New help for non-profits

By Chris Drost

A free webinar training series for not-for-profit organizations will help organizations gain valuable skills to facilitate their own strategic planning.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recognizes that the task of strategic planning can be a challenge for not-for-profit organizations and so it has developed a new train-the-trainer series to help them tackle strategic planning in-house.

The interactive webinar series follows OMAFRA's Strategic Planning Resource manual. It is aimed at improving the effectiveness of organization and strengthening leadership skills.

OMAFRA is seeking organizations that are willing to participate in the strategic planning process and have the commitment of the board of directors and a minimum of three active volunteers to commit to the training. They are interested in working with organizations that are not currently operating in a crisis mode.

After completing the four-part on-line program, each organization will have new capacity in facilitating its own strategic planning process, and volunteers to maintain it. They will also have access to a network of support for continued organization development and will come out of the experience with a completed strategic plan.

In addition to participating in each of the four sessions, participants will be expected to complete some homework. After each session, each team will go back to their organization to present the information received in the session, facilitate that stage in the strategic planning process with their not-for-profit, get input and ownership from the board and gather information and input for the next stage.

Session 1 will take place on April 23 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. and will cover an introduction to strategic planning and community economic development.

Session 2 is April 27 from 10-11:30 a.m. and will instruct on how to develop a vision and mission for your organization.

Session 3 is May 11 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. and will include collecting and analyzing information and goal development.

Session 4 is May 25 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. and will include performance measures and action plans, as well as implementing and monitoring your newly developed plan. To register, visit https://onregionalecdev.com ¹ For more information contact ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca or call 1-877-424-1300

1. https://onregionalecdev.com/