Our Services

Lyons-Newman Consulting provides comprehensive strategic planning, facilitation, governance, and organizational development services to support nonprofit organizations to advance social, environmental, economic, and racial justice. Together, we help organizations accelerate their impact and achieve their goals — including to strengthen teams, increase organizational capacity, and build strategic plans.

Honoring the goals of each organization through our client-centered approach, we create customized and collaborative data-driven strategies to help organizations tackle complex problems, navigate transitions, form and strengthen partnerships, deepen constituent engagement, and create meaningful change.

Strategic Planning

Our strategic planning process, customized to each organization, guides our clients in developing a comprehensive set of coordinated actions that work together to overcome obstacles and advance their organization’s mission. Together we co-create an adaptable strategic plan that is grounded in stakeholder input and a thoughtful assessment of the organization's strengths and the environment. Our strategic planning process provides the self-knowledge, alignment, and decision tools that support organizations as they adapt to a changing environment.

We use many tools and processes for strategic planning, including landscape analysis, organizational capacity assessment, SWOT analysis, competitive advantage analysis, program evaluation, visioning, mission, vision, and values development, theory of change, strategy development, scenario planning, board and staff retreat facilitation, partnership development, strategy screen and decision matrix design, implementation planning and performance dashboards.

Strategic Fund Development Planning

We help with strategic fund development planning, development and communications plans, business model development, negotiation strategy and training, coalition building, and strategic partnership development. Our development services honor the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) code of ethical standards.

Board Development

A diverse, skilled, and active board of directors is a core component of any nonprofit’s success. Our governance capacity building services include a comprehensive board self-assessment service, developing a board composition and recruitment strategy to build diversity and needed skills on the board, establishing and implementing board member engagement contracts, and designing effective board meetings.

We facilitate board retreats, and provide training for boards on nonprofit governance best practices, and provide other board development coaching and consulting.

Facilitation and Training

We facilitate board and staff retreats, community meetings, and coalitions including multi-stakeholder collaborations, for team-building, decision making, and planning. We also provide training workshops and presentations on a variety of nonprofit management topics for boards and leadership staff. We work with executives, boards, and teams of all sizes to customize retreats, workshops, and trainings to meet the unique needs of your organization.

Typical Consultation Requests:

• “We need a comprehensive strategic plan to help us anticipate, plan and create our organization's future, while building alignment among our board, staff, and other constituents”

• “We need a facilitator for our next board retreat / staff retreat”

• “We need a facilitator to help us convene a community / stakeholder / coalition planning process”

• "We have complicated strategic decisions to make and the best direction to take is not clear"

• "We would like a thought partner to provide strategic guidance as we navigate our organizational development, governance, and sustainability efforts"

• "We would like to develop a roadmap of where we want to go over the next several years"

• "We are poised to grow, but we need a plan for how to go about it"

• "As an executive director/ CEO, I would like a thought partner to talk through organizational priorities and assess challenges and opportunities."

• “We would like to conduct a thoughtful board self-assessment and reflect and act on our findings”

• "We want to thoughtfully develop and diversify our board of directors.”

• “We would like training on nonprofit governance best practices including on board member responsibilities, and clarification of staff and board roles"

Please contact us to discuss your needs. We look forward to supporting you and your organization to reach your goals.

“The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.”

― John H. Schaar