You’re on the right path!

You are doing well, and let’s talk about how we get you to using your strategic muscle exceptionally. You have a foundation in place, and now it’s about sharpening your focus, ensuring consistency, and building systems that support long-term sustainability.

Strengthening Your Vision and Strategy

Having a strategic plan is not the same as actively using it as a guiding force. Organizations like yours often have a plan in place but may not revisit it often enough or integrate it into day-to-day decision-making. The key is to refine your plan and put a system in place to track progress—regularly—so it evolves alongside your organization. A strong strategic plan should not just sit on a shelf; it should be a living document that drives action and alignment.

Beyond that, developing a more robust theory of change will help clarify the impact you seek to make. What is a theory of change? Its another way of defining how your actions and activities actually drive your overall strategic goals and external impact. This means defining clear goals, indicators and measurements to ensure that your work is actually achieving its intended outcomes. Without this, it’s easy to conflate effort or outputs with impact.

Finally, how are you evolving your strategy in an evolving media landscape? Implementing a system to monitor these changes—keeping tabs on emerging trends, technological shifts, and competitive movements—will help your organization remain adaptive and responsive rather than reactive.

Deepening Audience and Community Engagement

Your audience and community are at the core of your work, and while you likely have engagement strategies in place. Now is the time to deepen them. This means going beyond surface-level audience metrics and digging into their motivations and behaviors. Surveys, focus groups, and data analytics can provide invaluable insights that inform your content, services, and outreach.

More than that, engagement is not just about understanding your audience but about actively involving them. A comprehensive community engagement strategy might include events, workshops, collaborative projects, and other initiatives that foster a stronger, more participatory relationship with the people you serve. The more connected your audience feels to your organization, the more invested they will be in your success.

Strengthening Your Business Model

Sustainability requires financial resilience. Organizations in this category have revenue streams in place, but there is often untapped potential. This is the time to explore advanced diversification strategies—whether through sponsorships, advertising, content licensing, or other revenue models. The goal is not just to bring in more revenue but to ensure that every revenue-generating activity aligns with your mission. A business model that conflicts with your values can erode trust and stability over time.

Clarifying Market Position and Building Strategic Partnerships

Understanding your market position is crucial for long-term success. Conducting a comprehensive market analysis will help you assess where you stand in relation to competitors, identify gaps, and uncover opportunities for differentiation. This isn’t just about knowing who else is out there—it’s about making intentional choices about where and how you fit into the broader landscape.

At the same time, partnerships are a powerful lever for growth and impact. Developing a strategic partnership plan—one that identifies key partners and establishes clear goals and objectives—can help you extend your reach, share resources, and enhance your overall effectiveness.

Moving from “Doing Well” to “Doing Exceptionally”

Scoring this means you are doing a lot right, but there’s still room to move from stability to true strength. The organizations that successfully bridge this gap are the ones that take a proactive approach—regularly assessing and refining their strategy, deepening their audience connections, ensuring financial resilience, and leveraging market insights and partnerships to build a more sustainable future.

You’re already on the right path. Now, it’s about being intentional, consistent, and strategic in your next steps.