Nonprofit Development

Even the most capable nonprofit leaders sometimes need an extra set of hands and a thought partner to improve operations, navigate change, and tell their story. If your organization is in a moment of messiness, or needs some focused attention to strengthen internal systems, I can help.

Building your organization's capacity does not need to be a huge expense. I can help your team assess what is going well, what could be improved, and build strong internal systems - without the overhead of hiring more staff members.

Not all projects fit into the categories below, and often they fall into several categories. If you are interested in exploring a project to engage your stakeholders in order to increase organizational effectiveness, let's talk.

Organizational Development

Design and implementation support for shifts in internal operations and procedures, contingency planning, and budgeting and financial reporting.

Program Evaluation

Guidance and technical assistance for developing a program evaluation plan, from logic model to data gathering and analysis.

Change Management

Partnership and support for nonprofit leaders and their teams navigating growth and change.

Impact Reporting

Document and communicate your impact; take your evaluation processes to the next level by telling your story.

Approach & Philosophy

I believe that the people most impacted by an issue have knowledge critical to the problem and should be involved in its solution. This includes a variety of stakeholders, from the people an organization "serves" to the staff and volunteers who do the work. I bring a "participatory action" lens to my work, often utilizing the values and methods of community-engaged research to inform an organizational development process. A participatory approach to organizational development can build bridges between staff and constituents and help organizations break out of a scarcity mindset and take steps toward a collective vision. The process usually involves these steps:

Data collection and discovery -- through interviews, focus groups, surveys, or other methods, we gain a greater understanding of the issues and potential solutions.
Planning and engagement -- together, wereview preliminary findings and collaborate to identify shared values, visions, goals, and potential next steps.
Action planning and implementation -- develop work plans that include short and long term actions to move a project forward. Implementation support can also include ongoing project management and/or coaching for a small group or leadership team.
Reflection and evaluation -- set benchmarks for measuring progress toward stated goals and review both the process and outcomes. This step is not simply an end goal, but an ongoing process that helps refine, clarify, and improve the project as a whole.