Governance Training

Are your board members operations volunteers or are they providing true governance? Do you have the right number of board members? The right mix? The optimal governance structure for carrying out the mission? Do your board members provide oversight? Do they fundraise for your organization?

Nonprofit boards are complex groups of volunteers who need both initial and ongoing support to maintain their effectiveness. Well trained board members who have been provided with the tools they need to do their jobs can be motivated and effective ambassadors, provide much-needed expertise, and can demonstrate the appropriate leadership to move a nonprofit forward in delivering on its mission. Krystine can provide board training or retreats on a variety of topics, depending on the life cycle of the organization.

 

Leadership Coaching

Often, nonprofit executives can struggle with managing the day to day operations of a nonprofit, and wonder how to do that while also providing inspirational leadership for their organizations. Yet without strong leaders, nonprofits can struggle to maintain consistent success in their work.

Krystine can provide individual coaching for CEOs or Executive Directors to increase leadership effectiveness. Strategies for this type of coaching might include self and team assessments; discussions of growth needs; setting of personal and team goals; creating ways to measure progress, and learning effective communication strategies with staff, board, and the public. She can also help the executive to find an appropriate peer group with whom they can brainstorm problems and ideas.

 

Team Building

Krystine can also develop effective team-building exercises for management teams or specific departments to increase productivity.

Strategic Planning

Krystine utilizes a highly collaborative process when facilitating strategic planning, which takes complex problems and identifies practical solutions for organizations.  As a former nonprofit leader herself, Krystine has always placed a premium on collaborative thinking. She would invite her individual employees to test out new ideas, and encourage entrepreneurship within the set framework of an organization’s strategic directions. This philosophy carries through when working with her nonprofit clients. Ideally, board and staff on all levels would have input into a strategic plan that would define tactical and operational goals. In order for staff to support strategic directions, they need to have personal buy-in during the creation of the plan itself.

 

Organizational Audits

Often, prior to starting strategic planning or launching a capital campaign, organizations simply need an outside perspective on the organization as a whole. How effective are the operations, the fundraising, the governance? How is the organization viewed within the wider community? How does it “measure up” industry-wide? What are its strengths and weaknesses? An organizational audit is often an economical, practical way for small organizations to give leadership fresh perspective on how things are going, and provide guidance on what to do next.

 

Executive Transitions

The departure of the executive often triggers a time of crisis for an organization, but that need not be the case. Krystine can guide nonprofits through effective succession planning for both board leaders and key staff positions, so that these inevitable transitions can be managed more smoothly. When such a transition occurs without succession planning in place, Krystine can also offer guidance that could include helping the board to determine the role of an interim director, and assisting with an assessment to decide what is needed from future leadership.

Marketing and Public Relations

Krystine can provide services that help to shape (or reshape) the public face of your nonprofit, including Marketing/PR Assessments; Marketing Plans ; Crisis Communications (general planning or work based on specific concerns); Press Releases; Magazine Articles; or Organizational Branding.

 

Fundraising

A full range of fundraising services is available, including Philanthropy Audits; Annual, Planned and Major Giving Program Planning; Management and Leadership Structure; Board Training; Development Planning; and Capital Campaign Studies and Implementation.

 

Philosophy

Many nonprofit organization find fundraising daunting, but it need not be. Krystine's fundraising philosophy is people-centric - it focuses on the donors rather than the dollars. Nonprofits can be successful if they remember that fundraising is about two things - telling a compelling story, and nurturing and ongoing relationship with the donor. If your board and staff can tell your story well, and if they keep donor relationships forefront in their minds, success will follow. Find out why people are supporting your organization, and make sure to share your stories as well as your statistics. Find ways to authentically thank each donor individually, and think of ways to keep them engaged and involved.

 

Ethics

As a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Krystine's services adhere to AFP's Code of Ethical Practices and Standards of Practice, and are in line with the Donor Bill of Rights. "The Association of Fundraising Professionals exists to foster the development and growth of fundraising professionals and the profession, to promote high ethical standards in the fundraising profession and to preserve and enhance philanthropy and volunteerism."