No wasted time.
No wasted money.
Results you'll LOVE.
You'll design a roadmap that unifies your team,
propels your mission, and closes the gap between
current realities and future aspirations.
Invaluable!
Thoughtful Group Work!
Immensely Exciting Process!
Yes! A Roadmap that Makes Sense!
The Best Planning Retreat I've Ever Attended!
Finally . . .
A Planning Process
That Works!
Intentional.
Practical.
Affordable.
Why Tom Iselin?
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Top Rated! - America's best board retreat and strategic planning facilitator
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Winner: Idaho's Social Entrepreneur of the Year
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Built 8 notable nonprofits
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Sits on 6 boards, author of 6 books
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Speaks to 5,000 nonprofit leaders a year
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Been deep in the muddiest trenches and knows what it takes to build thriving nonprofits in competitive environments with limited resources
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Helped more than 200 organizations like yours achieve their dreams by developing practical, effective, and realistic strategic plans
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Passionate about helping leaders build gold standard nonprofits by doing what's right, not what's convenient or easy
No More Boring!
Tired of sitting through boring planning sessions that fall far short of your expectations? Did your last facilitator waste most of the day wordsmithing your mission statement and conducting SWOT analysis? Did the resulting plan collect dust in a file because it was never seen again? Did the outcomes of the day grow stale and ultimately have little impact on your organization?
If you said “yes” to any of these questions, your board and staff are in for a pleasant, high-impact surprise when you choose Tom Iselin as your strategic planning facilitator. During STRIVE! planning sessions, your leaders will learn the "right" questions to ask to help your organization take stock of where it is, where it should be going, and why it should be going there.
You'll also have FUN! Tom makes the planning session enjoyable because you'll be up and moving around doing thoughtful, interactive exercises in small groups. Tom also sprinkles the session with team-building exercises, compelling stories from his experiences, and humor. And there’s plenty of breaks so you can make a business call or text your sweetheart.
Most importantly, you'll leave with a clear roadmap of priorities and a direction that will propel your organization to the next level of performance and impact so your mission can soar.
Your Results
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Clearly defined roadmap of strategic priorities, goals, and action plans
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A powerful and fun day that creates a shared vision and clarity of purpose
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Improved culture of teamwork, engagement, and collaboration
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Increased productivity and impact
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A plan that closes gaps between your current state and desired future state
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A framework to drive alignment, capacity, and resource allocation between functional areas
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A process of incremental change plan that won't overwhelm capacity, resources, or staff
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A system of accountability for the collective work required to achieve success
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Cleaned up organizational baggage that's been lurking in the background
STRIVE
to New Heights!
PLANNING THAT INSPIRES!
Build a New Roadmap. Have Fun in the Process!
The Details
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Fees
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Fees are scaled and based on modules chosen, client's special requests, number of days, and budget size of the organization
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No running meters! The fee is project-based, not hourly
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Call for a consultation and quote
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Length
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Full-day to multi-day depending on scope of work
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FYI: About 75 percent of our retreats are 1 day; 15 percent are 2-day, and 10 percent are multi-day
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Note: Much depends on size of the organization, number of locations, number and availability of board and staff members, and the types of optional services selected (e.g., fundraising audit, gala ROI assessment, grant ROI assessment, long-term implementation and monitoring support, etc.)
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Style
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The planning sessions are high-energy, engaging, fun, practical, and memorable. Tom provides an interactive environment where attendees deepen what they are learning by working in small groups to foster thoughtful, peer-to-peer discussion, collaboration, and team unity.
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Books
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Tom is a bestselling author. Each attendee will receive 1 or 2 of Tom’s latest books:
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First Things First: A Leadership Guide to Building a Gold Standard Nonprofit (228pp)
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Cloudburst: A Rainmaker’s Guide to Fearless Fundraising and Exceptional Donor Stewardship (186pp)
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Kickoff the Process
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Introductory calls to understand your needs, goals, expectations
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Answer questions and discuss process and fees
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Submit proposal
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Choose dates, locations, times
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Submit invoice
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Prior to the Planning Session
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Conduct a comprehensive organizational assessment and survey (confidential, online)
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Review select governance, corporate, compliance, strategic plans, and policy documents
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Review select fundraising strategies, tactics, and performance metrics
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Review key donor segments, income channels, donor landscape
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Review board involvement and fundraising culture
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Review staff and organizational culture
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Review select marketing collateral and activities
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Review mission, vision, and values statements
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Review efficiency and effectiveness of gala and salon events
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Review grant writing ROI
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Interviews with key board members and staff
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Review financials and budgets
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Provide thought-starter questions
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Conduct focus groups or round table discussions with stakeholders/beneficiaries (if required)
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Conduct environmental scan and/or competitive analysis (if required)
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Conduct site visit (if required)
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Selected reading from 1 or 2 of Tom's books
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Session Day
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Typically includes board and select key staff
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For large organizations, it's often best to have a full day with staff and a full day with the board
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Lots of small group work to facilitate thoughtful, peer-to-peer discussion and collaboration
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Guided journey of exploration, discussion, and action planning
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Consensus building exercises to foster collaboration, alignment, and buy-in
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Key insights and advice based on Tom's experience and expertise
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Breakfast, lunch, and plenty of breaks
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Fun, team-building exercises to lighten up the day and deepen relationships between attendees
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Outcomes
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Clearly defined roadmap of strategic priorities, goals, and action plans
-
A powerful and fun day that creates a shared vision and clarity of purpose
-
Improved culture of teamwork and collaboration
-
Increased engagement, productivity, impact
-
A plan that closes gaps between your current state and desired future state
-
A framework to drive alignment, capacity, and resource allocation between functional areas
-
A process of incremental change plan that won't overwhelm capacity, resources, or staff
-
A system of accountability for the collective work required to achieve success
-
Cleaned up organizational baggage that's been lurking in the background
-
A timeline and a set of specific action plans to achieve stated goals, objectives, and success
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A renewed sense of focus, vision, innovation, sustainability
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A set of success milestones
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