You Need A Strategic Catapult (And I'll Tell You Why)

Stop endless planning and catapult yourself to your desired future. The term “strategic planning” is an oxymoron. Formulating your strategy equates to determining your desired future state—for example, what change you want see in your community, what organization you want to become, what type of person you want to be.Implementing your strategy means moving from your current state to your desired future state as quickly as possible.

Strategy implementation isn’t that hard, yet most funders don’t do it well or quickly. You can do this on your own, but it’s like learning how to ski. Yes, you can read about how to ski in a newsletter, but chances are you will learn to ski faster and fall down less often with a ski instructor by your side! 

Strategy most often fails in implementation. With all the effort that went into developing your new strategy and writing your strategic plan, the hardest part is making the darn thing work!

Of u nu een nieuwe stichting lanceert, uw geefstrategie verfrist, of een nieuw stichtingsbestuurslid bent, u wilt dat uw filantropie de wereld verandert. Toch voelt u zich onzeker hoe je complexe sociale problemen moet aanpakken en vraagt u zich af wat je in huis moet hebben om het verschil te maken. Het is van vitaal belang voor u als nieuwe bestuurder om uw doelen te bepalen en uw strategie te implementeren zonder vast te lopen in een cultuur die uw effectiviteit onderdrukt. De acht startersfouten van filantropiebestuurders door DDB-Expert Kris Putnam-Walkerly.

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is een van Amerika’s invloedrijkste filantropieadviseurs en experts op het gebied van ‘transformational giving’. Ze werd de afgelopen twee jaar uitgeroepen tot een van de top 25 Philanthropy-sprekers in de VS en is de auteur van het bekroonde boek Confident Giving: Sage Advice for Funders. En vanaf nu is Putnam-Walkerly ook als Expert US Philanthropy verbonden aan het team van De Dikke Blauwe. Edwin Venema* sprak met haar over de uitdagingen van grantmakers, niet alleen in de VS, maar ook in Nederland.  

Free yourself from the daily grind and support your best work! Keeping up with board meetings, grant applications, new partnerships, changes in technology and more can make the day-to-day work of managing a foundation very full, and sometimes overflowing. Every foundation CEO or board chair needs to create space for something more, though—your own way of pausing the routine and thinking bigger. I like to call it a “secret weapon.” It varies for each individual, but the outcome is the same: allowing time to better reflect, think and inform your philanthropy.

In 2017, about 75% of small businesses donated to charity. Small businesses should not forgo their opportunity to be charitable just because they’re small. In fact, despite the new tax laws put into place this year, donating to a worthy cause can actually help your business.

A board member’s job includes digging into strategy and process. Serving on the board of a philanthropic foundation isn’t just about approving grants. It’s about being a good steward of resources and sharing responsibility for the foundation’s impact. Too often the focus tends to be on board meeting preparation and the efficiency of these meetings. Take a moment to break from the routine and consider asking your foundation CEO these questions to help the organization focus on the big picture.