CASE STUDY
From cumbersome to streamlined, envisioning nonprofit volunteer structures that work
Challenge
A national higher education nonprofit agency has recently experienced a significant transition in staffing and leadership. New leadership was ready to tackle long standing issues but wanted to ensure that they had full buy in from their board.
Solution
With Grace Social Sector’s support and facilitation, the agency undertook a comprehensive strategic planning process. Input was gathered from board, staff, and other critical volunteers as well as the higher education programs the agency served.
Streamlining and Restructuring Volunteers Corps Needed
A few key themes emerged including the need to:
to restructure their volunteer roles to lighten the work load
to streamline their systems and processes to avoid unnecessary duplication
to increase the diversity of its volunteer corps
to build on recent success in creating greater transparency and increased understanding of the process for programs.
Results:
Alignment on Transparency, Mission and Vision
A high degree of alignment emerged through the process with the board agreeing to four key goals for the next three years. These focused on restructuring, streamlining, improving volunteer recruitment processes and increasing transparency and training opportunities for programs. In addition, the group created a strategy screen to improve decision making processes about future initiatives. The group also updated its mission and vision statements that better reflected the core functions and impact of the organization.
