What We Do / Plan
Business, strategic, and sustainability planning
Decide where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there. We help clients identify strengths, set goals and move forward.
Achieve your objectives. Measure effectiveness. Anticipate the changing needs of your community, and take proactive steps to address them. All of these endeavors begin with a good strategic or business plan.
For over twenty years we’ve worked with organizations large and small on a variety of strategic planning initiatives. Depending on client needs, our experienced planning team can lead retreats, review organizational structures, examine financial history, prepare financial projections, conduct cash flow analyses, offer market research and competitor analysis, and identify potential partners.
The end result is a practical working blueprint for the future, which includes:
- Specific recommendations
- Results-oriented goals and objectives
- A well-defined strategic market position
- Organizational roles and responsibilities
We often identify additional opportunities. These include:
- Earned income ventures
- New program collaborations
- Shared services and other cost efficiency measures
- Potential mergers and acquisitions
At the end of the process, BWB provides clients with a comprehensive business or strategic plan that connects goals and objectives to specific, actionable items.
Some recent projects include:
A new plan for the National Council of La Raza
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. NCLR’s mission is to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. NCLR engaged BWB Solutions to create a workforce development business plan. We conducted site visits and interviews with key stakeholders, including funders and NCLR leaders, and researched options and partnership opportunities. The resulting business plan we created is now utilized to help workforce development staff expand the program, and to help NCLR present the case for support to national funders.
An earned income plan for StoryCorps
StoryCorps is a rapidly growing nonprofit that creates the space and opportunity for intimate conversations between friends and family members. The conversations are digitally recorded, and, with the permission of the participants, summaries are broadcast on NPR. Our goals were to make StoryCorps available to a wider audience, and to create a fee-for-service component to the project. We conducted focus groups, key informant interviews, and an online survey as part of developing a business plan and strategy.
Fostering new opportunities at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
BWB researched and co-authored a report examining the experiences and strategies for funding minority-themed productions, and for increasing the number of people of color who are producing broadcast material for public television and public radio.
Increasing sales and distribution of materials for Responsive Classroom
Responsive Classroom (RC) fosters safe, challenging, and joyful classrooms and schools through a specific approach to teaching and learning. BWB was recruited to develop strategies for distributing printed materials to teachers, and to help the program expand. BWB’s plan helped Responsive Classroom increase distribution and sales by 300%. Utilizing a BWB business plan for growth, Responsive Classroom has expanded its resources to classrooms in most states throughout the country, and continues to grow.