Success Planning for Nonprofits

Stop wandering in the wilderness. Put your nonprofit on the road to predictable success.


Nonprofits are the engines of the social safety net, preservation and innovation in arts and culture, supporters of causes people care about, and a necessary part of every community. Yet large or small, nonprofits all struggle with translating their compelling visions and missions into reality. We all know the old saw, Fail to Plan; Plan to Fail. Nonprofits are especially vulnerable as boards and staffs tend to focus more on the day-to-day, serving their constituents, and raising money. Strategic planning is THE proven mechanism to translate and sustain the noble goals of the organization. Success Planning is the blueprint for crafting a metrics-driven, evidence-based planning process that gets concrete results.


* Get the results your organization needs with a robust strategic plan,

* Become more efficient and effective with a focused Board and Staff,

* Deliver services to your constituents with greater Return on Effort,

* Delight your funders with concrete evidence of your results,

* Build a sustainable organization predictably reaching your goals


About the Author


Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D. 

Improve your nonprofit's results through strategic leaders, engaged employees, and delighted clients. Achieve your goals through strategic leadership and planning, and management, team, and organizational development. Draw on my proven ability to mentor you through major change. My team works with you to craft customized, successful solutions to your complex business issues. Our mission is your success.


Typical results include: 

* Produced over $6 MM in cost savings for major nonprofit implementing sustainable process improvements 

* Avoided over $1MM in additional costs for ‘runaway’ project 

* Helped a city implement major initiatives, deploy a strategic plan, improve managerial effectiveness, improve bond rating, and align with city commission goals


Clients say:

* VP: If you can’t do it on your own after working with Rebecca, it’s your own fault. She gives you everything you need to function on your own. 

* C-Level Executive: You’re the only one who told me something I didn’t know. 

* C-Level Executive: Spontaneously raised my fee because: you did an excellent job with my leadership team.


Leadership teams execute robust strategic plans with measurable outcomes using my results-driven, Success Planning: A “How-To” Guide for Strategic Planning. The methodology is further customized in Success Planning for Nonprofits: Evidenced-Based Strategic Planning. Explore documented successful strategic leadership practices of 20 modern executives and key Constitutional framers in Conventional Wisdom: How Today’s Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers. 


For over 25 years, I have contributed improved organizational value as a leader, manager, keynoter, educator, and consultant in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. I have been honored by organizations on four continents. I am a Ph.D. in organizational development, MBTI® Master Practitioner, and a National Speakers Association Legacy Professional Member. I have chaired the boards of many nonprofits and been a grant-writer and Development Officer for several others. 


Ellen Bristol 

Strengthen your impact with strategic planning that works. Many nonprofits struggle with the myriad demands of managing fundraising, programs, staff and volunteers. To stay focused on the mission, raise consistent income, and succeed beyond your dreams, master the the strategic planning process. My firm will guide you from chaos and confusion, to clarity and accountability.


Typical Results

*Raised major giving for a conservation organization by one-third in the first year

*Enabled a medical research organization to expand its reach and enter clinical trials within six months

*Empowered a nonprofit small-business incubator to reorganize its board, develop sustainable governance, and organize effective growth strategies 


What clients say:

* Board chair: Your work really demystified our fundraising so we can grow.

*Chief Operations Officer: We still don’t know how you figured out our problems so quickly, but now we can solve them.

* Founder/Executive Director: We would have had to close our doors with your help.


Strategic planning drives nonprofit success. Success Planning for Nonprofits simplifies the process using data, metrics, and interpretation for continuous improvement. To understand how the lack of effective management has hurt fundraising, explore Fundraising Down the Drain: The Leaky Bucket Study 2019. Learn how to plug fundraising ”leaks” with Fundraising the SMART Way: Predictable, Consistent Income Growth for Your Charity.


I have devoted the last 25 years of my career to strengthening the value nonprofits and NGOs bring to society, clarifying and repairing challenges holding them back. Best known for our work on building fundraising capacity, my firm has guided nonprofits and NGOs. domestic and international, to high impact with proven principles, tools and techniques for strategic planning, management and leadership.