The Community Foundation commends A Farm Less Ordinary, Loudoun Commission for Women and Girls, Loudoun Youth, Inc., and Project Horse Empowerment Center for recently completing our 2019-2020 Strategic Planning Consortium program.  In a year-long program offered as part of our Social Impact Institute, these organizations underwent an in-depth strategic planning process with the assistance of professional consultants from Capacity Partners, Inc.

A well-developed strategic plan is an essential tool for nonprofit organizations to advance their missions. Strategic planning consultants provide professional guidance and facilitation to help nonprofit Boards develop their long-range goals, objectives, and strategies. However, smaller organizations often lack the financial resources to acquire quality strategic planning services.  The Strategic Planning Consortium program was designed to give small organizations with annual operating budgets of under $500,000 the opportunity to work with professional consultants to develop a full-scale strategic plan.  In summer 2019, applications were accepted from qualifying nonprofits that were ready to invest their time and resources in a comprehensive strategic planning process. This program was made possible with grant funding provided by 100WomenStrong and Loudoun County government.

As Strategic Planning Consortium program participants, each organization was assigned a skilled consultant from Capacity Partners who helped guide and facilitate a strategic planning process that engaged the organizations’ staff, Board of Directors, and stakeholders. The participating organizations also completed training in strategic planning, and ultimately developed three-year strategic plans that guide their work and missions long-term.

“We appreciate the investment these four organizations made by participating in this program,” said Nicole Acosta, director of grants and nonprofit programs at the Community Foundation.  “Strategic planning is a challenging but important process for organizations.  The four nonprofits that completed this program understand the importance of using a quality strategic plan as a road map to grow and strengthen an organization’s mission.”

To learn more about the participating nonprofits, visit their websites:

A Farm Less Ordinary: https://www.afarmlessordinary.org/ 

Loudoun Commission for Women and Girls: https://www.lcwag.org/

Loudoun Youth: https://www.loudounyouth.org/

Project Horse Empowerment Center: https://www.projecthorse.org/

To learn more about our program partner, Capacity Partners, Inc., visit:  https://capacitypartners.com/

To learn more about the generous funders of this program, visit:

100WomenStrong: https://www.onehundredwomenstrong.org/

Loudoun County Government: https://www.loudoun.gov/5182/Nonprofit-Grant-Funding