Planning for the Future: The Brandon Foundation’s Strategic Plan

As The Brandon Foundation’s 4^th academic year begins next Tuesday, the Board of Directors has been planning for the many years to come. This summer, The Brandon Foundation Board met with Michael Burns Consulting, LLC to put together a three year strategic plan.

The Board first completed a thorough analysis of what The B Foundation has accomplished so far, where our strengths and weaknesses lie, and which resources are already available to us and which are lacking. After much consideration, they set goals, prioritized them, and considered what steps we need to take to accomplish them.

Here’s a peak into the Board’s assessment of the current Brandon Foundation and the potential future in store for us:

Our greatest strengths are the reputation that we’ve built in the Fort Wayne community and Christian principles that guide us. Our main weaknesses come from the increasing need for volunteers and the limitations of our current facility that we are beginning to outgrow.

SIDE NOTE: If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved, we have a variety of opportunities for YOU! We need mentors, board members, committee participants, grant writers, a mentor coordinator, and an educational consultant! If you don’t have a lot of time to spare for an official position, you can also support us at our events!

The biggest opportunity that we see on the horizon is to find a corporate or private sponsor, which would grow our financial resources. This would allow us to expand the program. However, it is extremely important that we maintain the one-on-one relationships between scholars and mentors, so it will be key to our success to grow only if it makes sense for the organization. We do not want to grow too quickly simply for growth’s sake. The pressure to expand is the biggest threat to The B Foundation as an increase in the number of scholars without an equal increase in mentors will pull us away from one of our core values.

A few of our future goals include: moving into our own facility, additional board members, paid staff members, and honing our governance practices. Our ultimate dream is for current scholars to return to The Brandon Foundation as future mentors!

With the continued encouragement and support of community members like you, we know that we can achieve all that we’ve dreamed and more!

Thank you for reading!

Abby Bormann & The Brandon Foundation