2014 Vision - GroundWork Group

2014 Vision - GroundWork Group

Background

In today's environment, nonprofits face significant challenges to operate their business operations to achieve their missions.

Specific challenges include:

• Aligning technical capability to their strategic aspirations and plans
• Creating an effective online marketing presence
• Effectively managing constituent relationships
• Developing an effective communication model that utilizes all available tools
• Competing in a very competitive funding environment
• Enhanced service delivery expectations
• Complex reporting requirements
• Sophisticated day-to-day business, technology and data operations
• Constantly evolving training and education requirements

Technology is at the heart of these challenges. It has required nonprofit leadership to effectively integrate technology into all aspects of their business.

GWg was created to help nonprofits address these challenges and the pervasive impact that technology has on their business functions.

GWg Vision and Mission

The long-term vision of GWg is that there is "Affordable and sustainable information technology solutions which serve as a strategic enabler of nonprofit business success".

To achieve this vision, GWg has had a continual focus on its mission "To strengthen the impact of nonprofit organizations by enhancing their ability to manage their business operations and achieve their missions through sustainable and affordable information management, education and technology solutions".

The key elements of the GWg Vision and Mission are affordability (cost effective for nonprofits), sustainability (self-sustaining model) and enablement (empower nonprofits to accomplish their missions).

2014 Vision

Over the last four plus years, GWg has developed a model to start the achievement of its long-term Vision and Mission. Now that the model has been developed, the next natural step (the next four plus years) is to extend the model beyond Central Ohio and leverage its capability to increase its impact and become a national presence in the nonprofit technology space.

The aspects and impact of the 2014 Vision are as follows:

Aspects of the 2014 Vision

From a member perspective -

• Expand the member base to more than 500 nonprofit organizations
• Become the operational infrastructure for at least 50 nonprofit organizations

From a financial perspective -

• Achieve annual revenues greater than $5 Million
• Continue to secure in-kind product & services support from the national technology leaders
• Continue to pursue grant funding to -
  • Establish a GWg Expansion Fund to further fund expansion
  • Establish a GWg Capacity Building Fund to ensure that products and services are always current & cost effective from a technological perspective
  • Establish a GWg Outreach Fund to further the GWg mission in the communities served
• Maintain and improve the current self-sustaining business model that exists in FY10
• Establish a GWg Operations Reserve Fund with appropriate funding

From a management & organizational perspective -

• Create a corporate headquarters with management staff, including CEO & COO with accountability for the GWg national footprint
• Establish a value-added services organization headquartered in Columbus, Ohio to manage the business centrally for the local affiliate offices that deliver the services
• Establish five local affiliate offices with local management to manage the product & services delivery, pursue local contributed support with community funders, and pursue new membership to grow the earned income from the local community
• Create Strategic Business Alliances that enable the extension of the GWg model
• Create a set of key business Key Performance Indicator's (KPI's) at the national and local level
• Leverage the GWg shared services model to start up local GWg Affiliates in a cost effective manner

From a governance perspective -

• Maintain appropriate oversight and influence over the mission and strategy of GWg at the national and local level

The Impact of the 2014 Vision

For the members -

• Serve as their preferred business solution provider by leveraging all aspects information technology capabilities
• Serve as their trusted advisor for all matters related to technology

From a national standpoint -

• Be a recognized leader in educating nonprofit organizations, funders, and business & IT professionals on all aspects of nonprofit technology
• Establish a nonprofit technology accreditation program utilizing the GWg Continuum of Technology Maturity

From a community perspective -

• Generate a ten to one return on investment, every dollar invested in GWg solutions turns into a ten dollar return to the community
• Be recognized as a community collaborative model to connect volunteers, executives, nonprofit board members, committees, funders, IT professionals, government entities, businesses and vendor partners for the betterment of the nonprofit community