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Strategic Planning
Comprehensive and practical, our plans support organizations at any stage in the life cycle, from start-ups, to those seeking substantial change, to those looking to cement their strength.
Comprehensive and practical, our plans support organizations at any stage in the life cycle, from start-ups, to those seeking substantial change, to those looking to cement their strength.
The DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management assists arts, culture, and humanities organizations, as well as universities, public media, medical, K-12 education, and science non-profits.
THE CYCLE is the DeVos Institute’s proprietary methodology for assessing, supporting, and empowering non-profits – in any discipline – to optimize service, sustainability, and impact.
Wherever you are based, the DeVos Institute is ready to work with you. With experience in over 80 countries, the DeVos Institute has the track record to help you thrive, anywhere and anytime.
The DeVos Institute’s online classroom and prestigious Global Fellowship introduce participants to The Cycle, the Institute’s proprietary management approach.
Top-performing nonprofits deserve practical, high-energy, empathetic support to fulfill their missions and thrive in today’s rapidly evolving environment.
That’s where we come in. With over 20 years of experience in nearly 90 countries, we’re here to help you envision a bold future and ensure that the right people, programs, systems and capital are in place to bring it to life.
We are proud to support a wide range of mission-driven organizations – including those in the arts, humanities, film, public media, festivals, sciences, education, and social services.
Our approach is grounded in The Cycle, a practical management framework designed to optimize organizational performance in five essential areas: market position, programming, marketing, governance, and revenue development.
This Cycle is the foundation upon which we build each engagement – one that is then customized to address your specific needs, goals, and local context.
We offer three core services: consultation, implementation, and training.
Today, we all share an environment shaped by rapid changes in technology, demographics, governance, geopolitics, and economics. Here at the Institute, we know these changes can add up – and overwhelm. We also know the thrill of leveraging them to our advantage. We obsess over these trends day and night, so that you don’t have to. We do so to fulfill our mission – to turn insight into lean, practical, effective strategies to help you flourish with confidence amidst change.
We’re ready – just let us know how we can help.
Request More InformationWe are ready to work with you to envision a bold future, and ensure the proper people, programs, systems and money are in place to bring it to life.
Whether you’re a manager, board member, government official, foundation representative or advocate for stronger communities, we are ready to partner with you to improve your community through your mission.8
The Institute’s core service – informed by the groundbreaking insights of The Cycle – are detailed, implementable, five-year strategic plans. The six-phase, seven-month process is designed to engage staff, board, and stakeholders in an authentic, friendly, serious manner while optimizing buy-in through 1-1 work with staff and carefully orchestrated, high-intensity group meetings for the Planning Committee. Our plans are calibrated to support a broad range of organizational statuses: from start-up to mature; crisis-response to performance optimization.
Our campaign services assist organizations of any size in analyzing, designing, planning, and executing a game-changing campaign. First, we work with you to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study to assess organizational readiness and donor capacity. Then we work with you to establish realistic timeframes and implementable plans to attract, motivate, and convert prospects. Finally, we work with you to develop, design and publish a compelling case for support; staff your campaign; organize its leadership; and even solicit gifts as an integrated part of your campaign team.
Handled properly, executive transitions honor and recognize the contributions of valued leaders, strengthen organizational culture, and chart a path for exciting, mission-driven service for years to come. Our approach, which benefits from decades of identifying, training, and placing the best talent in the business, fuses three key strengths: 1) A deep understanding of the practical management needs of non-profit organizations; 2) An awareness and sensitivity to the role of culture in the identification of leadership; and 3) Decades of strategic planning focused on what is required for operational, financial, and programmatic success. Our search process differs from most in our ability to think with you in a holistic way about the nature, needs, strategy, and direction of the organization – and what type of leadership will propel the organization to that optimized future.
Creating a new institution, or expanding or renovating a current one, presents a thrilling, once-in-a-career opportunity. While exciting, the journey from concept to opening night is loaded with complex considerations – some of which can make or break the success of the project, or the organization behind it. Our new infrastructure projects team works tirelessly to ensure that your investment in new infrastructure is matched by a thorough, realistic plan for financial sustainability, programmatic excellence, and human resource development. Whether you’re early in concept development, ready to open new facilities to the public, or in the first years of service to your community, we are here to work with you to ensure a success your team and investors will celebrate for decades to come.
As managers ourselves, we take pleasure in providing interim executive and management services to support your organization during transition, start-up, or capacity sprints. Whether your organization is between executives, or can use assistance with marketing, fundraising, or programming, our team is ready to deliver tailored, daily, hands-on support aligned with your immediate and mid-term needs. We’re here to work with you to maintain continuity, build capacity, and propel your service to community with confidence during critical moments of change.
The Institute’s Planning Intensives for Boards assist high-performance organizations in their effort to envision and achieve their “ideal board.” Through a structured, collaborative process, these four-month intensives led by Brett Egan or Michael M. Kaiser help boards assess current strengths and identify areas for growth in governance, composition, engagement, fundraising, fiduciary oversight, partnership with executive staff, and board culture. The consultancy ends with a formal plan composed of objectives and actionable strategies to help serious boards achieve high-ROI outcomes on behalf of the organizations they serve.
We designed THRIVE to function as a high-touch, one-on-one, monthly consultancy to address critical organizational goals. Through this service, we meet monthly for one year to furnish your team with supportive, specialized support in a more iterative, immediate, and less-expensive manner than a formal strategic planning process would typically provide. The program is designed to function as both an everyday resource for your management and board – helping navigate the big questions on a day-to-day basis – and as a supportive burst of capacity at critical points in the annual cycle of every nonprofit.
The DeVos Institute of Arts Management’s Capacity Building Intensives gather cohorts of nonprofit organizations from a city, region, or nation to learn, share, and grow as a community, creating a network of leaders equipped to address challenges within their organization and as a community at large. Rooted in the Institute’s proprietary management philosophy, The Cycle, the program focuses on optimizing performance in market position, programming, marketing, governance, and revenue development. Through an approach blending universal best practice and rigorous localization, each Intensive provides six day-long intensives, robust peer-to-peer learning, and individualized consultation. Throughout the two-year program, participants gain practical tools and strategies to advance their missions while building a network of lasting partnerships.
Our Board Intensives equip nonprofit boards with the tools and strategies to maximize their impact and strengthen organizational performance. These day-long intensives – typically hosted by a local organization or foundation – focus on clarifying roles between board and staff, enhancing governance practices, and aligning board activities with an organization’s mission and goals. The program provides practical guidance on building a cohesive and productive board culture while addressing key areas such as fundraising, advocacy, and strategic oversight. Through facilitated discussions and actionable insights, board members and their executive staff counterpoints emerge better prepared to lead, support, and champion their organizations in today’s dynamic nonprofit landscape.
Designed to help guide the decision-making of foundation, government, and philanthropic leadership, the Institute’s Ecology Reports provide a comprehensive analysis of a community’s arts, culture, and humanities ecosystem. These studies assess the health, accessibility, and sustainability of the local nonprofit sector, addressing critical questions such as institutional capacity, audience demographics, governance quality, and funding structures. By evaluating key factors like arts education, access, board strength, and talent recruitment, the reports identify challenges and opportunities unique to the region. The reports then offer actionable models for optimizing institutional collaboration, audience growth, funding strategies, and resource sharing.
The Global Arts Management Fellowship is a highly competitive program designed for mid-career arts and nonprofit managers worldwide. Over three years, fellows participate in intensive residencies in the United States, focusing on core areas of management, including strategic planning, marketing, fundraising, governance, and financial sustainability. Led by Michael M. Kaiser and Brett Egan, the program combines executive-level instruction, guest speakers, debates, case studies, and individualized mentorship, equipping participants with practical tools to surmount present-day challenges and forge new paths for their organizations. Operating within a diverse, global cohort, fellows gain perspective from a peer network of exemplary leaders worldwide, often building a lasting professional network. Prospective participants may sign up for our newsletter to be informed of deadlines for participation, which are typically in early December of each year.
This free online course, offered on the Coursera platform, provides an in-depth understanding of the Institute’s proprietary management framework, The Cycle, focusing on market position, programming, marketing, governance, and revenue development. Led by Michael M. Kaiser and Brett Egan, the course has been completed by tens of thousands of participants from over 40 countries worldwide. Self-paced and composed of video lectures, case studies, and assessments, the course requires approximately 8-10 hours to complete. Those who successfully finish the course can earn a certificate from the University of Maryland, enhancing their professional credentials while gaining practical tools to strengthen nonprofit management and sustainability.
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