Services
Do you face these challenges?
The struggle for resources, exposure and individual volunteers
The need to create new program models that are self-funded
Limited volunteer opportunities or a volunteer experience that is episodic
Inconsistent program results
Decreasing donations and shrinking funding base
Management by crisis
No clear way of engaging corporate and civic groups beyond check writing
Failing to learn from mistakes that occur over and over again
Strategic objectives that are not followed, talked about or made clear
I can help.
I am Desiree Adaway, Principal of The Adaway Group, a consulting practice that helps organizations create lasting change. I help organizations overcome challenges every day by partnering with talented leaders to successfully navigate through integrations, reorganizations, and various stages of organizational evolution. I bring my clients insights and expertise from having served in senior-level roles in the nonprofit and grant management sectors for such renowned organizations as Habitat for Humanity International, where I was the Senior Director of Volunteer Mobilization, and Rotary International, where I was the director of their largest Humanitarian Grant program. My industry expertise also includes information technology, youth focused nonprofit, social justice nonprofit, and faith-based organizations. I look to ensure that the organizations I work with have the systems in place in order to leverage social, human and financial capital. I have lived, worked and traveled to over 20 countries including Germany, Mexico, India, El Salvador, Mozambique, Tajikistan, Bali, Egypt, Dubai and South Africa.
I work with….
Small, mid-size and large nonprofits that want to work differently in all phases of the Organizational Life Cycle.
Is this your organization?
1. Startup (or Birth) Organizational structure at this stage is minimal and informal. Programs are basic and spontaneous. There are few policies, systems, or procedures, and limited budgets. Management by crisis can become the primary method of operation and this hinders growth. Your organization is vulnerable.
The Adaway Group can provide the external intervention and help needed to take your organization to the next level. We offer strategic planning to maximize program impact. Don’t have a strategy or have an ineffective one? Don’t have a clear, unified marketing message throughout your organization? Let’s create a comprehensive plan of action to achieve your goals and position you for growth.
2. Growth. This is sometimes divided into an early growth phase (fast growth) and maturity phase (slow growth or no growth). The early phase of the growth stage is marked by excitement. A negative result may be a tendency for leaders and members to become complacent. It may face a severe crisis precipitated by fast growth combined with lack of systems, finances, policies, and structure. As this stage progresses, conflict and inconsistency may become increasingly evident. Conflict can arise on several fronts. As new people begin to get involved a conflict between the “old-timers” and the newcomers erupts. Organizational culture must evolve from more entrepreneurial to more managerial.
The Adaway Group can help you strengthen your infrastructure and systems. We are adept at measuring outcomes and evaluating processes. Where do you want to go? How will you get there? What type of impact are you really having on the communities you serve? Have you created standards for your programs? Do you count and value what really matters? Let’s work together to increase efficiency and strengthen your programs at governance, leadership and direct service levels.
3. The maturity phase can lead to decline. Why? Historically because there will not be enough well-trained people to enable your programs to grow. Although there is excitement, momentum and a willingness to work hard, you may not have the right skill set in-house to take programs to the next level. Training must become a major focus for continued growth and creativity. It’s been said that to grow creativity in organizations you need three things: expertise-the intellectual knowledge; creative thinking skills-imaginative people; and motivation. You also need organizational support, including resources and the autonomy to get the job done. Are you doing the same thing, the same way but expecting different results? Do you have leadership that expects next year to be better, but doesn’t know how or is unwilling to change to get better results?
When in decline, an organization will undergo one of the following:
4. Renewal/ Prime. It is easy during this stage to get caught up in doing what is customary, but forgetting the reason for doing it. This may lead to rigid adherence to something that is no longer suitable. A method may become more important than the mission it was meant to accomplish. Abnormal development occurs if your organization does not re-dream the dream and allow creative minds to work. Since it is easier to administrate or manage than it is to be entrepreneurial your organization may have the tendency to run on autopilot. Taking risks is replaced by playing it safe. When your organization loses its entrepreneurial spirit and is no longer innovative, it begins to age.
The Adaway Group can help your organization stay relevant. We will partner together and create new program models. Do your programs pay for themselves? Are they designed to meet the needs of both the groups you serve and your donors? Are you creating advocates and ambassadors for your programs? Are the programs you created 15 years ago still relevant today? I will work with you to compare a new concept against existing ideas, or develop one in the absence of a strong existing program model.
5. Aging/Dying. In this stage expectations for growth are lowered. There is little interest in development of new programs or new methods. The focus is on past achievements instead of future visions. People who follow directions are valued more than people who take risks and demonstrate creativity. The entrepreneurial visionary spirit is lost. Money is spent on control systems, leaders’ and members’ benefits, and facilities. Emphasis is on how things are done rather than why they are done. Procedures and policies are kept in place even though they are no longer relevant. Programs and structures are eliminated for lack of resources and involvement. The primary goal is preservation and survival. Although there are many traditions, practices and procedures in place, they are less effective at reaching and developing people and fulfilling the mission of the organization.
The Adaway Group can help your organization reinvent itself with fresh new vision and strategy. Seth Godin argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. When your tribe is active and engaged then magic happens. Your organization thrives, funding is secured and new ideas are made into reality. Communities are made stronger. But let’s be honest, it takes more than a cell phone and Twitter to mobilize thousands of people behind your mission or program. It takes quality, relevant programs, clear strategy and the magical mix of resources. It’s not just who you engage but how you engage that matters.
None of us know how the world will evolve and what issues will surface for nonprofits or the communities they serve, but we do know that nonprofits will always be expected to do more with less.
Bottom Line: The Adaway Group can help you to build a strong, sustainable organization.
If you have additional questions that are not answered here, or just want to know how we can get started working together, feel free to set up a call using my online scheduler
The Adaway Group
Email: desiree@desireeadaway.com
Phone: 229-815-8887