Download Organizational Profile Template - Williamson County Institute for

Organizational Profile
2016
© 2016, Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits
Revised February 29, 2016
1
Organizational Profile _________________
The Organizational Profile is a snapshot of your organization, the KEY influences on HOW you
operate, and the KEY challenges you face. It is critically important because it provides valuable
input to your organization’s strategic and operating plans
Note: Words using all capital letters are contained in the Glossary of Terms on Pages 4 & 5.
Organizational Description: What are your KEY organizational
characteristics?
Describe your organization’s operating environment and your KEY relationships with
CLIENTS, suppliers, partners, and STAKEHOLDERS.
Within your response, include answers to the following questions:
1.
What are your organization’s VISION, MISSION, CORE VALUES?
2.
Who are your key CLIENTS and STAKEHOLDERS? (See Note 1 below)
3.
What are your KEY PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS, and SERVICES? (See Note 2 below)
4.
How do your PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS, AND SERVICES fit into your MISSION?
5.
Who are your Suppliers and PARTNERS? How do they contribute to your ability to
accomplish your MISSION and VISION?
6.
What are your CLIENTS’ and STAKEHOLDERS’ KEY requirements and expectations of
your organization? (See Note 3 below)
7.
What is the VALUE your organization delivers to your CLIENTS and STAKEHOLDERS?
8.
What are your AREAS OF GREATEST EXPERTISE?
9.
What KEY elements engage your WORKFORCE in accomplishing your MISSION and
VISION? (See Note 4 below)
10. What major facilities, technologies, and equipment are essential to your operations?
11.
Under what regulatory requirements does your organization operate? (See Note 5 below)
12.
How is your organization structured to provide direction, accountability for management
actions and fiscal matters, transparency, and protection of STAKEHOLDERS’ interests?
NOTES: _______________________________________________________________________
Note 1: CLIENTS include the users and potential users of your PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS, and
SERVICES. In some nonprofit organizations, CLIENTS might include members, taxpayers,
recipients, clients, or beneficiaries.
© 2016, Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits
Revised February 29, 2016
2
Note 2: PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS, and SERVICES refer to what your organization provides
to the community you serve. Mechanisms for PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS, and SERVICES
delivery to your CLIENTS might be direct or through other agencies.
Note 3: CLIENT requirements might include on-time delivery, low defect levels, safety,
security, ongoing price reductions, electronic communication, rapid response, after-sales service,
and multilingual services. STAKEHOLDER requirements might include socially responsible
behavior and community service. For some nonprofit organizations, requirements also might
include administrative cost reductions, at-home services, and rapid response to emergencies.
Note 4: WORKFORCE or employee groups might be based on the type of education or
certification requirements (e.g. professional work), location, full-time or part-time status, work
environment, family-friendly policies, or other factors. Many nonprofit organizations rely
heavily on volunteers to accomplish their work. These organizations should include volunteers
in the discussion of their WORKFORCE.
Note 5: Nonprofits may have codes of conduct and/or policy guidance set by parent
organizations, charitable organizations, professional associations and societies, religious
organizations, or governmental entities.
Note 6: For some nonprofit organizations, GOVERNANCE and reporting relationships may
include relationships with major agency, foundation, or other funding sources.
Organizational Challenges: What is your Key strategic situation?
Describe your organization’s competitive environment, your KEY STRATEGIC
CHALLENGES, KEY STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES, and your system for
PERFORMANCE improvement.
Within your response, include answers to the following questions:
1.
What are the CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS required to accomplish your MISSION and
VISION? (See Note 1 below)
2.
What other organizations (for-profit or nonprofit) provide similar services in your
geographic area? (See Note 2 below)
3.
What are the key changes taking place that could impact your organization (positively or
negatively)?
4.
What STRATEGIC CHALLENGES and STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES do you possess
regarding your organization, your operations, and/or your WORKFORCE?
(See Note 3 below)
5.
What is your SYSTEMATIC approach to evaluate and improve your organization?
NOTES: _______________________________________________________________________
Note 1: Examples of factors include your price or fee structure for your PRODUCTS,
PROGRAMS, and SERVICES; innovation; geographic proximity; accessibility; warranty and
product options; your relative influence with decision makers; ratio of administrative costs to
programmatic contributions; reputation for delivery; and wait times for service.
© 2016, Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits
Revised February 29, 2016
3
Note 2: Nonprofit organizations frequently are in a very competitive environment; they often
must compete with other organizations and with alternative sources for similar services to secure
financial and volunteer resources, membership, visibility in appropriate communities, and media
attention.
Note 3: STRATEGIC CHALLENGES and STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES might relate to
technology, products, your operations, your CLIENT support, your industry, globalization, or
people.
Glossary of Terms
Areas of Greatest Expertise: The Business buzzword for this term is “Core Competencies.”
Core competencies are those vitally important capabilities that are central to fulfilling an
organization’s mission and/or confer strategic advantages that help the organization realize its
vision.
Clients/Customers: The term “client” or “customer” refers to actual or potential users or
beneficiaries of an organization. In the nonprofit world, clients or customers might include
individuals, organizations, recipients, donors, funders, and other beneficiaries. For nonprofits
that sell or construct products or goods as part of their operation (e.g., Habitat for Humanity, The
Caring Place and Goodwill), the business term “customer” is appropriate.
Core Values: The term “Core Values” refers to the guiding principles and behaviors that
embody how your organization and its people are expected to operate. Core Values reflect and
reinforce the desired culture of an organization. Core Values support and guide the decision
making of every workforce member, helping the organization accomplish its mission and attain
its vision in an appropriate manner.
Critical Success Factors: The term “critical success factors” refers to the key drivers of
organizational success. Some drivers are common to many nonprofits, but others are unique to
each organization.
Key: Key refers to the major or most important elements or factors; those that are critical to
achieving an organization’s intended outcome. It refers to key challenges, key plans, key work
processes, and key measures; those that are most important to the organization’s success. They
are the essential elements for pursuing and/or monitoring a desired outcome.
Mission: Mission refers to the overall function of an organization. The mission answers the
questions, “What is this organization attempting to accomplish? And “Why does the organization
exist?”
Products, Programs, and Services: These terms refer to what the organization provides to its
clients. Most nonprofits provide programs and services; some offer products. (See
Clients/Customers above.)
Stakeholders: The stakeholders of an organization are all of the groups that are or might be
affected by an organization’s ongoing activities. Examples of stakeholders for nonprofits can
include customers or clients, the board, staff, volunteers, collaborators, donors, suppliers,
taxpayers, local communities, and regulatory bodies. Because of their special importance in
planning and managing an organization, clients (customers) and workforce (staff and volunteers)
are considered separately from the other stakeholder types for some areas of specific focus.
© 2016, Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits
Revised February 29, 2016
4
Strategic Advantages: Strategic advantages are those things that provide an organization with a
decisive, or significant, likelihood of future success. These advantages frequently are sources of
an organization’s current and future success relative to other providers of similar programs and
services. Strategic advantages generally arise from either or both of two sources: (1) core
competencies, which represent an organization’s internal capabilities, and (2) important external
resources, which are shaped and leveraged through key external relationships and partnerships.
Strategic Challenges: Strategic challenges are those external as well as internal pressures that
exert a decisive influence on an organization’s likelihood of future success. External strategic
challenges may relate to client/customer or community needs or expectations; service or
technological changes; or financial, societal, and other risks or needs. Internal strategic
challenges may relate to an organization’s capabilities or its human and other resources.
Systematic: Systematic usually refers to the internal process or approaches to the operational
activities and work of the organization necessary to carry out its mission. If they are wellordered, are repeatable, and use data and information so learning is possible, they are systematic.
Systematic may also apply to the process the organization follows to make decisions.
Value: Value refers to the customers’/clients’ perceived worth of a product, service, or program
provided by an organization, relative to cost, and compared to possible alternatives. Other
stakeholders, including the members of the organization, also receive “value” from the activities
of the organization. Nonprofit organizations need to understand what different stakeholder
groups value and work to deliver the appropriate “value” to each group. This frequently requires
balancing value for clients/customers against other stakeholders, such as the workforce and the
community.
Vision: An organization’s vision refers to a statement that describes the desired future state of
the organization. The vision describes where the organization is headed, what it intends to be,
and/or how it wishes to be perceived in the future.
Workforce: An organization’s workforce refers to all the people actively involved in
accomplishing the work of the organization, including paid employees (e.g., permanent, parttime, temporary, and telecommuting employees, as well as contract employees supervised by the
organization) and volunteers, as appropriate. The workforce includes team leaders, supervisors,
managers at all levels, and, in some instances, members of the nonprofit organization’s board.
For many nonprofits, volunteers make up the bulk of the workforce.
© 2016, Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits
Revised February 29, 2016
5