that help my organization succeed.
— Patrick Herron, Executive Director of the Mystic River Watershed Association
/ 03 /
Work With Me
Through my career in nonprofit executive leadership, I have helped clients
Implement long-range and strategic plans.
Establish benchmarks and develop strategies to reach them.
Troubleshoot board dynamics and develop succession plans.
Nurture the “winning partnership” – a strong working relationship with board leadership.
Create the right staffing model and infrastructure to support your nonprofit.
Navigate operations and team management.
Build capacity, expand resources, and achieve sustainability.
Work on YOUR professional development.
Together, let’s navigate a stronger future for you and your nonprofit. When you learn how to reimagine the status quo, you won’t just change the way you view your nonprofit. You’ll be empowered to make an impact on the world itself.
I look forward to working with you!
Vicki’s strategic thinking and foresight has guided our Foundation to the critical point where we are “pivoting” our priorities, with a focus on governance, program realignment, and the expansion of funding sources. Vicki has guided us to purposefully strengthen our mission into a “hub” for the history of women in medicine and the medical sciences and has helped us gather the leadership on our board in order to make the shift.
— Julia A. Haller, MD Chief Executive Officer and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Wills Eye Hospital and Past President of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation
/ 04 /
Get Started
I’m so glad you’ve decided to pursue strategic advising. Once you complete the meeting request, I will have what I need to schedule first call.
/ 05 /
Other Things
White Paper
There’s a new paradigm in nonprofit staffing that can increase your impact.
The More Than Giving Co.
We design fractional teams for forward-thinking nonprofits. I’m the CEO.
The Burkhart Beat
The Burkhart Beat is a weekly message intended to inspire and motivate.