By Leah

Greetings from my sabbatical! From Dec. 15-January 31, I am catching up on the mountain of "that looks interesting" reading that has been piling up on my desk for... years. My goal is to learn new approaches in planning, evaluation and research that our clients can benefit from.

Today I have been reading up on business strategies and reflecting on how these business strategies could be applied in the nonprofit and public sector. One article focused on scenarios as an alternative to forecasting. Because forecasts use previous trends to try to make predictions, they are very bad at accounting for major shifts or changes in the broader environment (which I'm sure anyone - including me - who has bought a house in the last four years can attest to...)

Scenarios use a number of factors in the current reality, and then think about what would happen if those factors were taken to greater or lesser extreme. For example, in our current reality, tax revenues, endowments and contributions are all down significantly. In the next several months, the declines may level off and we might see economic recovery as people look for buying opportunities, or the declines might continue worsening. A nonprofit or a public agency would then think about how to best position itself given those various scenarios. Does the nonprofit need to be prepared to take drastic measures? Does a public agency need to maintain as many programs as possible, potentially with some delayed spending?

Even before I started reading the article, I was listening to today's MPR Midmorning on Nonprofit Survival - and got to have the final comment of the hour! Essentially, the guests were trying to analyze where the "scenarios" were headed in the coming months. My comment was that I have observed nonprofits becoming increasingly savvy about evaluation over the last nine years, and feel they are better positioned in this downturn than in the past because they have valid, reliable and meaningful data with which to make decisions.

One of the benefits of sabbatical - not having to leave my house on this frigid day! Stay warm out there (you can ignore that part, California, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Florida friends!)

Posted by admin at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of our former staff, Brooke Ahlquist, has been involved with the UMore Park development as the student representative on the Health Task Force. The University of Minnesota is in the process of a 25-30 year master plan for its 5,000 acre site near Rosemount (in the Twin Cities southeast suburbs). The U has a very interesting strategic vision for the area, summarized quite concisely in a PowerPoint presentation. The University is considering sustainability, health, economic value and livability in its planning. Brooke previously wrote about health issues in planning on our blog (health amenities)

The public is invited to the listening sessions held between Sept. 17 and Sept. 27 (more detail below and here).

- Mon., Sept. 17 – Education – including early childhood development, daycare, K-12, post-secondary and adult education, lifelong learning;

- Wed., Sept. 19 – Environment – including “green” buildings and infrastructure, the landscape and natural resources, air and water quality;

- Thurs., Sept. 20 – Energy – including renewable energy (biomass, geothermal, solar, wind), energy production and efficiency, reduction of greenhouse gases, conservation practices;

- Tues., Sept. 25 – Health – for individuals and families, including nutrition, prevention, recreation, safety, health care, health services;

- Wed., Sept. 26 – Interdisciplinary Opportunities – including housing, diversity, arts and culture, technology, international linkages;

- Thurs., Sept. 27 – Transportation – including increased access and mobility through multiple transit options, innovative transit services, transportation infrastructure, safety.

Each listening session will be held from 5:00 to 7:15 p.m. A light meal will be served and registration is free but required (612-626-3976).

Posted by admin at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

by Leah

I want to sincerely congratulate John Bryson on his recent receipt of the McKnight Presidential endowed professorship. Prof. Bryson taught me a great deal when I was a student at the Humphrey Institute, including to have fun when working complex issues involving a lot of players with divergent interests. Dean Atwood asked if I would write a letter about Prof. Bryson for his nomination for a faculty award. In my letter, I said (among other things):

"I particularly enjoyed learning from Professor Bryson’s broad view of stakeholders and their importance in strategic planning initiatives. He had an intuitive understanding of how stakeholder engagement can strengthen a strategic planning process by ensuring goals are broadly based in the current context, building support for resulting strategies and ensuring a level of accountability for the benchmarks or outcomes set in the process. This lesson in particular has stayed with me in my professional years; stakeholder engagement is one of the areas I emphasize in my own professional work and continue to search for creative ways of building those relationships between organizations and their stakeholders... "

“Because I learned so much from Professor Bryson, I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to support him for the Regents Professorship. I owe much of the philosophy that underlies my work to his teaching.”

Posted by admin at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many of our clients have done previous strategic planning or evaluation projects, and are familiar with external consultants. Their previous experience sometimes lead them to expect to be somewhat removed from the project, with the consultant completing tasks independently.

At the Improve Group, we tend to take a more developmental role to strategic planning and evaluation -- forming a "learning community" partnership with our clients. We also encourage our clients to engage others - program participants or students, elected officials, people with common interests, etc. -- in their process.

For some organizations, a somewhat formal public relations process can be helpful. For example, in our work with Austin (MN) public schools, we engaged students, teachers, parents, administrators and community members to establish a vision and set goals for their community. The district supported this process through press releases and frequent communication. A recent article in the Rochester Post-Bulletin describing the results so far of the effort is one example; previous articles invited people to complete a survey and participate in community meetings. The result was a participation rate higher than we've seen in comparable projects.

Doing a google search for "strategic planning press release" or "evaluation press release" turns up mostly the findings or results of a project. What has made our work with Austin so unique is that they engaged their local media throughout the process. Their goals in doing so were to:

(1) Increase participation in the strategic planning process
(2) Ensure that everyone who chose to do so had an opportunity to learn about the process
(3) Keep people informed as the process evolves
(4) Ensure that no one is surprised with the results because there have been summaries at multiple stages

The press may not always be a good tool. In Austin, the District had a good sense about what sources of information people used and how to access each of them. They included web- and radio-announcements in their strategy. In some communities we work with, there is uncertainty about which media outlets people access the most, or media are so saturated that it is cost-prohibitive to reach more than a small fraction of the population. In those cases, it is important to be targeted with your approach, using media outlets to access populations that would otherwise not participate.

Posted by admin at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Collaboration is receiving increasing visibility in recent years; funders are requiring collaboration as a way to ensure services are not duplicated and address complex problems while local community agencies see collaboration as a way to broaden their reach.

Last fall we concluded fifteen months of original research into collaboration in five Minnesota communities. These communities were recipients of the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant, and had school district, law enforcement and mental health partners. We had the opportunity to present lessons learned at the Minnesota Association of School Administrator's conference on Friday, March 15. Chief among our findings, and one that participants most related to, is that collaboration may take longer than "going it alone", but there is much greater potential for systemic change when working with a broad base of support. Similarly, it is important that a structure is well-defined, as are a broad vision and goals, but that individual partners have the opportunity to shape the specific steps.

See a .pdf version of our presentation here.

Posted by admin at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to W. Paul Farmer, Executive Director of the American Planning Association, the current federal budget proposal from President Bush could have very large impacts on communities, particularly in the long term. The single biggest targets for cuts and disinvestment are community development and infrastructure. Most of the major federal programs that planners use for significant community investment are cut: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG; cut by $1.2 billion), Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF; cut by $400 million), Land and Water Conservation Fund (zero funding), HOPE VI (zero funding), and transit (cut by $300 million). Transit also loses some of the guarantees it has received in previous budgets, and the EPA's Smart Growth office is targeted for major personnel cuts.

These cuts are "backloaded", meaning they gradually increase over time. For example, an analysis by CBPP shows that for community development programs, a 25 percent cut in 2009 grows to more than 30 percent by 2012 (not adjusting for inflation). Environmental programs would see an 8 percent cut this year nearly double to 15.7 percent in 2012.

Locally in Minnesota, there are concerns that planned increases in transportation funding are being negated by something most people would consider a good thing -- conservation. A recent analysis expects gas tax receipts in Minnesota to have lower-than-expected increases (with eventual decreases), primarily thanks to better fuel efficiency in most cars that are popular today.

Posted by admin at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Strategic planning has been used by public and non-profit organizations for decades. Planning has both its adherents and its detractors--those who feel it is a useful exercise find that it helps to set direction and keep varied interest groups focused on issues important to the key mission. Others find it nearly impossible to create plans that anticipate all possible future scenarios, and particularly that monitoring progress falls to the wayside as day-to-day reality sets in.

Recent research by Prof. Ralph Jasparro found that school districts experienced many benefits when undergoing strategic planning; in particular, leaders (both administrators and elected officials) had a clear sense of direction and communication was improved across groups (students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members). The broader and more meaningful the involvement of these groups (what the Prof. Jasparro terms "ownership"), the more committed were those responsible for implementing strategies. In a sense, they invited more accountability into their districts by involving more people in setting and monitoring priorities.

Over the next few months we will be working with Austin Public Schools on a strategic planning initiative. Administrators and leaders have been enthusiastic about the opportunity to engage their community through a survey, meetings and workshops. They are conscious that their community is diverse, and want to provide ample opportunities for students, parents, teachers, community members and local organizations to get involved, so have planned many opportunities to do so. In addition, they are using an extensive media campaign to let people know how they can get involved. A recent article by Superintendent Raskin invites questions and explains that the process is important for helping the district plan, and dream, for the future.

Posted by admin at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A recent article in Planning, the magazine of the American Planning Association, talks about how local communities are responding to rapid population growth. In Florida (where I lived for several months), school enrollment increases by nearly 50,000 students each year. To keep up with demand, districts increasingly built large schools on vacant plots of land at the edge of neighborhoods, rather than integrating schools into neighborhoods--56 new schools were built in Florida in 2000 alone.

A 2002 law required closer coordination between school districts and county planners. The results have so far been limited; coordination is evidenced by a single document signed by each party that a school site is acceptable. However, increasing constraints on public investments may force more coordinaion, as in the case of shared school site and rec center facilities (sharing fields and a gym, for example).

It will be interesting to watch whether increasing requirements for collaboration will result in actual collaborative advantage; in other words, districts and planners finding ways to accomplish their goals more efficiently and with better results than if they were working independently.

Posted by admin at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I had the chance to spend Friday with the Board and Staff of the National Youth Leadership Council. The full-day retreat helped prepare the organization for a new strategic plan; we had a lively discussion about the mission and vision of the organization. Those present expressed hearfelt commitment to the shared values of serving youth and building just, socially conscious communities through youth action and leadership.

NYLC is integrating traditional and new tacticts to build a movement for youth service, including broadcasting their annual conference on Second Life for the first time. I recently blogged about Second Life and its potential for evaluation and planning; I am anxious to hear how the format worked for both users and conveners.

Posted by admin at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In October I attended a session and the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits/Foundations conference on how to build on assets in rural communities. The session’s panel shared some interesting examples of how their rural communities had uncovered new resources to help meet their needs. For instance, one non-profit organization described how they had been able to secure a phone system donation from a local company that had upgraded to a new phone system; another organization described how they had been able to shape a fundraising event around board members' landscaping expertise.

I felt there were even more possibilities to be uncovered when considering the assets of rural communities, especially in the challenge of retooling your thinking to seeing positives in (what you thought) were negatives. I was reminded of this session the other day during a discussion with clients from northwest Minnesota. They were describing some of their successes in bringing together service providers to take a regional view of the service system. They have found innovation, efficiencies, improved communication, new ways to share expertise, additional power to secure funding and many other advantages from working together. This struck me as a great example of how a negative – funding-strapped individual organizations – could become a positive – an innovative and effective system of care.

I can think of another example from a project I worked on this year for the University of Minnesota extension service. The small town of New York Mills, Minnesota, used their small town charm, resident energy, precious local dollars and beautiful Minnesota countryside assets to support an arts center and artists’ retreat program. Events associated with both provide fun learning and social opportunities for residents young and not-so-young, support local and national artists, and draw regional, national and even international attention.

I personally find it a fun, and important, challenge to really try to creatively rethink what assets communities have, and how to build on them. In many ways, the process can be similar in a rural or urban community and can be a great reason to bring community members together.

Posted by Guest author at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Leah:

Several of us have very pleasant memories of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, despite a recent tongue-in-cheek mailing that Susan received from AM1500 [Question for candidate who knocks at your door: 1. Have you ever attended the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs? (If yes, thank them for their time and move them on to the next house.]

Four of our staff attended the Humphrey Institute, with majors in planning, public policy, and program management. In a recent newsletter, I learned that the current entering class is 204 students (my entering class was closer to 100), with the following statistics:

Men/Women: 46%/54%
Minority students: 12%
International students: 12%
Minnesota residents: 62%
Average age: 27

With fond memories of my fellow students, professors and classes....

Posted by admin at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense unveiled its Base Realignment and Closure plan, following a lengthy analysis and engagement process. The plan had both supporters and detractors, with many fearing the negative impact of base closings on economically depressed communities.

The debate that emerged after the plan was published focused mainly on base closures rather than the consolidation aspect. However, several bases were targeted for expansion, including Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. A recent article in Planning Magazine presents this flip side. Ft. Benning is expected to add nearly 10,000 personnel over the next several years, requiring new housing, new services, and even new school and traffic planning - these soldiers and civilians are expected to increase the school district population by over 30%.

Planners are constantly faced with unintended consequences, sometimes of their own making. Even in our (much smaller scale) projects, our research and planning methods often lead to new questions for investigation or new issues that were unexpected. One of the ways we deal with them is to work closely with our clients to think about what our primary purpose and objectives are -- what are the most important things our clients want to address; how does this new information/idea/challenge impact those priorities; how much is the change a temporary issue vs. a long-lasting impact. Because we are so interested in the relationship aspect of our work with clients, these conversations, while sometimes heated, are exciting and interesting.

Posted by admin at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

All good ideas... are difficult to implement! The Improve Group has some tools that we are making better use of in our own planning, however. Thanks to a SharePoint site, our staff are able to host discussions, post ideas and share lists of resources that are open to any contributers. We can also create sub-sites for any of our projects which serves us well for managing some of our larger projects.

One thing we talk about frequently is how much we'd like an easy way to share recommended readings about specific topics - or even just for fun. So we created an "Improve Group recommends" list where staff can list their recent finds; it is easy for everyone to navigate, sort, search and extract from. Our technology consultant (Yerkotech Consulting) helped set up our SharePoint site, but it has taken several months for us to make better use of it. I'll write more as we find additional ways to use technology in our own planning and management and how that might be applied to public and non-profit organizations.

Posted by admin at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)