Program Content and Objectives
Whether in the corporate or the nonprofit world, the best organizational leaders are intentional about strategic leadership—meaning, among other things, making strategic decisions, engaging with external stakeholders, managing human resources and information, overseeing operations and administration, and managing change.
After an initial discussion of the importance of leadership and management in nonprofit organizations, we will focus on strategic leadership. Margaret Andrews of Harvard University has described strategic leadership as “understanding yourself and your goals … understanding the situation, considering options, and deciding. It’s also about getting the best out of people, the best out of the situation, so that the organization does well.” The strategic leader is a strategic thinker, and is positioned to lead the nonprofit in the development of a strategic plan.
The program will delve into the process of creating a strategic plan using case studies and group discussions. Because that plan must be operationalized in order to achieve the visionary goals it has laid out, our study will next focus on the plan’s implementation. We emphasize that during that implementation process, it is essential that the organizational team work together if the plan’s vision is to be fulfilled.
Resources must also be available in order to accomplish the strategic plan’s goals and objectives. Hence, the program will also examine the importance of resource development and long-term financial planning, both of which are essential to achieving an organization’s strategic vision.
Finally and critically, the program aims to address participants’ real-world challenges. A nonprofit management lab will provide participants the opportunity to share and discuss with facilitators and colleagues their questions, experiences, and challenges.
Program Schedule
| Day 1 | September 9, 2024 |
| 8:30 - 9 a.m. |
Introduction to the program. This will include participant introductions.
|
| 9 - 9:30 a.m. |
Management and Leadership Principles for Nonprofit Organizations
Session leader - Jim Croft
|
| 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. |
Developing a Nonprofit Strategic Plan
Session leader – Bela Barner |
| 10:30 - 10:45 a.m. |
Break |
| 10:45 a.m. - 12 p.m. |
Strategic Plan - Case Study
Session leader – Bela Barner
|
| 12 - 1 p.m. |
Lunch |
| 1 - 2 p.m. |
Strategic Plan - Case Study, Concluded
Session leader – Bela Barner
|
| 2 - 3 p.m. |
Implementing the Strategic Plan
Session leader - Jim Croft
|
| 3 - 3:15 p.m. |
Break
|
| 3:15 - 4:45 p.m. |
Your Team: The Strongest Asset to Achieving the Strategic Plan
Session Leader – Leticia Meitzen
|
| 4:45 - 5 p.m. |
Wrap-up |
| Day 2 | September 10, 2024 |
| 8:30 - 8:45 a.m. |
Introduction to Day 2
|
| 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. |
Resource Development – Working with the Board of Directors
Session leaders – Patti Tuomey, Jeri Bingham, Katy Scrogin
|
| 9:45 - 10:30 a.m. |
Resource Development - Fundraising Planning
Session leaders – Patti Tuomey, Katy Scrogin |
| 10:30 - 10:45 a.m. |
Break |
| 10:45 a.m. - 12 p.m. |
Resource Development – Major Gift Fundraising
Session leaders – Patti Tuomey, Rudy Anderson |
| 12 - 1 p.m. |
Lunch |
| 1 - 1:30 p.m. |
Resource Development, Concluded
Session leader – Patti Tuomey |
| 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. |
Long-term Financial Planning
Session Leader – Jim Croft |
| 2:30 - 2:45 p.m. |
Break with Refreshments |
| 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. |
Nonprofit Management Lab - Participants are encouraged to bring management issues/questions to share with program facilitators and colleagues. |
| 4:15 - 5 p.m. |
Applied Learning and Session Wrap-up |
Speakers
Rudy Anderson, CAE
Bela Barner, MBA
Jeri Bingham, EdS
Jim Croft, Ph.D.
Leticia Meitzen
Katy Scrogin, Ph.D.
Patti Tuomey, EdD
View Speaker Bios
Facilitators
Jim Croft, Ph.D.
Jim Croft is a principal with JW Croft Consulting Group (JWCCG) in Chicago. JWCCG brings leadership and financial management experience to the nonprofit community and is positioned to help organizations meet strategic objectives and achieve their mission.
In addition to his work at JWCCG, Croft is a member of the MBA faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he teaches nonprofit management, nonprofit financial management and fundraising. He also teaches nonprofit financial management at the Kellogg School of Management Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University.
From 1984 to 2015, he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Field Museum in Chicago. In addition to leading the institution’s financial operations, he was responsible for facilities management and several other operating units. For several years he served concurrently as the museum’s chief development officer, managing the annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and corporate and foundation giving programs. He was also responsible for a major capital campaign that successfully concluded in 2008.
Croft also held several positions in The Salvation Army where he served as a community center executive director, finance officer and chief business officer. He has also served on several nonprofit governing boards.
In 2016, he received a four-year appointment to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Nonprofit Advisory Committee (NAC). NAC members serve as advisors to FASB staff as they consider accounting standards that are used by U.S. nonprofit organizations.
He received a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where his doctoral work was in higher education leadership with research focused on nonprofit financial management. He also studied business administration and management at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Roosevelt University and National Louis University.
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Bela Barner, MBA
Bela Barner has helped lead executive teams through complex, high stakes decisions for more than 15 years. Much of his work has been in higher education, where he assisted universities in decisions to relocate campus facilities to more favorable markets, create new branding, marketing and enrollment strategies, develop new academic offerings and prioritize budgets.
In addition to his experience in strategic planning in higher education, Barner has held a variety of consulting roles with professional services firms. He developed a broad tool kit of quantitative methods to support collaborative decision-making in data-challenged environments. This expertise includes capital budgeting and project portfolio optimization, business planning and modeling, market research and opportunity assessment, and financial literacy for non-financial executives.
Barner is also the founder and president of a 501(c)(3) organization. He is a member of the Society of Decision Professionals and holds a certification as a financial modeling and valuation expert. Barner earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. He also holds a BA in Economics and French from Northwestern University.
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Katy Scrogin, Ph.D.
Katy Scrogin is a nonprofit practitioner and educator dedicated to the importance of financial literacy. Having taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, she also conducts prospect research and works with development teams to craft fundraising appeals and communications.
Before moving into independent consulting, Dr. Scrogin served as the vice president for programming at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club (CSEC). In addition to producing and contributing to daily and weekly podcasts at CSEC, she planned, constructed and monitored the organization’s operating budget, and also prepared financial reports for management and the board of directors.
Dr. Scrogin holds a Ph.D. in religion from Claremont Graduate University, a master of theological studies from Vanderbilt University, and a BA in German and Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin. She also serves as a writer, editor and translator, and holds an editing certificate from the Graham School at the University of Chicago.
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Patti Tuomey, EdD
Dr. Patti Tuomey currently serves as both advisor to and past president and CEO of Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. Prior to joining Josephinum Academy, she served as president and CEO of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.
With more than 25 years of management experience in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, she is skilled in strategic planning, program management, financial planning, marketing, and fundraising. She has held leadership positions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Field Museum. She has also spent several years teaching management and marketing courses at both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Dr. Tuomey is a graduate of Marquette University, where she received a BA in political science and education. She also holds an MA in arts administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an EdD in higher education administration and organizational change from Benedictine University.
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Guest Speakers
Guest speakers will be announce soon