Creating the Vision Strategic Planning at Catholic Charities

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Creating the Vision Strategic Planning at
Catholic Charities

• ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS

Document
September 11, 2003
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TODAYS DISCUSSION

• Background on Catholic Charities in St. Paul/
  Minneapolis in 1997
• Description of the strategic planning process and
  subsequent activities
• Initial strategic planning
• Drafting the new mission statement
• Board restructuring
• Creation of the senior leadership team
• Annual planning process
• Restructuring the volunteer program
• Continually revising the strategic planning
  process
• Managing in challenging times
• Lessons learned and potential implications for
  others

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BACKGROUND CATHOLIC CHARITIES IN 1997
Situation

• Catalysts for change
• Appointment of new Executive Director
• Appointment of new Chair of Board of Directors

• Agency provided more than 70 programs budget of
  about 30 million
• Executive Director had built Charities over 30
  years under his clerical leadership
• Board included more than 60 members, representing
  a very wide range of constituencies (e.g.,
  clients, government officials, business people)
• Board had more than 20 subcommittees
• Charities had excellent reputation in the
  community, and was functioning well

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TODAYS DISCUSSION

• Background on Catholic Charities in St. Paul/
  Minneapolis in 1997
• Description of the strategic planning process and
  subsequent activities
• Initial strategic planning
• Drafting the new mission statement
• Board restructuring
• Creation of the senior leadership team
• Annual planning process
• Restructuring the volunteer program
• Continually revising the strategic planning
  process
• Managing in challenging times
• Lessons learned and potential implications for
  others

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OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic questions
Examples

• Key points
• Strategy involves making choices about what to
  provide and what not to provide
• Organization decisions follow from strategy

• What customers do we want to serve?

• Poorest of the poor
• At risk youth
• People in transition

• What services will we provide to these customers?

• Transitional housing
• Emergency housing
• Food shelf
• Soup kitchen

• How will we provide these services?

• 24-hour shelter
• Part-time vs. full-time staff
• Direct service vs. partnerships

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1. STRATEGIC PLANNING

• Results
• Established fundamental strategic priorities)
• Provide a safety net for the poorest of the
  poor, while serving as an advocate
• Recognize that charity isnt enough, and offer
  programs that help create a greater degree of
  self sufficiency
• Serve a certain segment of at-risk youth through
  a residential academy

• Process
• Involved Board Strategic Planning committee,
  senior members of staff, Executive Director, and
  Board Chair (about 40 total people)
• Worked through 3 phases over about 4 months
• Identified needs
• Child care
• At-risk youth
• Housing and food
• Employment services
• Managed care
• Assessed how Charities could/was serving these
  needs
• Synthesized strategic priorities

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2. MISSION STATEMENT
From . . .
To . . .

• The mission of Catholic Charities is to serve
  those most in need. We help individuals and
  families to reach their full human potential as
  we call for justice in the community.
• Guiding principles
• We will base our activities on the biblical and
  theological foundations of Catholic social
  teaching.
• We will operate under the auspices of the
  Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
• We will work in partnership with community and
  neighborhood groups, as well as other agencies
  and organizations.
• We will respect diversity, individual needs,
  beliefs and values.
• We will involve volunteers in fulfilling our
  mission.
• We will be fiscally responsible to our donors,
  funders and the community.

The Church recognizes in all people the image
and likeness of God hence, the fullness of
humanity is the clearest reflection of God in our
world. It sees the task of freeing people to
grow in the image of God as a central mission of
the gospel and in the fulfillment of human
purpose. The Roman Catholic Church in the
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
commissions Catholic Charities to assist in the
task of humanizing the people and conditions of
this 12-county area. Catholic Charities
participates in the mission of the Church by
enabling people to minister to each other. It
sees such ministry as mutually beneficial to
human growth. In this very expression and
experience of ministry, the presence of God is
revealed as Liberator of the oppressed and
Defender of the poor. Furthermore, through
ministry to each other in loving service, people
reproduce in their lives the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Catholic Charities
continually presents to the people of the
Archdiocese the needs of our brothers and sisters
and the ministerial capacity which we all
possess. In this effort, Catholic Charities
maintains an expertise which is available to
those in need of such service. Catholic
Charities offers a special ministry to those
persons whose alienation or disability requires
an experience of service beyond the scope of
local community resources. Ministry to people in
need will normally lead to an examination of
dehumanizing forces which prevent full human life
from being experienced. Catholic Charities
confronts those forces and helps mobilize people
of good will to work for a better social order
oriented toward the growth of all. As injustice
is the single most debilitating sin, so working
for justice by sharing our resources with the
individual and the total community is
constitutive to the preaching of the Gospel.
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3. RESTRUCTURING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRELIMINARY
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Timing

• 3-4 meetings

• 2 days of focus groups

• 1-2 meetings

• 2 days of focus groups

Activities

• Brainstorm potential roles for Board (e.g.,
  strategic planning, development, operations)
• Prioritize roles

• Set 2 days for Board focus groups (2 groups/day)
• Collect input/concerns from Board members

• Generate organizational options for executing
  roles (e.g., multiple Vice Chairs, subcommittees)
• Evaluate pros and cons
• of each option
• Develop other management processes for the Board
  (e.g., nominations, time commitments)

• Complete same activities as
• Phase 2

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PROPOSED BOARD STRUCTURE
Current
Proposed
1. Organization
Single Board with approximately 60 members
2-part Board comprising of a relatively small
Executive Committee, and the full Board
2. Subcommittees
26 program and administrative committees
4 subcommittees (Board Governance, Planning and
Program Development, Finance and Administration,
and Development) and ad hoc task forces
3. Board roles and responsibilities
Broad, but ambiguous involvement at different
levels

• Primary responsibilities
• Establish and maintain vision and mission
• Strategic planning and resource allocation
• Development
• Governance
• Secondary responsibilities
• Financial management of resources
• Program development and oversight
• Performance evaluation
• Nomination and recruitment
• Legal and institutional responsibilities

4. Individual Board member roles
Each Board member determines own roles and
responsibilities
Board would develop different job descriptions
that define different types of commitments and
roles that Board members can play
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BOARD PROCESSES
Current
Proposed
One program committee is associated with each
program

• Large programs, such as St. Joes and Exodus
  where a Board program committee is useful and
  necessary, would continue to have program
  committees that provide management with advice
  and are actively involved with the programs
• Programs such as Seton and Aging may not need
  regular program committees, but may value advice
  and input from Board members on specific issues.
  These groups may convene ad hoc committees to
  address the relevant issue
• In programs such as Frogtown and Northside,
  input from community groups is more helpful to
  management than a Board program committee.
  Community members would be asked to provide input
  and advice to managers of these programs

1. Organization
Each Board member participates in 2 program
committees and 1 administrative committee

• Individual Board member participation is
  determined by their specific job description

2. Individual Board member participation
Program committees communicate with the Board
through Board member representation on the
committees

• Program committees will communicate with the
  Board through management and the Planning and
  Program Development subcommittee

3. Connection to overall Board
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4. SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Rev. Larry J. Snyder, Executive Director
Ginny Haider, Executive Assistant
Jack Jackson, COO, CFO
Janene Connelly, Director of Development
Nancy Utoft, Director of Marketing

• Mary Ann Sullivan, Sr. Director
• Counseling
• Aging Svcs.
• Seton Svcs.
• St. Josephs Home for Children
• Northside Child Development

• Allison Boisvert, Sr. Director
• Emergency Svcs.
• Housing

• Stephanie Burroughs-Saffold, Director
• Diversity Employee Development

• Carol Hood, Director
• Central Svcs.

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5. ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS
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5. ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS (CONTINUED)
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5. ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS (CONTINUED)
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5. ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS (CONTINUED)
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5. ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS (CONTINUED)
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6. RESTRUCTURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
Program initiative key findings

• Catholic Charities has a large, unusually
  dedicated core group of volunteers
• Volunteers suggest a number of improvements to
  the volunteer program particularly in the areas
  of placement, guidance, and training but feel
  staff I already too overburdened to take on new
  responsibilities

• Staff members are concerned that volunteers are
  not as well-utilized as they could be
• Staff want more strategic direction for volunteer
  recruitment (getting the right mix of volunteers)
  and volunteer placement

• No current demand planning or system-wide
  tracking for volunteers
• Need to accommodate groups of volunteers
  (sometimes on short notice) causes stress on
  organization

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RECOMMENDATION 1 INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEER
COORDINATING TEAM
The volunteer experience

• Recruiting
• volunteer outreach
• targeted campaigns to ensure diverse
  representation
• position identification
• defining and packaging the roles/jobs

• Community
• informal gatherings
• support networks
• inviting culture

• Mentoring
• role definition
• training and orientation
• transitioning for new volunteers
• providing ongoing, personal touch and feedback
  loop

Staff
Physical location
Central support
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RECOMMENDATION 2 PLANNING PROCESS
Demand planning
Supply planning

• Individual sites identify needs and uses for
  volunteers in formal planning process
• Create menu of pre-defined projects for group
  volunteers
• Outline volunteer hours and roles needed to
  maintain services
• Indicate potential new uses and roles for
  volunteers

Decentralized, volunteer-led volunteer
development program
Individuals
Centralized supply regulation through key
relationship management
Groups
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RECOMMENDATION 3 GROUP RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
MODEL
Possible projects
Demand/need for volunteers
St. Joes
Group 1 (Target)
Frogtown
Account executive
Preferred project time, activity . . .
Scheduling, logistics
Group 2 (Benilde)
Exodus
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7. STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS REVISITED
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TODAYS DISCUSSION

• Background on Catholic Charities in St. Paul/
  Minneapolis in 1997
• Description of the strategic planning process and
  subsequent activities
• Initial strategic planning
• Drafting the new mission statement
• Board restructuring
• Creation of the senior leadership team
• Annual planning process
• Restructuring the volunteer program
• Continually revising the strategic planning
  process
• Managing in challenging times
• Lessons learned and potential implications for
  others

23
TODAYS DISCUSSION

• Background on Catholic Charities in St. Paul/
  Minneapolis in 1997
• Description of the strategic planning process and
  subsequent activities
• Initial strategic planning
• Drafting the new mission statement
• Board restructuring
• Creation of the senior leadership team
• Annual planning process
• Restructuring the volunteer program
• Continually revising the strategic planning
  process
• Managing in challenging times
• Lessons learned and potential implications for
  others

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LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS

• Laying the foundation mission and core customer
  base is an absolutely essential first step
• Process matters need to involve all of the key
  constituencies in each element of the process
• Change take time think of the process as a
  multi-year effort
• Recognize that the process is iterative do not
  expect to get the right answer which does not
  change
• The biggest change that results from the process
  will be in the new mindset that the staff and
  board develop

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PROPOSED PROCESS FOR SELECTING NEW BOARD CHAIR
Timing

• August-October

• October-November

Activities

• Board Chair conducts interviews with all members
  of the Executive Committee to discuss
• Current issues facing Charities
• Expected role for the Board Chair
• Potential candidates for Board Chair (may be any
  member of the existing Board), ranked in priority
  order
• Their own interest in being Board Chair
• Board Chair interviews previous 3 Board Chairs to
  gain perspective on how they chose their successor

• Board Chair and Executive Director develop
  recommendation for next Board Chair based on
  input from various constituencies
• Job description for Board Chair revised as
  appropriate based on input
• Board Chair and Executive Director inform new
  Board Chair of designation gain acceptance
• Executive Director makes recommendation of new
  Board Chair to Archbishop