Message from our Executive Director: New strategic plan to help Nellie’s take brave steps towards the future

As our 2018/2019 fiscal year drew to the end, we closed the books on one of our best fundraising years ever. These donations came from all sources—grants, bequests, events, and individual donations. And because of every single one of them, we were able to meet so many of the priority needs of the women and children who come to Nellie’s every day.

The trust and support of our donors last year, and every year, means that we can offer so many of the programs and services they need to build the confidence to take the brave steps towards accomplishing the next chapter in their lives.

And while they are taking brave steps forward, so are we. As the year drew to a close, we finalized our new three-year Strategic Plan from the framework first laid out in our Transitional Strategic Plan in 2015/2016. This plan will improve our organizational capacity and resilience and strengthen our expertise and leadership around women and children with complex needs. It focuses our scarce resources, both in terms of finances and staff time, and plots a course to create the greatest impact on our clients and our community.

Over the next three years, we will:

• Restructure the organization to ensure our long-term stability and responsiveness. This means looking inwardly at ourselves to enhance and strengthen what we do and how we do it.
• Expand our board capacity for fund development and strengthen our branding and marketing — because having one of our best ever fundraising year simply means we need to raise the bar.
• Create an onboarding and ongoing training plan for board, staff, management, volunteers and students.
• Formalize our service model so that we can promote and share our knowledge with other service providers. Partnering and sharing knowledge is what makes us all stronger.

Sadly, there is as much a need for Nellie’s shelter as there was when we first opened our doors 46 years ago. But the successful outcomes of the women and children we serve and the continued generosity and trust of our donors gives us the strength and determination to continue meeting their needs now and in the future.