Strengthening Organizations That Serve Communities
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| CASE STUDY: The Chesapeake Bay Trust |
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Covering 64,000 square miles of waterways and marshes, the Chesapeake Bay area is a haven for fish, birds and wildlife, as well as a popular destination for anyone who enjoys fishing, sailing, or just sitting on a riverbank. It’s not hard to see why protecting the Bay area from pollution and erosion is a top priority. The Chesapeake Bay Trust does just that. Since its inception in 1985, the Trust has assisted thousands of Maryland organizations, agencies and schools by providing grants for a wide variety of projects designed to restore and protect both Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding rivers. But with demands on their resources growing faster than the Bay’s fabled ospreys in flight, the Trust Executive Director and Board members realized they needed a new strategic plan to help them keep pace with their projected growth. Managance Consulting was called upon to help devise the plan. Managance also facilitated a follow-up retreat that gave Board members the opportunity to come together, to think about the vital role they play in making the plan a success, and to support the plan. “Our Board has 19 members and they are appointed by Maryland’s governor, so what you have is a very dedicated group of people with many different viewpoints,” said Trust Executive Director David O’Neill. “Managance was able to get everyone on the same page. Managance, through the leadership of Vice President, Paige Teegarden, really went to our people and asked us to identify what we think our most critical issues are.” Managance did this through a series of meetings and exercises that encouraged the Trust’s Board and staff members to consider each other’s strengths, as well as how they envision the Trust’s future. “What makes these exercises valuable is Managance’s ability to synthesize what was learned, to help clarify this for the group, and to help move the group to action,” said Board member Peter Brynes. Managance then helped the Trust create a plan that specifies five top priorities over the next five years, including more Bay area restoration, technical and organizational assistance to grantees and stakeholders, efficient tracking of conservation projects, diversifying funding sources and increasing communications and outreach efforts. As a result, Board members and staff now have a stronger sense of the Trust’s mission, said Board member Peter Brynes. “We now have a plan and goals that everyone made contributions to, and now feels accountable for,” Peter said. “We have a good plan for the future that gets us clearly focused on initiatives that will enable us to have a much greater impact and make the organization more sustainable.” “Many consultants could have come up with a strategic plan,” David added, “but I’m not sure anyone else would have placed so much effort in getting such a great deal of buy-in from our people, or in putting the plan together in such a creative and focused way. Managance is very unique in this area and we are very glad we found them.” |
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