RFP - Facilitator/Consultant: Board Strategic Planning Workshop
About Social Venture Network (SVN)
Social Venture Network (SVN) is a community of business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and changemakers committed to building a more just, regenerative, and sustainable economy.
As SVN prepares for its 40th anniversary and its next phase of organizational growth, the Board of Directors seeks an experienced strategic planning consultant to facilitate an interactive Board Strategic Planning Workshop and help SVN establish a clear set of strategic priorities for its next chapter.
SVN is simultaneously undertaking work focused on Board culture and organizational effectiveness. The strategic planning engagement should build upon that work and help translate SVN's values, history, community strengths, and emerging governance practices into a focused strategic direction.
Purpose of the Engagement
SVN is entering an important moment of organizational reflection and renewal. Approaching its 40th anniversary provides an opportunity to consider both SVN's legacy and the role the organization should play in a rapidly changing social, economic, and philanthropic landscape.
The selected consultant will design and facilitate a three-hour, highly interactive strategic planning session with the SVN Board of Directors.
The engagement should help the Board develop greater alignment around SVN's future direction, identify a limited number of strategic priorities, clarify the organization's unique role and value proposition, and begin translating those priorities into actionable goals.
This engagement is intended to establish a strategic framework and direction for SVN rather than produce a lengthy traditional strategic plan.
Objectives
The engagement should help the SVN Board:
Develop a shared understanding of SVN's current organizational position and strategic opportunities.
Reflect on SVN's history, legacy, strengths, challenges, and evolving role.
Clarify SVN's purpose, value proposition, and desired impact for its next chapter.
Identify the communities and stakeholders SVN is uniquely positioned to serve.
Assess the external environment and key trends affecting SVN and its members.
Establish a focused set of three to five strategic priorities.
Explore implications of those priorities for programming, membership, partnerships, fundraising, governance, and organizational capacity.
Identify near-term actions and longer-term goals.
Establish greater Board alignment around strategic choices and tradeoffs.
Produce an actionable framework that can guide Board and organizational decision-making over the next three years.
Scope of Work
Pre-Workshop
The selected consultant will:
Meet virtually with members of the Board and/or Strategic Planning Committee.
Review relevant SVN background materials, including organizational history, current programs, governance materials, financial information, member information, and previous planning documents, as available.
Review key findings or recommendations emerging from SVN's Board Culture & Organizational Effectiveness process.
Work with Board representatives to identify the most important strategic questions to address during the session.
Design a customized strategic planning agenda and facilitation approach.
The consultant may recommend a brief pre-session survey or reflection exercise for Board members if useful within the scope of the engagement.
Strategic Planning Workshop — 3 Hours
Facilitate an engaging and highly participatory strategic planning session that may include discussion and exercises related to:
SVN's history and organizational legacy
Vision for SVN at its 40th anniversary and beyond
Mission, purpose, and organizational identity
SVN's distinctive value proposition
Current organizational strengths and challenges
Membership and community needs
External trends and opportunities
Strategic positioning
Programmatic priorities
Membership and engagement
Partnerships and ecosystem role
Revenue, fundraising, and financial sustainability
Governance and organizational capacity
Strategic choices and tradeoffs
Three- to five-year priorities
Near-term actions and measures of success
The session should prioritize active Board participation and decision-making rather than presentation by the consultant.
Post-Workshop
Provide a concise 3–5 page Strategic Planning Summary capturing:
Key themes from the discussion
Areas of Board alignment
Important strategic questions or tensions
Proposed strategic priorities
Recommended three-year goals or directional outcomes
Near-term priorities for the next 6–12 months
Organizational capacity considerations
Recommended next steps for moving from strategic direction to implementation
The final document should provide SVN with a usable strategic framework that can be further refined by the Board rather than an extensive consultant-produced strategic plan.
Deliverables
The engagement will include:
Planning meeting with Board representatives
Review of relevant organizational materials
Customized strategic planning workshop agenda
Three-hour facilitated Board strategic planning session
3–5 page Strategic Planning Summary and recommendations
Proposed three-year strategic priorities and near-term next steps
Desired Qualifications
SVN seeks a consultant with:
Demonstrated experience facilitating nonprofit strategic planning processes.
Experience working directly with nonprofit Boards of Directors.
Strong understanding of governance and the relationship between Board leadership and organizational strategy.
Experience supporting membership-based, network-based, or volunteer-led organizations.
Ability to facilitate thoughtful conversations involving differing perspectives and priorities.
Experience helping organizations move from broad vision to a focused set of strategic choices.
Understanding of organizational sustainability, fundraising, partnerships, and capacity as components of strategy.
Ability to design highly participatory workshops for executive and Board-level audiences.
Experience working with mission-driven organizations focused on economic justice, social impact, entrepreneurship, sustainability, or related fields is preferred.
Proposal Requirements
Interested consultants should submit:
Cover letter
Relevant qualifications and experience
Description of strategic planning and facilitation methodology
Examples of similar Board or organizational strategic planning engagements
Sample agenda or proposed approach
Two references
Fixed-fee proposal inclusive of preparation, facilitation, and follow-up
Budget Range: $2,500–$3,500
Proposals should demonstrate an approach appropriate for a focused strategic planning engagement within the available scope and budget.
Timeline
RFP Issued: August 17, 2026
Deadline to Apply: August 28, 2026
Proposal Review and Consultant Selection: By August 30 2026
Planning Meeting: Late August/Early September 2026
Strategic Planning Workshop: September 2026
Strategic Planning Summary: Within two weeks following the workshop
The exact workshop date will be coordinated with the selected consultant and should, where feasible, allow the strategic planning process to incorporate relevant findings from SVN's Board Culture & Organizational Effectiveness work.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on:
Strategic planning expertise
Experience working with nonprofit Boards
Facilitation approach
Ability to translate broad discussion into focused strategic choices
Relevant experience with membership-based or volunteer-led organizations
Understanding of SVN's mission and organizational context
Ability to foster inclusive and candid dialogue
References
Overall value within the available budget
Vision for Success
SVN's 40th anniversary represents an opportunity not only to celebrate the organization's history, but to define its relevance and ambitions for the decades ahead.
A successful engagement will leave the Board with greater clarity and alignment around:
Who SVN is.
Who SVN serves.
What unique role SVN should play.
What SVN should prioritize over the next three years.
What the organization must strengthen or change to achieve those priorities.
The strategic planning process should result in a focused, realistic, and values-aligned framework that provides clear direction while leaving room for SVN's Board, members, and leadership to shape implementation.
The goal is not simply to produce a strategic planning document. The goal is to create sufficient Board alignment around SVN's future direction so that strategy can guide governance, programming, resource development, partnerships, membership engagement, and organizational decision-making during SVN's next chapter.
Relationship Between the Culture and Strategic Planning Engagements (2 RFP’s Issued)
SVN views the Board Culture & Organizational Effectiveness and Strategic Planning engagements as distinct but closely connected components of the organization's broader planning process. The culture and values engagement is focused primarily on how the Board works together—including shared values, trust, accountability, communication, leadership expectations, governance norms, and the conditions necessary for effective Board service. The strategic planning engagement is focused on where SVN is going—including organizational purpose, future direction, strategic priorities, programmatic focus, membership and stakeholder needs, sustainability, and the choices necessary to guide SVN's next three years. Findings and commitments emerging from the culture and values process should inform and strengthen the subsequent strategic planning work. SVN welcomes proposals from consultants specializing in either area; however, consultants with demonstrated expertise in both organizational culture and strategic planning may submit proposals for both RFPs and may be selected to lead both engagements. If one consultant is selected for both, SVN expects the consultant to maintain the distinct objectives and deliverables of each engagement while creating continuity between the two processes.
Send proposal to board@svn.org by the deadline of August 28th, 2026. Please identify the name of the RFP you are replying to in the subject line and in the proposal.
