Project Description
After a number of successive leadership changes in a short period of time, a 30-year-old, national advocacy group headquartered in Washington, DC, was close to insolvency and its relevance as a champion for its constituents was being eroded by challenges from newer competing organizations.
Solution
The new appointed CEO engaged broadshark to develop a restructuring plan designed to ensure the organization’s financial stability and regain its position as the most highly regarded advocate for its constituency. Insights were developed by conducting:
- Comprehensive balance sheet, income statement and detailed cash flow analysis
- Study of the staff’s assigned roles and responsibilities
- SWOT analysis of seven groups that were competing for visibility and resources
- Review of the organizations outreach and marketing programs
- Additionally, successful not-for-profit organizations were studied and best-in-class processes were modeled.
Result
The analysis conducted by broadshark revealed:
- The organization was cash flow negative for 11 out of 12 months each year, relying on a single event, attendance at which had been dropping for several years, for its entire annual operating budget
- None of the staff was specifically responsible for fundraising, which is the life-blood of any not-for-profit
- The ratio of staff to revenue generated at the organization was the least favorable among similar advocacy groups studied
- Information on websites was not current, on-going marketing communication and outreach was not being regularly planned or deployed
- Membership renewal programs were not consistently executed
Based on the findings, broadshark delivered and initiated the implementation of a plan that:
- Reoriented the staff hiring profile, focusing on relationship building and business development
- Secured donations and scholarship funding from Fortune 500 companies
- Established an ongoing, longitudinal marketing and communications plans that regained visibility for the organization with its constituency
- After a revolving door at the CEO position, the current CEO has been at the helm for five years, revenues have increased over 10X, the number of corporate sponsors has increased to over 250 from less than 50. Also, the organization has regained its position as the leading advocate for its constituency.