Mission, Strategy & Evaluation

Standards for Excellence®, a national benchmarking system created in 1998, is a baseline from which nonprofits can operate efficiently and effectively. Understanding these Standards and moving your nonprofit up the ladder will grow trust with funders, staff, and prospective board members. After participating in the training sessions, some nonprofits choose to apply for the Seal of Excellence with the Standards for Excellence Institute.

AAN is offering each of the six guiding principles, one session at a time. The first of these six benchmarks is offered as a 90-minute session on October 21, 2021 in Huntsville and on Zoom. We will focus on the necessity of mission clarity, your strategic plan, and evaluating impact. The session will cover Mission, Strategy, and Evaluation.

  • Mission, Impact and Planning
  • Steps to engage in strategic planning
    • Conduct a SWOT analysis
    • Develop and revise the mission statement
    • Create a plan
    • Developing a 3-to-5-year plan (strategic plan)
      • Prepare to plan
      • Get organized
      • Review mission, vision, and values
      • Decide on strategies
      • Create goals and objectives
      • Connect long range strategic planning with ongoing operations
    • Pitfalls of planning
    • Examples of mission statements
    • Documents provided: Strategic Plan Sample Worksheet for Executive Summary and Sample Strategic Plan Implementation/Action Plan
  • Program Evaluation
  • Definition of program evaluation
  • Purpose of program evaluation
  • Defining your programs
  • Monitoring vs. evaluation
  • The program cycle
  • Approaches to outcome evaluation
  • Logic models
  • Methodologies: quantitative and qualitative approaches
  • Data collection techniques
  • Effectiveness vs. efficiency
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Measuring participant satisfaction
  • Using program evaluation data
  • Documents provided: Sample Outcomes Logic Model (WK Kellogg Foundation) and Sample Program Evaluation Matrix (Standards for Excellence Institute)
  • Strategic Partnerships
  • Types of partnerships and important considerations
  • Identifying and vetting potential partners
  • Memorandum of Understanding
  • Role of the board
  • Documents provided: Sample Policy on Strategic Partnerships (Pathfinders for Autism), Partner Due Diligence Checklist, Legal Issues and Nonprofit Mergers, Guide to Dissolving a Nonprofit (Nonstock) Corporation which contains the following exhibits: (a) Resolution to Dissolve Corporation, (b) Sample Letter for Withdrawal of Registration for Charitable Solicitation, (c) Sample Letter to Known Creditors, (d) Articles of Dissolution) (Source: Standards for Excellence Institute), Sample Memorandum of Understanding Template -General (Standards for Excellence Institute)

Danielle Dunbar, trainer for this session, is the Executive Director of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits. As a nonprofit veteran in Alabama, she has seen firsthand what happens with and without Standards for Excellence®. Join her as she works through each of the six guiding principles to bring greater excellence to your nonprofit management. Teams are welcomed and discounted.

Please register today! Contact Carla Smotherman at (205) 726-4712 for the discount code.

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