Strategic planning should be a means not only to produce a strategy, but also to engage and cultivate stakeholders, develop leadership, and generate new energy, commitment and consensus around mission. Its primary product is not a written plan, but strategic thinking within the organization through a process of planning followed by a process of implementation. A well-conceived and managed planning process can be the most effective form of organizational development.
Sam Frank founded Synthesis Partnership to assist nonprofits with strategy, planning, and organizational development and change. He advises and has served on the boards of local and national nonprofit organizations addressing arts and culture, education, health care, preservation, homelessness and the environment. Sam frequently offers workshops on planning at national conferences and writes an e-newsletter, Critical Issues in Strategy, Planning and Organizational Development (http://bit.ly/SyParchive) and a blog on nonprofit issues (http://bit.ly/SyPblog). He conceived and directs the Wednesday Webinars atnonprofitwebinars.com. Prior to Synthesis Partnership Sam was Director of Architecture and Design at Corning Incorporated, and Dean of Architecture and Design at Rhode Island School of Design. He was educated in English literature at Princeton University, architecture at Harvard University, and architectural history, theory and criticism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Synthesis Partnership assists nonprofits with strategy, planning, and organizational development and change. The foundation of our approach to any assignment is attentive listening to the situation, needs, culture and aspirations of the client. Our clients have represented a variety of sectors (including education, arts and culture, health care, and social services), sizes (no staff to hundreds of staff; budgets in the low six figures to the high eight figures), maturities (start-ups to well over a century old) and experience (organizations new to planning and organizations with extensive history and experience of planning). Our breadth of understanding of nonprofit sectors and issues helps us to ask the right questions and explore the relevant concerns to assure integrated explorations and solutions. Case studies of some of our projects and articles on strategy, identity, capacity and facilities can be found at www.synthesispartnership.com.
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