PLANNING FOR GROWTH & IMPACT

Transcription

1 STRATEGIC PLAN PLANNING FOR GROWTH & IMPACT

2 MENTORING CHANGES LIVES. We are often asked why Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters is unique and vital to our community. That s easy for us to answer. OUR VISION Having someone believe in you is a key driver of success and everyone deserves to have that. However, mentoring alone is often not enough. Many of those we serve would benefit from a broader system of support. Driven by our Jewish values, we provide emotional, social, economic and holistic support to children, adults with disabilities, their families and the special people in their lives. By harnessing the power of community, we best provide for one another; and when we lift each other up, we rise as a community. OUR MISSION At JBBBS, we witness every day the impact of having someone in your life who believes in you, and we are thrilled to share our 2018 Strategic Plan: Planning for Growth and Impact. This plan is intended to be broad, far-reaching, and innovative in order to address current community dynamics. It is also flexible enough to accommodate whatever changes the next five years may bring. We are honored to lead the agency into our second century of success, and recognize that we are at a critical moment in our history. At 98-years old, our agency is thinking like a start-up. We are striving to be data-informed, market-driven, and always attuned to the needs of our clients and volunteers. And in an era where there are both increased demands for mentoring, and growth in the number of organizations that provide mentoring, we know that it is more important than ever to deliver high quality services efficiently and effectively in order to best serve the needs of our clients and volunteers, and to remain vital and relevant. We are enormously grateful to our volunteers, board leadership, staff, and donors for their insights and support in crafting this plan. We appreciate our partnerships with CJP, United Way, Rodman Ride for Kids, and Mass Mentoring Partnership all of which have been instrumental. In pursuit of increased impact over our next century, we will forge new partnerships, employ innovative methods of engaging volunteers, and widen the net in terms of who we serve and how we serve them. This document outlines the ways in which we will do this important and ambitious work. With gratitude and excitement for the future, David Franklin, Board Chair Kimberlee Schumacher, President/CEO Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters is an innovative mentoring agency, driven by Jewish values, to serve and empower children and adults of all abilities throughout Greater Boston. At Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, we believe that everyone deserves to have someone in their life who wants to spend time with them and believes in them call it a friend or a mentor. In the spirit of strengthening one another, we seek to support and empower individuals and families to engage, to participate actively in the life of their communities, to live inspired, and to inspire others. Through a holistic approach to supporting clients and families, we provide mentorship to children, teens and adults as well as financial support, holiday programming and referrals to other social service agencies. For this reason, we actively engage and serve children and adults across religion, race, gender, sexual identity and orientation, and ability. OUR APPROACH Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters takes a comprehensive approach to supporting our clients. In addition to offering traditional mentoring services, we provide significant financial supports (camp and college scholarships and emergency financial assistance), coaching, referrals to other social service agencies, holiday programming, and social opportunities. OUR FOUNDATION Founded in 1919, Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston (formerly Jewish Big Brother Association ), is New England s oldest youth mentoring organization and one of the 12 founding members of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters movement. Today, JBBBS is among over 300 Big Brothers Big Sisters programs throughout the United States and one of only two stand-alone Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations. We are proud of our extensive history and our organization s ongoing ability to serve the changing needs of our community. JBBBS STRATEGIC PLAN 1

3 1. Evolve and innovate our programming As JBBBS approaches its second century of success, we will continue to ensure that our programs are innovative, distinctive, and meet the needs of our clients and stakeholders: a. Provide a continuum of mentoring and additional support services at critical transition points in people s lives, including before and post-college b. Assess current geographic reach and develop plans to meet the needs of volunteers and clients across the various regions we serve c. Evaluate our marketing to ensure that clients and volunteers are aware of the varied ways we support our clients 2. Engage more people in the mission of JBBBS As the demand for mentoring continues to grow, JBBBS will position itself to meet those needs in effective and efficient ways: a. Grow our volunteer base * Develop strategies to identify, recruit, and engage more volunteers * Leverage increasing interest from groups and individuals seeking to engage in meaningful volunteer opportunities * Enlist current volunteers as ambassadors to recruit others * Utilize technology and operational efficiencies to streamline and speed the process from volunteer inquiry to match * Utilize partnership strategy (see #3 below) * Identify and reduce barriers for volunteers (e.g. transportation, frequency and length of commitment) * Develop a robust social media strategy to better engage current stakeholders and develop new relationships b. Cultivate and engage young leadership * Explore new models to engage our younger volunteers in a variety of social, leadership, and philanthropic capacities that will support JBBBS and the broader community 2 PRIORITIES FOR GROWTH AND IMPACT 3. Utilize partnerships to maximize impact We know that we thrive when we partner with similarly-oriented and complementary organizations. We also believe that we have a responsibility to strengthen the community through collaboration. When the experience across such collaborations is integrated and seamless, we can have greater impact on our clients and provide more fulfilling experiences for our volunteers as they connect with us and others across the community. We will maximize partnerships community-wide in order to: a. Serve more clients b. Engage more volunteers c. Innovate and evolve our programs d. Ensure that the Jewish community is collaborating effectively in order to take care of those in our community 4. Demonstrate commitment to inclusion in everything we do As our mission states, we actively engage and serve children and adults across religion, race, gender, sexual identity and orientation, and ability. In order to deliver on that promise, we will: a. Ensure that we have a volunteer base with sufficient comfort and experience to support the varied abilities of the children and adults on our waiting lists b. Provide volunteer training on mentoring children and adults with varied abilities c. Serve the growing needs of siblings of children with disabilities d. Ensure that our programs for adults with disabilities sufficiently differentiate us in the marketplace and provide new partnership opportunities WE HAVE ESTABLISHED THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIC It s such an incredibly humbling and gratifying experience to be a Big Sister. My Little Sister and I have been matched for over 3 years and I ve seen her change from a shy 8 year old to a cool, bright 11+ year old! JBBBS STRATEGIC PLAN 3

4 STRATEGIC INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES In order for our externally-focused initiatives to achieve the desired impact, we know that the following internally-focused initiatives are required: 1. Become an employer of choice a. Recruit and retain high caliber staff b. Create and nurture a values-based high performing culture 2. Leverage technology a. Plan for transition to Salesforce, allowing us to consolidate databases b. Utilize technology and operational efficiencies to streamline and speed the process from volunteer inquiry to match c. Identify other technology solutions to optimize experience and impact 3. Utilize data and research to drive strategy a. Utilize internal data, Boston Community Study, and other research to ensure that our approaches are sufficiently informed by data b. Continually conduct marketplace assessments to ensure that our value proposition is differentiated 4 4. Reinvigorate our brand and drive marketplace awareness of our services a. Develop a multi-pronged approach to increasing program awareness, utilizing social media and community partners b. Ensure that our brand is relevant and compelling for the next century 5. Develop a three-year development plan for increasing annual and endowment resources a. Transition from an event-driven to mission-driven approach b. Develop a comprehensive fundraising plan that includes the 100th anniversary c. Utilize the strategic plan as a catalyst for increased donor enthusiasm and giving JBBBS STRATEGIC PLAN 5

5 I would like to thank you for the scholarships our child received this year. The chance to attend summer camp, and then to have help with college expenses, is unbelievable! It means a lot to us, and gives us hope that everything is possible. 6 I celebrated with my Friend and her family as she realized her dream of becoming a Bat Mitzvah. I always look forward to our get togethers. It s always great to catch up and spend time with my special friend. We feel so fortunate to be a part of JBBBS as it literally changed our lives. You are not only making kids happy, you are helping their parents to feel happy too. As parents are truly happy, when their kids are happy. JBBBS STRATEGIC PLAN 7

6 ABOUT THIS STRATEGIC PLAN The strategic planning process was a collaborative effort that tapped into the collective wisdom, expertise, and passion of our Board of Directors and staff members. We studied together, learned about best practices, and discussed key aspects of what we do and how we do it. We are particularly grateful to our strategic planning Co-Chairs David Franklin and Marc Rubenstein for their leadership and inspiration. STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE 8 I would just like to commend you and your organization for its services and assistance. You guys, from top to bottom, have been great. Volunteer Leadership * Peter Antoszyk, Board of Directors * David Franklin, Chair of the Board of Directors & Strategic Plan Co-Chair * Jeffrey Ganz, Board of Directors * Jack Kadis, Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors * Daniel Klein, Board of Directors * Joseph Morgart, Endowment Board * Marc Rubenstein, Board of Directors & Strategic Plan Co-Chair * Karen Sisselman, Endowment Board * Jonathan Soyt, Board of Directors Staff * Lisa Cohen, Chief Program Officer * Meredith Grabek, Director of Development * Anne Grossman, Assistant Director * Kimberlee Schumacher, President/CEO JBBBS STRATEGIC PLAN 9

7 INTERESTED IN BECOMING INVOLVED? WANT TO LEARN MORE? CONTACT US AT jbbbs.org 333 Nahanton Street Newton, MA 02459