Our Services
Central to every engagement is dialogue, and the core of what we do is listen to organizations and their constituents. Northington & Associates cultivates healthy discussion from diverse perspectives to help organizations clarify their desired impact and the strategies to bring that impact to life.
Our work typically falls into at least one and often all of the following categories:
Facilitated Group Dialogue
A facilitated discussion can elevate thinking about an organization’s specific challenge or strategy or secure input from community constituents about a pressing local concern. Strategic planning typically begins with a leadership retreat that clarifies an organization’s purpose and reveals both programmatic and operational needs and ideas.
Ongoing Strategic Support
Continued strategic support might take the form of monthly or quarterly check-ins, facilitated conversations with leadership to respond to a particular challenge, or regular meetings to support strategic plan implementation progress. We customize support to meet leadership’s needs and capacity.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning typically includes three phases of work. Dialogue with leadership will elevate and clarify thinking about an organization’s desired impact and strategies to achieve that impact. Input from the community – recipients of services, partners, supporters, etc. – will provide guidance about the intended impact and strategies. In the third phase, teams come together to finalize priorities and create the detailed strategic plan.
Community Voice
Central to our work are the voices closest to the challenges we are trying to solve. An organization’s employees and volunteers will have important perspective that should inform decisions about future strategy. The people whose lived experiences are most affected by the challenge at hand can, however, speak directly to the services that provide the greatest impact and ensure service delivery is leading to meaningful change. Community Voice is the authentic inclusion of people receiving services in the decision-making, design, and implementation of an organization’s strategy.
Every Organization is Unique
Clarity about purpose is key to every successful strategy, whether your organization is young or well-established, volunteer-led or staffed by a full team of employees. Our clients vary in size, structure, and geography; some serve their local communities while others have a state-wide footprint. We are adept at adjusting the scale and structure of a project to best suit your organization’s unique needs.
Our Services
The foundation of any organization, large or small, is built upon shared purpose. A clearly stated purpose invites motivation, defines success, and builds sustainability. We meet organizations where they are and construct an engagement to suit their needs. While we have three essential phases in a traditional planning engagement, each might look a little different depending upon the organization and the stage of their lifecycle.
Our services include:
Long-range Strategic Planning
Short-term Strategic Planning
Vision and Mission Development and Articulation
Strategic Listening Sessions (Internal or External)
Community Focus Groups
Strategic priorities for Fundraising or Capital Campaigns
Communications Strategy and Planning
Meeting Facilitation on a Particular Topic
Board Development