Heightened Development

10/19/2026

One of the best parts of my work is that I’m constantly learning from the nonprofit leaders I work alongside.

Strategic leadership does not mean walking into every conversation with the answer. Often, it means asking a better question, listening to people who see the organization differently than you do, and being willing to change your thinking based on what you learn.

So today, I’m taking my own advice and listening. What are you learning as a leader right now?

10/15/2026

A strategic plan can give you direction. It cannot do the strategic thinking for you. That is one lesson eight years of Heightened Development has reinforced for me.

In this month’s Heightened Perspectives, I’m sharing some of the habits I’ve seen strong nonprofit leaders practice consistently: making space to notice what is changing, listening beyond the leadership team, asking better questions, and making intentional choices about where limited resources should go.

There are eight habits in the accompanying article, but here is my challenge: do not try to tackle all eight. Choose one. Then identify one thing you can do differently this month to practice it.

Watch Heightened Perspectives:
https://youtu.be/5p1I4TVvWLQ

How can nonprofit leaders become more strategic in the way they lea...

10/13/2026

Eight years ago, Heightened Development started with a pretty simple belief: nonprofit leaders are tackling some of the hardest challenges in our communities, and they deserve good thought partners as they do it.

Eight years later, I’m mostly feeling grateful.

Grateful for the organizations that have invited me into important conversations. Grateful for the leaders who have trusted me when they were facing difficult choices or significant change. And grateful for everything they have taught me along the way.

Those experiences have also helped me notice some common habits among particularly strategic leaders. Later this week, I’ll share a few of them in our newest Heightened Perspectives.

For now, I’m curious: What is one leadership habit you have developed that has made you better at this work?

Learn more by checking out this months article: https://heightenedevelopment.com/8-habits-strategic-nonprofit-leaders/

09/29/2026

How does your organization know whether its strategic plan is working?

By working, we mean: how do you know you are truly making progress on your chosen goals? If you don't have clear measures, we are more likely to measure success by things like whether people are busy or our programs are full.

Tracking outcomes/metrics takes planning and intentionality to get right. Many organizations either track too little or try to track everything. Both approaches make it harder to focus, learn, and communicate impact.

This month’s Heightened Development article, live on our website now, explores how to choose the right metrics and connect them to staff responsibilities, board reporting, and mission.

What is one measure your organization tracks that genuinely helps you make a better decision?

Improvement

09/24/2026

“Metrics only matter if they are tracked and used.”

A metric that appears once a year in a board report is not doing much to guide the work. Useful measures should help your team understand progress, identify barriers, and decide what needs to change.

If you are new to metrics and not sure where to start, try this at your next staff meeting and see what you learn:

1. Choose one strategic goal.
2. Name one meaningful measure.
3. Ask who is responsible for reviewing it.
4. Set a date to discuss observations and learning.

You do not need to redesign your entire measurement system. You can start with one goal and one useful conversation.

In addition to working with her firm, Shauna J. Rowland Consulting, Shauna is a regular team member with Heightened Development and the guest writer for this month's article, available now on our website.

Heightened Development is available to help with action planning, continuous improvement, and more.

09/22/2026

A good strategic plan should shape daily decisions. Does yours?

When staff can see how their responsibilities connect to a strategic goal, they gain greater clarity, ownership, and accountability. That connection also gives leaders more useful information to share with the board.

A part of making this shift is having clear metrics attached to your plan. It means moving from a broad goal like “increase community awareness” to a specific measure such as increasing workshop participation through outreach partnerships.

That is how strategy becomes action.

Article: https://heightenedevelopment.com/nonprofit-strategic-planning-metrics/

09/17/2026

Measuring more does not necessarily mean understanding more.

This month on Heightened Perspectives, talks about a challenge that shows up in a lot of nonprofits: choosing the few metrics that actually help us understand whether our strategy is working.

The goal is not another giant spreadsheet. It is clarity.
-Clear priorities for staff.
-Better information for boards.
-A stronger connection between daily work and mission impact.

Watch the conversation here:
https://youtu.be/CxZhxyjxCGw

How do you know if your nonprofit’s strategic plan is actually work...

09/15/2026

Something new is coming this week on Heightened Perspectives.

This month, shares her perspective on a challenge many nonprofit leaders know well: how to choose the right metrics without creating more noise, more reporting, or another spreadsheet no one wants to open.

The conversation is about clarity. What should you measure? What actually helps staff stay focused? What gives boards useful information?

We’ll share the full conversation later this week. Stay tuned!

09/10/2026

For some nonprofit leaders, your fiscal year just closed. Whether your fiscal year ends June 30th or at a different point in time, we wanted to share a little reminder that your nonprofit’s Form 990 is more than a tax filing. It is a public snapshot of your mission, finances, leadership, compensation, and governance.

Given this, a governing board needs to review it before filing. The IRS does not require board approval, but Form 990 asks whether the completed return was provided to the governing body and requires organizations to describe their review process. The IRS also identifies board review as a good governance practice. Your 990 can also be a great onboarding and education tool for newer board members. It is an opportunity to talk about how the organization ensures equity in executive compensation decisions, how it manages conflicts of interest, and so much more.

A board review can help:

• Catch errors or unclear language
• Confirm the return accurately reflects the organization
• Strengthen financial oversight
• Prepare board members for donor or community questions
• Reinforce shared accountability

One important deadline note: calendar-year organizations are generally due May 15. November 15 is typically the extended deadline when a six-month extension has been filed. The full schedule by various fiscal years is here.

Build the review into your governance calendar now and consider how it can serve as an ongoing educational tool. Your board should understand what the organization is telling the public.

09/08/2026

Strategic planning is underway with The Roo Crew!

Board Chair Coker Powell and Executive Director Lindzey Neely are passionate, dilligent stewards of the mission, and we are all excited about what is to come.

The best strategic plans start with clarity: understanding who you are, what you do best, and what that means for the opportunities ahead.

We’re excited to partner with the Roo Crew as they think strategically about the future and build a clear path forward.