At Donors Forum’s Annual Luncheon on June 21, I announced the launch of the organization’s new strategic plan. The plan, “Engaging for Impact,” will guide Donors Forum’s mission and activities over the course of the next three years.

Key to the plan’s success will be an ongoing and deep engagement with philanthropy and nonprofit sector leaders and advisors, and an agenda shaped by the critical issues the sector faces now and in the coming years. Dialogue with the community will be particularly critical in the first year, and a number of community meetings have been scheduled for late July with additional meetings being scheduled in the Fall.

The plan focuses on four strategies designed to build on Donors Forum’s strong history of serving the sector in Illinois and to ensure our mission continues to be aligned with community needs. The strategies include:

• Launching state-wide, online communications platform(s) to foster dialogue, information-sharing, and problem-solving among funders, nonprofits, and advisors/consultants while continuing to offer face-to-face opportunities for our constituents.
• Advancing a public policy agenda that amplifies the voice of the philanthropic and nonprofit sector in Illinois and focuses on the critical issues that impact nonprofits in the state the most.
• Harnessing existing collaborations and convening new collaborations of stakeholders to address the philanthropic and nonprofit  sector’s and our communities’ most critical and complex challenges.
• Examining the Donors Forum’s organizational structure, operations, and membership categories and making the necessary changes to position the organization for the future.

“Engaging for Impact” and its four core strategies were identified through a careful planning process guided by some of the best minds and practitioners in the sector. In-depth discussions with more than 30 leaders representing all aspects of the nonprofit and philanthropic sector and online surveys helped identify priorities.

There are a number of ways nonprofits, grantmakers, advisors and others in the nonprofit community can participate in helping Donors Forum be an effective advocate for the sector in Illinois. A Microsite has been launched at donorsforum.org/engaging4impact that provides more detail on the plan and that will provide regular updates. Comments are welcome. In addition, we will be generating interaction and discussion on our social media channels and in other online forums.

First and foremost we invite all of those interested in the future of the sector in Illinois to attend one of the three community meetings scheduled for July. To learn about the meetings and register, see the "You're Invited" section at donorsforum.org.

We need to hear from you in order to better serve you.

— Valerie S. Lies, President and CEO