Strategic Visioning
An Existential Opportunity
Strategic planning provides an organization such as CAMP Rehoboth Community Center with a unique opportunity to kick the tires and look under the proverbial “hood,” while simultaneously looking into the future. It’s also a great way to reinvigorate our team, get everyone on the same page, and document our strategies. Ultimately, we will be reminded of who we are, why we are here, and what literally gives us goose bumps when we mention CAMP Rehoboth. At the end of the day, we will understand how we can coalesce around a renewed and shared vision for the future of this great organization.
The passing of CAMP Rehoboth co-founder Steve Elkins was the catalyst for the Board’s last strategic planning effort. So much has happened since the 2018-2019 strategic planning process occurred. Suffice it to say that we currently find ourselves at a critical inflection point, where we have a golden opportunity to refresh our sense of who CAMP Rehoboth is and what the world needs from us and our organization.
As Board President Wes Combs has shared in his past columns, the 2023 strategic initiative is underway. As a first step, the Board formed the Strategic Planning Task Force (SPTF). The SPTF consists of current and former board members, the Interim Director, and key staff, all under the guidance of strategic planning expert and consultant Dr. Michela Perrone of MMP & Associates.
The SPTF is now focused on the first phase of strategic planning: strategic visioning. Strategic visioning involves suspending our knowledge of “reality” to answer the question, “Where is Point B?” Thinking from a position of abundance, what if a bejeweled box containing $1 million landed on CAMP Rehoboth’s front porch? What would we do with it and why? Once we have ascertained Point B, we can then do the strategic plan, which is the solution, the road map, the how-to of getting from where we are now (Point A) to where we want to be at some specified time in the future (Point B).
Strategic visioning involves three main phases: 1) the organization scan; 2) strategic exploration; and 3) strategic vision formulation and documentation. As a part of the organization scan, the SPTF is seeking information and lots of it. We don’t know what we don’t know, so we are seeking input through focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and a survey. We are seeking to gain a shared understanding of the status quo, namely, what folks think CAMP Rehoboth does well and how we can better serve the community, and what are the key questions folks are asking about CAMP Rehoboth to help identify recurring themes and concerns.
The SPTF is also knee deep into strategic exploration, including conducting a broad-reaching landscape analysis. Some examples of questions we hope to answer include, who else is out there doing this work, how are they similar, different, duplicative, who are they serving, and how are their missions like or different from ours?
After completing data collection, the SPTF will prepare a briefing booklet that will contain all the information collected during the organizational scan and strategic exploration. With the help of the Board and the new Executive Director (ED), the SPTF will then be able to formulate and document our strategic vision.
The results of the strategic visioning process will be a reevaluation and possible update of each of the following: the purpose statement, the values statement, the vision statement, and a statement of strategic priorities. Said differently, we will hopefully be able to identify what exactly Point B is. The actual strategic plan itself will flow naturally out of the strategic visioning process as the SPTF and the Board work closely with the new ED to come up with the implementation plan—how to get from Point A to Point B.
What can readers of this column do to help? Be sure that you are on CAMP Rehoboth’s listserv by contacting Communications Manager Matty Brown (matty@camprehoboth.com). When your survey hits your inbox, fill it out. And, you can email me directly if there is something of particular import that you want to share (lesliel@camprehoboth.com).
The Board is committed to leading with vision and with community input, including asking all the hard questions, because CAMP Rehoboth is nothing without our colorful and multi-talented community. It’s an existential and exhilarating journey that will help shape our community center in the years to come. ▼
Leslie Ledogar is a retired administrative attorney, current Vice President of the Board and Chair of the SPTF. She will be providing regular updates on the strategic planning process as a guest columnist in future editions of Letters.