Image Credit: Stratford Hall Historic Preserve
Strategic Planning for a Historic Nonprofit
When an organization hasn't had a strategic plan in over a decade, even strong leadership needs a clear, collaborative path forward.
CLIENT TYPE
Nonprofit Organization
SUPPORT TYPE
Strategic Planning & Fractional HR
SERVICES WE PROVIDED
Strategy, Human Resources
OUTCOME
A board-approved strategic plan, a reimagined organizational story, and strengthened HR practices
THE STORY
Building a plan, and a future, from the ground up.
When Karen Daly stepped in as the new President of Stratford Hall, she inherited an organization without a strategic plan, one that hadn’t undertaken that kind of planning in over 15 years. Following a significant leadership transition, the need was clear: the organization needed a plan for internal direction, and a way to bring its Board and staff into alignment around a shared vision.
The Situation
Stratford Hall faced more than the absence of a document. Without a strategic plan, the Board and staff lacked a shared framework for decision-making, and the organization had not recently revisited how it told its own story and history to the world. The new president had begun sensing a need to reimagine that narrative, but moving forward required Board approval and genuine buy-in.
Key needs included:
• A facilitated strategic planning process informed by regional demographics and economics
• Listening sessions across different organizational constituencies
• A collaborative branding and planning session with the Board
• Board alignment and buy-in around a renewed organizational story
• An HR assessment and implementation of resulting recommendations
Warren Whitney’s Role
A collaborative, listening-first approach to strategy and HR.
Warren Whitney facilitated Stratford Hall’s strategic planning process over the course of nearly a year. Rather than bringing a boilerplate model, the team studied the demographics and economics of the region and held many listening sessions with different constituencies, sharing what they learned along the way. A dedicated day of branding and planning with the Board turned what could have been a difficult discussion into a productive, collaborative one.
Once the strategic plan was complete, Warren Whitney’s HR team conducted an HR assessment and helped implement its recommendations, work that reflects the broader range of HR support Warren Whitney provides, from leadership transitions to fractional HR Director services to day-to-day HR functions.
Our Value
Diplomatic, tailored support that moved the organization forward.
Before and After
From no plan to a clear, shared path forward.
Before Warren Whitney
- No strategic plan in place for over 15 years
- Board and staff without a shared planning framework
- Organizational story and history not recently revisited
- New leadership navigating a significant transition alone
- No formal review of HR practices
After Warren Whitney
- A complete, board-approved strategic plan
- Board and staff aligned around a shared vision
- A reimagined approach to telling the organization’s story
- Collaborative, diplomatic support through leadership transition
- HR assessment completed with recommendations implemented
”Warren Whitney didn't come to us with a boilerplate model for a strategic plan. They listened and studied the demographics and economics of the region. They worked with the team diplomatically and tactfully. They took our feedback and delivered a product far superior to something we could have done on our own.
Karen DalyPresident, Stratford Hall
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Warren Whitney helps nonprofit and privately held organizations strengthen finance, HR, strategy, and operations through experienced fractional leadership and project-based consulting.
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