Diane Gordon provides consulting services to nonprofit organizations, intermediaries, and foundations.
Approach
Every project and its leadership are unique. Diane’s approach at the outset is to build a relationship with the principal leadership and to fully understand their vision of the project, expectations for outcomes and timeframes, and preferred work and communication styles. Clarifying roles and establishing a collaborative process for working together are key initial steps in all of Diane’s projects. Whether through planning, training, or coaching, Diane strives to engage those most impacted by the work in the project design and implementation.
Services to Nonprofits
Diane conducts internal organizational assessments to help an organization to define and recognize its challenges and strengths, and develop a practical plan for building a stronger, more resilient organization. She also facilitates multi-year strategic planning processes that set a strategic direction consistent with the organization’s mission and environment, and in translating that strategy into concrete, measurable objectives. Projects can range from multi-year timeframes, to more short term strategic planning aimed at addressing a specific set of issues or responding to a pending opportunity. To support implementation of strategic plans, Diane works with clients to develop detailed operational plans, and to create a manageable system for tracking and reporting on results achieved and lessons learned during implementation.
Organizational assessment and development services
- Facilitation of organizational assessments for an entire organization or a specific component
- Assessment of staff structures and job functions
- Individualized interviews with staff and board members
- Individualized interviews with key external stakeholders
- Focus groups with constituents and program participants
- Analysis of current programs, projects, and organizational outcomes
- Analysis of key challenges impeding success and opportunities for growth
- Recommendations for solutions to address specific organizational challenges and ways to capitalize on opportunities
Strategic planning and implementation planning services
- Design of a planning process that meets the needs of the client
- Environmental scanning, focus groups, and client surveys
- Individualized interviews with staff and board members
- Individualized interviews with key external stakeholders
- Analysis of findings presented in a concisely written report
- Facilitation of strategic planning retreats
- Facilitation of processes to set strategic priorities, goals, strategies, and measurable outcomes
- Development of annual operational plans with concrete action steps to implement goals
- Design of systems to track and report on results and evaluate strategic plans
See sample projects.
Diane works with organizations to design practical systems for identifying indicators of success, measuring their results, and instilling a process for continual program and organizational improvement. This often includes an interactive process to design a logic model that depicts the organization’s theory of change and long term goals. Ensuring that processes for measuring outcomes are incorporated within the organization and help to facilitate their own self-discovery are key features of Diane’s projects.
Diane also conducts program evaluations (one time or multi-year) to gather quantitative and qualitative data from a broad range of stakeholders, and facilitate organizational learning and improvement based on the evaluation’s findings.
Outcome measurement and logic model services
- Design of organizational and individual program evaluation plans and outcome measurement systems
- Facilitation of a group process to develop logic models/theory of change documents that include inputs, activities, outputs and a range of outcomes, and indicators
- Design of data collection instruments
- Pilot projects to gather data, analyze results, adjust outcome measurement tools and systems
- Structure ongoing methods for measuring results and improving performance
Program Evaluation services
- Design of evaluation protocols that focus on key project priorities
- Development of baseline data
- Data gathering from stakeholders through interviews and other means, and analysis of findings
- Presentation of detailed reports inclusive of recommendations for future improvements
- Multi-year evaluations that analyze new circumstances in light of prior evaluation findings and project adjustments
See sample projects.
Diane provides individualized consulting and coaching to Executive Directors based on their particular needs or to other staff members as requested. She is a certified coach with Third Sector New England. Diane also works with Boards of Directors to strengthen governance structures and build leadership capacity throughout the organization.
Coaching for Executive Directors and other staff services
- Coaching services are dependent on the needs of the Executive Director, e.g., managing multiple roles, staff supervision and development, working with the board, fundraising, and administration
- Coaching services to community engagement staff dependent on individualized needs, e.g. designing outreach strategies, leadership development, supervision, community engagement strategies, and developing organizational structures
Board and Leadership Development services
- Assessment of the functions and effectiveness of the overall governance structure including the Board of Directors and committees
- Analysis of alternative governance models and assistance in adapting structures to meet the agency’s needs
- Recommendations for membership and leadership recruitment plans, orientation of new members, and board development and training
- Design of plans to engage and develop community leadership
- Design and facilitation of leadership development training workshops including Board roles and responsibilities
See sample projects.
Services to Intermediaries and Foundations
Diane works with intermediaries and foundations to design and implement initiatives to build capacity and foster collaborative learning. Services include:
- Focus groups or grantee surveys to determine needs
- Research capacity building needs of specific sectors or clusters of grantees
- Design of specialized capacity building programs for grantees
- Design of multi-year collaborative learning initiatives for clusters of nonprofits and cross-sector partnerships
- Assistance in implementing and managing capacity building programs and collaborative learning initiatives
See sample projects.
Diane assists funders and intermediaries in assessing program performance and in evaluating the results from projects and capacity building initiatives. Services include:
- Design of evaluation protocols that focus on key project priorities
- Short term evaluations and assessments of initiatives and reporting on outcomes
- Formative and outcomes evaluations for projects and capacity building initiatives
- Data gathering from stakeholders through interviews, surveys, and focus groups, and analysis of findings
- Presentation of detailed reports inclusive of recommendations for future improvements
- Multi-year evaluations that analyze new circumstances in light of prior evaluation findings and project adjustments
- Establishing feedback loops and process for learning with and from grantees and partners
See sample projects.
Diane provides strategic consulting services to grantees and community-based partners sponsored by foundations and intermediaries. Services include:
- Assistance in implementing collaborative learning initiative objectives
- Organizational assessment and planning to improve effectiveness
- Strategic planning and implementation support
See sample projects.