STRATEGIC PLANNING
You are charged with charting a clear strategic direction for your organization, and that’s no small task! With a clear vision, an understanding of challenges and strengths, and a thoughtful action plan you can have all of your stakeholders with you to make it happen. At first a big process like this, while valuable, may seem a bit overwhelming. That’s where we come in!
Whether it’s a half-day board retreat focused on setting short-term priorities or a comprehensive, community-driven strategic plan, Spark & Compass helps organizations craft a roadmap for their future. Our approach is flexible, participatory, and results-driven, ensuring that every plan is actionable, aligns with your mission, and reflects the voices of your stakeholders. Our approach at Spark & Compass ensures progress and long-term growth, empowering your organization as we guide you through our engaging process to achieve organizational success.
We design our strategic planning services to align with our clients’needs. Common supports include:
Identifying Strategic Priorities
Boards play a crucial role in setting an organization’s direction. In this session, we facilitate a collaborative process to help your board define and prioritize key initiatives that align with your mission and vision. Our approach ensures that strategic priorities are actionable, measurable, and widely supported.
Recommended for: Boards that are looking to update their strategic directions and priorities to support the work of the Superintendent/Executive Director/CEO. Time involvement is half-day to one-day of planning.
Community-Driven Strategic Plans
Our structured yet flexible strategic planning model ensures that your district or organization gains a clear, actionable roadmap that aligns with the needs of students, educators, and the broader community, fostering collaboration and strengthening the organization’s long-term success.
Our four-phase process is designed for long-term impact:
Planning & Design – Laying a foundation with data gathering, stakeholder input, and governance alignment.
Engagement – Conducting extensive stakeholder outreach, including interviews, focus groups, and surveys.
Strategic Direction – Developing a shared vision, core values, mission refinement, and strategic directions and priorities.
Implementation – Creating an actionable roadmap with clear milestones, ownership, and evaluation processes.
Recommended for: Organizations looking to engage in an extensive nine-months or more process that includes the community and stakeholders.
Strategic Planning for Policy Governance Boards
For organizations implementing Policy Governance, we support boards in defining Ends policies, structuring Executive Limitations, and refining governance processes in order to provide your CEO or Superintendent the guidance needed to drive the strategic planning process. Our planning sessions help boards focus on long-term impact, ensuring leadership teams can translate governance goals into meaningful action.
Recommended for: Policy Governance boards that want to ensure their policies are up-to-date as the organization is embarking on a strategic planning process. This workshop ensures alignment between governance and operations.
