Strategic Planning
At Social Enterprise Solutions, our strategic planning approach helps you to answer any or all of these four key questions
What Do We Envision for Our Community?
Answering this question involves: clarifying the key characteristics, challenges, assets, and long-term, desired vision for the community you serve.
What Contribution Will We Make?
Identifying the ecosystem of players, and your organizational culture, capabilities, and contribution to achieving your vision.
How Will We Make Our Contribution?
Setting strategic goals and identifying the key strategies, marketing channels, people, and partnerships you will need to achieve them.
How Will We Secure the Money We Will Need?
Exploring the financial impacts of your strategy, including key investments, financing, revenues, and costs.
SUCCESS STORIES
Here’s what our clients have to say.
We have worked with leaders of social enterprises at every stage.
Sustainability Solutions Group
“We were organizing our first in-person all-staff retreat since the start of the pandemic. The majority of attendees had never met in person. We knew that we needed to make our time together count. Working with our retreat organizing committee, Andy was able to help us design – and then himself facilitate – a multi-day session that was engaging, meaningful, and led to tremendously positive – and concrete – outcomes. Throughout the process, Andy demonstrated immense wisdom and patience. He also showed how deftly he can change gears and improvise when a client throws him curve balls!”
Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation
“Andy led us through a rigorous, intentional process, enabling us to seek new opportunities to maximize our social impact and financial sustainability. He also helped us to refine our planning and budgeting skills. He mentored our coordinator to work through a planning process, and to create a living document that can be modified and utilized as a tool to enable us to seek investment in our plans for expansion and growth.”
FUNDING
Find funding so we can help you start strategic planning.
We have curated funding resources that can cover the costs of this specific service.
INNOWEAVE
$15,000
Impact and Strategic Clarity Stream
Up to $15,000 (75% of a total project cost of $20,000). The applicant is responsible for the remaining 25% ($5,000)
Hire a coach or consultant to draft an intended impact statement, theory of change, and a set of strategic priorities.
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (Nova Scotia)
$25,000
Community Capacity Fund
Up to $25,000 (average grant = $13,000)
The objective of the Community Capacity Fund (CCF) is to build strategic capacity as it relates to regional development initiatives in rural areas of Nova Scotia. The CCF assists industry/sector associations, municipalities, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations to initiate small-scaled activities that are limited in scope, time-sensitive, require financial assistance to be undertaken, and usually assists these organisations to address timely issues, opportunities and/or challenges through the support of professional outside expertise. Over the lifetime of this project, 58 organisations were approved for CCF assistance for a total value of $755,857.
RESOURCES
We have curated a list of learning resources about this topic.
ARTICLE
Clarifying your Impact
BY: ANDY HORSNELL
A short article that introduces a one-page “impact model” that defines the heart of your organization’s theory of change.
VIDEO
A Plan is Not a Strategy
BY: Roger Martin
While created for a for-profit audience, this video provides a compelling argument for making your theory of change the heart of your strategic plan.
WORKSHEET
Strategy Canvas
BY: ANDY HORSNELL
A simple, one-page document that provides a roadmap for developing your organisation’s strategy and a plan to implement it.