Progress and Priorities, Fall 2015
Written by Mark Holloway, SVP Executive Director
November 22, 2015
In the past year we have:
improved the quality and deepened the impact of our service to nonprofit partners
sustained double-digit growth of the Partnership with new spark from Rising Leaders and SVP Youth
developed a specific, achievable Ready for Kindergarten (R4K) long-term outcome, a model for achieving it, a priority group of children, and new ways of investing our resources
taken significant steps to better understand our policies and practices on equity, diversity and inclusion
built a quality staff and more effective committee structure
Through this progress and the continued dedicated service of our Partners, we are building the trust among the community leaders necessary to make faster progress toward the goal. We are also achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) now that important to achieving further progress in the future.
So what remains and what’s next? I have shared in the past that I believe the community will achieve the R4K goal with the following layers in place:
a strong and capable social sector (nonprofits and government services for families)
community collaboration (more private, public and social sector leaders working together)
funding alignment (more money going to where it makes the biggest difference)
public mobilization (Joe and Jane Public aware of the problem and invested in a solution)
market-based solutions (early intervention and accessible services that are self-sustaining)
We continue to focus and increase our effort in driving numbers one and two but we have just begun to scratch the surface of the significant funding alignment role that we must play. Thus, we have set the following 2016 priorities to take important next steps to increasing that effort.
Grow our investment portfolio. While having a focused strategy for achieving the goal is a clear need, in some ways it is simply a numbers game. If we can help more key nonprofits and systems build stronger infrastructure and programs, we help more priority families get the quality services and supports they need. With an Investee portfolio of five nonprofits and three system innovations currently, we are just scratching the surface. In 2016, I propose we double our investments in nonprofits and system innovations.
In addition to the growth, we must continue improving the quality of our service to the nonprofits and beyond. We must implement measures for our Partnership to become more culturally knowledgeable and responsive in their volunteer service. We must focus more on how to effectively build the strengths we believe are most important for nonprofits: leadership, finance and evaluation. We must grow and train a larger pool of Partners to skillfully lead our investments.
Growing the investment portfolio—and doing it in a way that achieves the outcomes we are seeking—are dependent on the following two other priorities:
Develop a comprehensive R4K goal strategy. Internally, we have made progress in tracking key operational activities (our KPIs) we believe are important to our vitality and impact. Externally, we have laid the initial groundwork for our strategy mapping to help us and the community develop a picture of gaps and opportunities in the current R4K “ecosystem.” Moving this strategy work forward in 2016 will help us and the broader community sharpen our focus and invest resources where they are needed most to achieve the community’s aspiration for kids. In the coming year, we will also develop our key metrics for success on the goal and determine how we can effectively influence public and private resources to better align on the strategy.
Grow and diversify our asset base. What holds up our progress at this point other than the comprehensive strategy is increasing the assets we leverage for progress: money, talent and social capital. There are three key areas of focus for achieving this priority:
Racial and cultural diversity. We can and will make progress in helping our Partners be more culturally responsive but if we don’t better reflect the community’s racial and cultural composition, we limit the perspective and credibility we need to be effective.
Corporate partnerships. We have an opportunity in our market to develop partnerships with corporations and small businesses that will add money and talent but also further our reputation as business-and-community connector. By focusing on marketing, networking, and proactively approaching these businesses with value-add opportunities, I believe we can become one of the most known and trusted nonprofits among business leaders in the next three years.
Partnership growth. The marketing and sales investments will also drive growth in our individual Partnership base, which we aim to double within four years. That is critical for adding the available talent hours, funding for investments, and the social capital that comes with a larger network—all necessary assets for achieving our mission and the R4K goal
Finally, building a more influential Partnership, a focused strategy, and larger pool of quality investments all play key roles in aligning major donors, foundations, business resources and government coffers to our cause. Since we sit between the private and social/public sector, the community relies on us to connect the money and other resources in our community to the solutions that need to scale. As I have said before, this is not only resources to us or through us but also simply aligned with us. While we work on priorities stated above, we must also play a much bigger role here, developing more relationships with people and entities with resources needed to achieve the goal. That will take increasing focus by our staff, our Board, and me in 2016 and beyond.