Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Strategic Planning with Matt Crocker and Beth Smoller on the GMCF Community Hour Episode - 188
This segment of the Community Hour delves into GMCF's strategic planning process and its implications for the community. Board Chair Matt Crocker and Chair Elect Beth Smoller, discuss the importance of clarity, stakeholder engagement, and purposeful abandonment in shaping GMCF's future efforts.
• The transition of GMCF from a funding conduit to a community leader
• Engaging with stakeholders for collaborative planning and input
• The role of nimbleness in addressing emerging challenges
• Measuring impact through rigorous metrics to showcase effectiveness
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. Welcome back to the GMCF Community Hour and this is going to be a discussion that I think will take a lot of interest to a lot of people, and this is called strategic planning. Interest to a lot of people and this is called strategic planning. It's something that organizations often do to make sure that they are in place to address the needs and the concerns of the future, and in this segment we have the chair of the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation's Board of Directors, matt Crocker. Welcome back, sir, thank you, and Beth Smoller, who is the chair elect, who says she's never been on live radio. That would be correct. Welcome. Well, thank you, and Beth Smoller, who is the chair elect, who says she's never been on live radio.
Speaker 2:That would be correct.
Speaker 1:Welcome, Well thank you. The adventure begins right here, indeed it does there are? No, seven second delays, so that you know.
Speaker 2:I will try to channel my inner Brian Smoller.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Okay, yes, if you're familiar with the name Brian Smoller, she is more familiar with him than any of you. So, matt, let's start with you. Strategic planning exercise. Tell me why you are doing this and what's the purpose.
Speaker 3:Yes, well, so, as you point out, I think this is a pretty natural process for any organization at some point. So you know, I think, why we're doing this. I would describe GMCF as kind of moved from what I'd characterize as a scrappy startup organization to a more established enterprise in the community over the years, and so this has really been driven by the growth in our resources as an organization, growth in our staff and our image in the community. And, you know, we're no longer just simply what we started as, which is a conduit for donors' dollars to reach the needs in the community. We've grown beyond that and we find ourselves beginning to be asked to step up and step into a lead position in terms of solving problems in the community. And so, as this is starting to occur, we at GMCF need not only to determine what we can do in terms of the resources we have, but, probably more importantly, what we should be doing. We needed to define what our role should be in this community as we've become more capable.
Speaker 1:So that's what this exercise is about, I think, one of the things you know. We take a look back at the last couple of years and the Community Foundation took a lead role Not the only organization that was involved in this, but the Child Care Initiative, and that center is a great example of you know what the foundation has the capacity to do.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I would say that's also a great example of why it's important for us to go through this process, because there was some uncomfortableness amongst the board and the community of asking is that really our role in our place? And so those are. That's a perfect example of what we need to define in terms of a lens, of what we should be involved with and not, and we're going to find ourselves being asked to be doing more of those sorts of things.
Speaker 1:A lot of problem solving going on in this office. There is. There is Beth. This is a process that has a lot of different aspects to it.
Speaker 2:It is it's a very lengthy process, lots of details involved in it. It is something we've been working on. I mean, you mentioned a couple of years. We've been working on this several years, I believe, as I recall. I think we actually started this process when Jackie Hartman Bork was the chair of our board, and then it's continued under Kim McAtee's leadership and then now with Matt, and then I'll be coming on soon enough. So it has taken quite a bit of time. We've engaged a couple of different experts I guess for lack of a better term advisors in the community foundation world to help us come up with ideas and further solidify what we think will be our strategic plan. We've had several off-site meetings, off-site discussions, not only amongst the board but also GMC staff and then other stakeholders within our community, with donors, with nonprofits, past presidents, and I think at the point now where we're putting together groups of those different stakeholders to gather their input, make sure that we're headed in the right direction with the strategic plan.
Speaker 1:Is this something that's being done specifically by stakeholders, the board of directors, or do you have a committee made up of members of that board and other influences?
Speaker 2:I would say that it's being done by the board of directors. We probably have some smaller groups within that that include outside stakeholders, but it's primarily the board and it's different makeup over the past two to three years that has been helping propel this forward.
Speaker 1:Is it a different structure of meetings or is it part of your regular board, your monthly board meetings?
Speaker 2:It has been primarily different meetings with just a focus on the strategic planning, Although there have been a handful of times we've wrapped it into the regular board meeting and had the regular board meeting in extended session, you could say. But for the most part we've tried to make these separate meetings so we can really have a focus on just the strategic plan and not the monthly items on our board meeting agenda.
Speaker 1:Matt, do you have some perspective that you can provide on what you hope to gain through this planning effort?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think the number one thing, as I kind of alluded to in my first comments, is we really need to get clarity, and that's clarity for the board, clarity for staff donors, the nonprofits we support, ultimately the community at large, the nonprofits we support, ultimately the community at large. And so I think what we'll see out of this is we'll identify three or four what I'll characterize as key strategic pillars for the community foundation that they'll focus on over the next five plus years. Again, this isn't something you do every year, fortunately, because it is a lot of work.
Speaker 1:Is this the first time that we've had one of these strategic planning sessions within the GMCF board?
Speaker 3:So we have over the years Vern's certainly had strategic planning or strategic offsites with the board every year. I would say this is the more, probably the most extensive process we've gone through.
Speaker 1:This is quite a bit more in depth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but no, I mean there have been strategic discussions that have occurred for quite a while in the organization. But yeah, this is a lot more formal process than what we've done in the past, but you know.
Speaker 3:so we'll get these strategic pillars and then, ultimately, we'll end up with some tactics that the organization is going to take to achieve those. And then something I'm excited about and I've heard from a lot of people a desire for this is we're going to have a lot more rigorous metrics about what we're doing as an organization and what impact we're having on the community. I think we all know we're having an impact and we feel it, but being able to measure that and communicate that through something measurable is going um for the community and for the organization.
Speaker 1:It's one thing to see people smile. Yeah, it's one thing, for you know the, the efforts that we see and you know that that impact is is big, because we've we've been here long enough to know that it's diametrically different than what it used to be. But to see it on a spreadsheet is probably a different perspective, and I don't read spreadsheet, I don't talk spreadsheet, and and that that's something that that is an important factor, because it does kind of refine you a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, we need to keep score right, and people want to know where we're having impact or where or where we need to have more impact. As part of it, too, right, if we know there's an area that there's a challenge or a problem out in the community that we could step in and help. You know, identifying what the true opportunity for an impact is and I hear about that a lot, and so, again, that's going to be an important aspect. That's not going to be the shiny part of it, right, that's where all the work behind the scenes is going to occur, but it's definitely an area that's important.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things that stands out to me is that, you know, we're not necessarily in a situation where we have obstacles or challenges or deficiencies within the organization and the collective efforts of everybody, but we can always do better for our community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'd say it's always better to do these things when you're in a position of strength versus weakness, and we are certainly there. And that's why this comes up is because, again, we're being asked to do more and really need to clarify what our role is going to be. So, yeah, you're absolutely right, it's a great time for us to be doing this, okay.
Speaker 1:I bet it's quite an exercise. It is, beth. What are some of the most challenging aspects that you have found so far in the two years three years that you've been involved with this process of strategic planning?
Speaker 2:strategic planning. Well, I think, as Matt said, we're in a position of strength. As you do a SWOT analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. This is a great opportunity for the foundation. We have the ability, we have the resources to do a lot of things in the community, but, you know, thankfully we have a lot of donors and a lot of people within this community that are engaged and want to make this a better place, and so it's not just a matter of what we can do, it's a matter of what we should do and, you know, maybe more appropriately in some instances, a matter of what we should not do. Are there things that we need to purposefully abandon? I love the term purposeful abandonment, and not that those aren't important, but where should GMCF focus its efforts? How do we work within the community, with our donors, with our nonprofits, with all of the stakeholders, to move the greater Manhattan area forward and move it to a position of progress you talk about?
Speaker 1:SWOT strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Do you address those individually in the order of the acronym, or do you think about what is going to be first, the most challenging and, you know, the most drastic thing that could possibly happen?
Speaker 2:I think for me. I actually don't necessarily look at those in order. Instead of it being a nice neat quadrant, like it is for some people, it's probably more of a jumbled up circle for me, where you know I see a weakness, but then okay, well, how do you change that into an opportunity to improve and get better? And you know, as I like to say, when coaching kids get 1% better every day, how does the foundation get 1% better every day?
Speaker 1:You know, matt, you think about all the different things that have happened with the Community Foundation over the last 26 years now, I guess, because we had a big 25-year celebration throughout the year last year and so many of the things that we have experienced and what the foundation has risen to the occasion to do. And what comes to my mind immediately is how we handle certain situations to help individuals during the pandemic, is how we handle certain situations to help individuals during the pandemic. You know, obviously that's a threat that you would address, but it showed signs of strength and opportunity.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's a great example and I think you know. That highlights to me one of the other things that are under consideration as we do this is we've been a very nimble organization to be able to respond to things that come up that we couldn't have expected, and we need to maintain that. So one of the big pieces of this process is going to be again providing more clarity, but we have to continue to keep our nimbleness and ability to respond to the needs of the community, because they're always changing, right. I mean we know that what is an important need for us? I mean there are some things like child care that seem to be year after year we hear about it. Housing's another one. But you know, some of the opportunities that arise this year to help the community are going to be different than the ones that are going to arise next year and we have to be an organization that can respond to that.
Speaker 1:Beth, do you have anything that you and the committee have looked at with any kind of specificity about? What do we foresee as our next great challenge in the community foundation and within the community?
Speaker 2:I don't know that we've identified the next biggest challenge. I think the biggest challenge is there are a lot of challenges. We know child care is an issue. We know affordable housing is an issue. We know that, with the drastic rise in inflation during and since the pandemic, that has put a squeeze on individuals, on families, on our nonprofits that are providing direct services to people that need help. And so, with all of those challenges, how do we focus our efforts? How do we spread the resources we have to make an impact and make the biggest impact we can within this area?
Speaker 1:I don't want to get political, but there's a lot of changes that's going on on the federal level, within our government, but there's going to be a lot of trickle down because we have a lot of folks that are really, really concerned about their futures, professionally and financially, and I think that that's going to be something that we're all going to be looking at, because we hear it. We hear it on the streets, at least I do. I don't know about you Matt?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, and there are a lot of programs that we, you know, that support, that get federal funds, and so you're right, I mean I don't think people really understand what the total outcome of that is yet. But you know, I think that goes back to one of the other cornerstones of this organization is having a pulse on the community and having relationships that we can have conversations and discussions when you, when you have those meaningful personal relationships with people, it allows you to talk about those things more quickly and respond. Um, you're not waiting around for people to come to you, it's just kind of a natural discussion that's occurring. So, yeah, no doubt that we're going to see those. We had a question about that with one of the grants that was related to the child care because it came from federal dollars. We've found out that we don't believe those are at risk. But, yeah, even the community foundation and some of the things we're doing, we have to keep an eye on that. It's a dynamic environment, for sure.
Speaker 1:Beth, when do you have an idea, some conclusion to your strategic planning efforts.
Speaker 2:I think we'll probably see some finalization of the details within the next two months. I'd say we've got some upcoming meetings with nonprofits, with other stakeholders in the community, to make sure that the board is headed in the right direction with this strategic plan. So I think we are nearing a conclusion, although you know it's, everything is in a shade of gray, so I'm not going to give you a drop dead date by any means.
Speaker 1:Well, you've done a fine job in your your debut in radio. Thank you, thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, the foundation is lucky to have you on the board. Some great vision and great passion. And Matt, yeah, you do, you do, okay, thanks.
Speaker 2:Pretty good guy over there isn't he?
Speaker 1:Well, this has got to be fun for you, though.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's again, it's a lot of work, but it's it's fun because it's exciting to be able to have a opportunity to really help this organization get to the next level, and that's what we're talking about, right, I mean, again, we have been done some phenomenal things. I mean the growth of this community foundation, the impact it's had over the last 26 years has been outstanding. I'm just excited about what it can do for the next 25 years.
Speaker 1:Well, we're going to get Mr Nimble Vern Hendricks back in. Use the word nimble, I had to tie that in to Vern. That just didn't seem to. That was too easy of a door to open up and walk through. But Vern's going to be stepping back in the studio here in our next segment. But, Matt Crocker, thanks for your work as chair and for joining us today. You're welcome. Thank you, Beth Smoller. Best wishes to you. Thank you, Best wishes to you.
Speaker 2:Thank you Say hi to that, brian dude, for me I will, I will indeed.
Speaker 1:We go back probably further than that 26 years that the Foundation's been around, probably so Pretty close. Anyway, it's the GMCF Community Hour here on NewsRadio KMAN. Back to wrap up the show with Bird in just a couple of moments.