- Business Planning
- Strategic Planning
- Social Entrepreneurship / Social Enterprise
- Sustainability Planning
- Revenue Diversification Planning
- Feasibility Studies – including market analysis, payer market analysis, competitive analysis, critical success factors, environmental forces/trends, financial sustainability
- Organized Abandonment Analysis
- Change Management
- Outcomes Assessments
- Organizational Assessments – SE Readiness , Capacity Assessments
- Social Return on Investment Assessments
Approaches and Methodology
CauseImpact uses a variety of approaches, tailoring our efforts to each situation. Our prevailing approach is to facilitate dialogue and decision-making among diverse groups. This group diversity may embrace many points of difference: attitudes and opinions, backgrounds and expertise, origins and ethnicities, etc.
When needed, we involve other veteran consultants from within our network to aid in interpreting findings, considering various alternatives, and refining our recommendations. All draft recommendations are compared against industry cases, or their nearest proxy, as reported by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovations Review, Nonprofit Quarterly and other respected sources.
CauseImpact’s methodology strikes a balance among analysis of empirical data, discovery during facilitation and review by multiple expert minds. To this end, any CauseImpact project team utilizes a tight production schedule of events, including key milestones. The project team meets regularly to discuss findings, debate options and agree upon the best next steps. Clients are welcome at these meetings and receive frequent communications (phone, email and in person if desired) providing updates.
Social Enterprise Impact™ Workshop Series
Highly interactive, practical and fun, CauseImpact workshops lever the power of action learning, where participants have the opportunity to apply the session material to their own organizations, and share their insights, questions, and concerns with peers. We also draw upon several examples from our experiences with hundreds of nonprofit organizations and funding organizations. Each session is approximately a half-day in length, and can be delivered on their own or in combination, depending upon needs and priorities. Additionally, we can created customized sessions for your organization. Where appropriate, we involve “serial entrepreneurs” from the social sector and private sector to provide veteran insight and feedback.
Planning and Assessment Approaches
Our planning approach is likewise based on each individual situation. The methodology we employ focuses on transforming organizations and systems that operate from a “charity” mentality to that of an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset. Modules include strategic planning, feasibility planning, needs assessment, marketing planning and comprehensive business planning. Along the way, we utilize many different business planning tools including those advocated by the National Center for Social Entrepreneurs , the National Center for Nonprofit Enterprise, and The Finance Project (Sustainability Planning).
Our assessment approach includes applying various assessing instruments, review of relevant background materials, and interviews with key individuals, either individually or as a group. We often involve other veteran consultants to aid in interpretation of findings, consideration of various remedies and honing of recommendations.
In addition to proprietary assessment tools developed by the Cause Impact team, we also frequently utilize the McKinsey Capacity Assessment Grid in combination with the National Center’s RiskAssessor Audit. McKinsey’s tool is useful in gleaning tangible indicators of capabilities and potential specifically measuring Aspirations, Strategy, Organizational Skills, Human Resources, Systems & Infrastructure, Organizational Structure and Culture. By contrast, the RiskAssessor measures organizational attitudes and perceptions of capabilities and potential.
Social Impact / Organizational Growth Approach
For organizations’ entering stress periods, including rapid expansion and/or contraction, CauseImpact utilizes the National Center’s Mission-Money Matrix® process.
This process, developed in the mid-1980s, reflects the approach that the most successful, long-standing organizations utilize to stay atop their respective industries. It consists of a thorough portfolio analysis of existing programming, relationships, and assets (including core competencies), with an eye toward isolating those that have the most potential for a) optimal social impact and b) sustainable revenue sources.
The Matrix process isolates the current programs and services that have the most potential to yield maximum social impact and have the most sustainable revenue sources. A portfolio analysis of sorts, this process involves plotting existing programs on a double bottom line continuum.
The Matrix process also is useful for organized abandonment of peripheral, less impactful programs. It ensures that all decisions regarding expansion (or contraction) are made within a market-based context.
