Workshop – Thinking Ahead: Making the Most of Your Strategic Planning Process
September 30, 2019
A day long training workshop with Lynn Fergusson, hosted by the Sustainability Network. We’ll provide an overview of strategic planning and our approach to tying it to impact in a concrete, actionable and inspiring way. We’ll provide examples, then share tools and give you a chance to get your feet wet….
Clarifying your organization’s impact, with PolicyWise
September 19, 2019
In this episode, Lynn talks to members of the impact team at PolicyWise – a partnership between Alberta’s universities, the community, and the government of Alberta – Cathie Scott, Chief Knowledge and Policy Officer; Jo-Louise Huq Organizational Innovation and Change Scientist, and Courtney Lundy, Business and Grants Manager. Hear about…
Impact for Whom? Defining Beneficiaries
July 29, 2019
One of the most important considerations in building strategy for impact is establishing who your beneficiaries are. You want to be clear about for whom you are intentionally doing this work. This shows up at the very beginning of strategy building, in defining your Intended Impact Statement, which states the…
Point of Accountability
May 28, 2019
Is your organization aligned on its Point of Accountability? Recently we heard a funder’s excitement about the clear purpose, and conviction to achieve it, that a grantee had gained after working with us. In fact, the funder wanted that same clarity for themselves. It reminded us that clarity of purpose…
Bringing Strategy to Life, with Shelley Zuckerman
November 29, 2018
Sally interviews Shelley Zuckerman of the North York Community House, an organization that supports its community members to settle, thrive and lead. They discuss the process of defining NYCH’s intended impact and aligning the organization to its impact in the broader community. Shelley also tells us about NYCH’s continuous effort…
Podcast: Impact Strategy, with Robin Cory
November 15, 2018
Sally interviews Robin Cory, of Colbeck Strategic Advisors. They talk about how organizations which focus on their impact, and align their financial resources and organizational capabilities to it, can build strong strategy that achieves results. Robin and Sally talk about how to decide what not to do and why that…
Thinking Ahead: Making the Most of Your Strategic Planning Process
May 23, 2017
A day long training workshop with Sally Fazal and Lynn Fergusson of Social Impact Advisors (www.socialimpactadvisors.ca), an organization which works with not-for-profit organizations, foundations and companies to define and focus on the social impact they aim to achieve, and develop the strategies and actions to make it happen. The goal…
How are you? Busy!
May 12, 2017
I look forward to the day when more of us will answer the question “How are you?” with something besides “Busy.” So many not-for-profits are operating on a shoestring and their leaders are so busy keeping the lights on and putting out fires there is no time left over to…
Strategic Measurement and Evaluation
March 31, 2017
Good strategy, by definition, includes the outcomes an organization will hold itself accountable for achieving. The better we can measure performance, the better we can evaluate our strategy and adjust or adapt it to achieve the outcomes we want for the people or causes we serve. Many factors go into…
Getting Started in Collective Impact
March 31, 2017
I have spent most of my career working in corporate settings, and have spent the past 7 years consulting in the non-profit sector. Since leaving corporate Canada, I have learned a lot about how successful strategy differs in this sector and a lot more about how it’s the same. Setting…