Strategy & Risk

The Strategic Board - Key Challenges and 5 steps to address them

Strategic thinking is crucial for nonprofit organisations to navigate the complexities of their environment effectively. Without it, nonprofits risk stagnation, mission drift, and ultimately, failure to make a meaningful impact. This article dives into the critical challenges nonprofit boards face in strategic thinking, and provides bold, evidence-based solutions to overcome them. Why is Strategic Thinking Important for Nonprofit Boards? Nonprofits operate in dynamic environments where funding sources, regulatory requirements, and community needs can shift rapidly.

The Power of Strategic Collaboration

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the not-for-profit sector and business seemed to follow well-trodden and demarcated paths. Tackling the tough, insoluble social issues was seen as the NFP remit, and private business just needed to, well, get on with business. But times have changed. Yet those pesky, social problems have remained, well, insoluble. Communities and the challenges they face have become more complex, and the solutions needed to address them need to become more innovative.

What's Before SWOT

Preparing for Strategic Planning There is a story about the tourist who stopped a local resident to ask directions. “Well, I wouldn’t start from here if I was going there” was the less than useful advice. Just like the tourist, you have to recognise where you are and get to a good starting point before setting out on your strategic journey. Most readers will be familiar with SWOT analysis. As a reminder, SWOT is about identifying the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats around your business.

Top-10 Business Continuity Tips that Won't Break the Bank

Don’t be ’too busy’ to make a Business Continuity Plan Regardless of the industry you operate in, you will be expected by customers, staff, suppliers, general public and other stakeholders, to be prepared for a potential disruption - whether it be caused by a power outage, staff shortage, cyber-attack, flood, earthquake, fire, network outage, supply chain issue, flu outbreak or other cause. For the sake of your business and stakeholders, it is paramount that you implement a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

Strategic Planning Principles and Practices

Accepting a position as a director requires a willingness to personally grow and develop one’s governance and leadership skills, experience and knowledge, and a commitment to allocating the necessary time to fulfil directors’ corporate governance roles and responsibilities. Strategic leadership is one of the four overarching governance responsibilities of a board; the most well-known manifestation of a board’s strategic leadership is the development and driving of a strategic plan, in partnership with the chief executive officer (CEO) and executives/senior managers.

The Importance of Government Engagement for Board Directors

Amongst finance, risk, strategy, oversight, compliance and share/stake holders, board directors could be forgiven for thinking engaging with government is an afterthought. Yet government engagement is one of the few areas that crosses over every single board director’s responsibility and should be an agenda item on every board meeting. Government engagement is a catch all term we started using almost a decade ago because we felt that terms like lobbying, advocacy and campaigning didn’t quite capture the importance, nuance and detail required to ensure government is aligned to your organisation.

The Secret Ingredient to Great Not-for-Profit Strategy

Co-authored by Felicity Green and Elena Mogilevski Strategic planning for the not-for-profit sector is vastly different from planning for the private sector. Many board directors of not-for-profit organisations are volunteers with a background in corporate or private enterprise, and the difference between strategies in the sectors can sometimes be challenging to navigate. It is imperative to understand, however, that the north star to guide social sector strategy development is not simply shareholder value, but rather an often complex combination of outcomes that drive positive impact for those that the organisation exists to serve.

Strategy – Is it really that difficult?

In recent years, serious concerns have been raised by governance experts and public inquiries over the amount of time spent by NFP boards monitoring the day-to-day operations of their organisations at the expense of driving long-term strategy.1 There are a number of reasons directors may have felt constrained to a short-term outlook, including their organisations being under-resourced, heavily reliant on grants and donations and staffed by volunteers and employees of varying levels of experience.

Strengthening Risk Management at the Board Table

I see lots of risk registers and risk related documents. Some are great and really help board members and executive teams identify, manage and report on the “effect of uncertainty on objectives” (as defined in AS ISO 31000:2018) but many could be strengthened. Ultimately, risk management is a strategic process – looking forward to explore what may happen in the future that will assist or hinder your organisation in achieving its purpose and goals.

The Intersection of Risk, Culture and Crisis and at What Price

Much is said and written about personal, brand and company reputations, but when all is said and done reputation rests on three pillars: context, stakeholders, and culture. Context because what happens around a business from a government, social, environment and economic perspective dictates the level of risk associated with your operations and your business decisions. What was right or acceptable 20 years ago may not be right today. What is right according to the letter of the law may not be perceived as right by the society in which you operate.