A multi-service organization that provides a wide array of free and low-cost services to help children, youth and adults who are dealing with substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, relationship, and communication issues. They offer 23 programs to more than 34,000 people every year helping to transform the lives of children, youth, adults, and families across San Mateo County.

Project Description:

StarVista is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) agency in San Mateo County that provides a wide array of free and low-cost services to help children, youth and adults who are dealing with substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, relationship, and communication issues. The StarVista mission is to strengthen communities by empowering children, youth, adults and families to overcome challenges through education, counseling and residential services.

One of the most critical challenges facing the organization is the transition of funding from primarily a government-funded model to a diversified one with a focus on private donations.  In addition, we must determine the best organizational structure for a non-profit of our size ($10.7 million dollar budget) in ways that bolster our very lean infrastructure which includes stretched human resources, IT, operations, and finance departments.  We aim to bolster our infrastructure in order to positively meet the expectations of our constituents, including clients, community partners, government agencies, donors, and the community at large.

Currently, a large majority of our funding comes from government sources, and our individual donor giving totals a mere 2% of our annual budget. We see tremendous opportunity for growth in individual giving and in the strengthening of our financial stability by diversifying our funding sources. As a result of this decision, we created a new Individual Giving Director position with the aim of identifying, cultivating, and stewarding individual donors in a more engaged and robust manner. We have made a considerable investment in this new philanthropic effort and this marks the beginning of a major cultural shift within our organization.

StarVista would like support from an HBS Community Partners team in crafting a concise, solid, and visionary strategic plan with a sharp focus on 3-4 key areas.  We would like clear, measureable outcomes and metrics with defined responsibilities distributed amongst staff and board members. Ideally, our strategic plan will clearly align with our agency vision, mission, and values, and every board member and staff person will know what our 3-4 key organizational goals are, as well as their part in achieving these overall goals.

It is important for StarVista to have a visionary, clear, and direct strategic plan which anticipates community needs. A solid strategic plan will help us effectively and efficiently map out our plan for the future.

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