:: I’ve participated in many group volunteer efforts: cleaning beaches, painting classrooms, bagging pinto beans. The list goes on and on and includes time in a dunk tank. But the recent Non-Profit Challenge was the first time I’ve ever done a SWOT analysis for charity.
The brain child of Martina Doleshal, the second year of this event brought together about 50 people to work on strategic plans for 8 non-profit organizations from the Bay Area. The groups ranged from arts organizations to trail builders, from housing for veterans to preventative health programs for kids. The event was sponsored by the Association for Strategic Planning and the Silicon Valley OD Network. I was there representing Women in Consulting along with fellow member Laurie Kretchmar of Content Marketing Place.
It was a day of break-out groups, flip charts and report outs so similar to standard business meetings but different in a transformative way. For one day, I was immersed in constructive problem solving with an organization that changes children’s lives through case-managed health screenings and family education. The challenge called on my business skills, my personal experience and my empathy in such an invigorating way that I would have kept on going but the leadership of the organizations met their strategic planning goals by 3pm.
The report out of the different teams varied, reflecting the different starting points of each organization. Some walked in with hundreds of great ideas but walked out with a clear 5 point plan. Some used the day to kick off their strategic planning for 2018.
All participants walked away with a feeling of using their heads and their hearts for good. I call that a great way to spend a Saturday.
