“Today’s Not-for-Profit and Higher Education Landscape: Part 2 – Aligning Operations with Strategy” will continue the initial dialogue covered in the “Part 1 – Redesigning Strategy for Growth” presentation by exploring the critical exercise of enhancing the design, effectiveness and efficiency of operations in order to optimally serve a growth-focused strategy. As not-for-profit and higher education leaders know well, our organizations are complex entities requiring high levels of performance in many different operational areas – else, growth cannot be achieved. 

Key operational areas of focus can vary based on the organization and industry subsector. Critical functions for examination and transformation can include: governance, finance, HR, IT, grants management, membership/stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications, fundraising, risk management and controls, procurement, etc. When these areas are out of alignment with leading practices, that can create organizational distractions and adversely impact leadership’s ability to pursue a growth agenda. As such, leading nonprofits are commonly investing in “infrastructure”, including processes, systems, additional human resources, and skillset development, to resolve longstanding operational challenges and seize market opportunities.