Strong plans allow an organization to make decisions quickly and strategically when resources are limited. They provide a blueprint for managing your organization’s limited resources and measuring your progress toward your goals. This is one reason a strong strategic plan is a requirement for effective grant seeking.
Planning Services:
Environmental Scanning
Compression Planning®:
Strategic Plan Facilitation & Development
Vision and Mission Development
Why choose JBC for Strategic Planning?
Julie blends quality data collection and analysis with expert facilitation designed to elevate all voices to inform and develop a strong strategic plan that is both data informed and widely supported. She is an expert facilitator, trained both in the Compression Planning ® methodology and as a Dare to Lead™ certified facilitator. She brings warmth, humor, and urgency to your planning process and a deep respect for all people. As an experienced grant professional with a $10.5 million track record in awarded grants, including a $2.2 US Dept of Education Strengthening Institutions grant, Julie knows how to inspire and capture visionary goals, drill down to the concrete steps your organization needs to take to move forward, and identify what your outcomes will be and how to measure them. Julie has built a rich network of professionals from across the country with whom she collaborates to best serve her clients. She regularly collaborates with experts in economic development, fundraising, education, and leadership development.
Testimonials
The difference in our organization before and after working a strategic plan is night and day. Before we had no cohesive plan for growth, a disengaged board, weak relationships among staff and board, and an unhappy work environment as we were all operating in silos. After our staff and board worked together to create a plan and began working it we had a cohesive plan for growth, a working board, strong relationships among staff and board, and a positive working environment. Our strategic plan is a guide and empowers both board and staff in decision making. Our plan provides needed structure with the flexibility of a working action plan. Staff, committee, and board meetings are now focused and productive as our strategic plan informs the agendas. We all have clear goals to work towards and we all share in the celebration of benchmarks. As an Executive Director, I no longer feel so lonely in my position as there is shared accountability through the strategic plan. I now feel supported by my board and staff as we all work together towards strategic priorities. Julie Boll has been an amazing guide in helping us to clearly identify and prioritize our organization’s goals. Julie facilitated critical conversations and helped us deeply explore the needs of our community and how our organization could best serve those needs through our mission. Her expertise and guidance have proven to be invaluable to my organization as her impact on our organization continues to be exponential through our strategic plan.
Jennifer Teter
Executive Director and Curator
The Art Center, Quincy, IL
You kept us focused, we can use these ideas immediately, this was fun! I’ve been on the board for 9 years and after this session, I feel more enthusiastic about PsychArmor than ever!
Steven Schwab
Board President
PsychArmor Institute, Washington, DC
We are 12 months into our three year strategic plan and we've already met 2 of 4 strategic priorities (sustainability and visibility) far ahead of schedule, driven by the pandemic crisis. Having the planning process to cement our strategic priorities, we've been able to move quickly. We've embraced and navigated dramatic growth in most every aspect from donations and grants, to staff and volunteers, to community visibility, to impact. The clarity we gained from the planning process was invaluable. We've also dramatically increased visibility (our 3rd priority), with food crisis response, retooling our summer kids cooking and gardening program into a virtual program and several community gardens. All have been well executed, well-received, and address immediate community needs.
Melissa Calhoun
Board President
Genesis Garden, Macomb IL
Julie came on site and facilitated a retreat for our staff, board, medical professionals and donors on where MCHS wants to go in the next five years. All stakeholders present benefitted. This experience was transformative for the organization and warmly welcomed by the staff, board and other participants. We now have clarity on where we want to go, and equally important, where we don’t. The decisions we made about our five year vision and goals are critical to our fundraising strategy, our interest in (initial) regional replication and the focus of our resources and energy.
Lisa Baron
Executive Director
Memory Care Home Solutions, St. Louis, MO
I've participated in three board retreats with this board and this session was the only one I've seen light us on fire like this.
Lissa Thomson
Board Vice Chair, PsychArmor
Senior Vice President/Chief Consultant, Lockton Companies