Big Brothers Big Sisters Creates a Comprehensive Strategy & Improves Volunteer Experience
Industry: National Non-profit Organization
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Tactic: Strategic Planning
Results:
Developed a comprehensive 3-year strategy to continue to impact the Chattanooga community.
Created a CX map to improve the volunteer enrollment experience and drive recruitment.
Strengthened the impact of their core operations and capabilities.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga:
For over 60 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga (BBBS) has served the region, helping children realize their full potential through youth mentoring programs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga operates as a member agency of America’s oldest and largest youth mentoring organizations and is driven by the mission to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Through facilitating positive relationships between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”) between the ages of 6 and 14, BBBS continues to positively impact Chattanooga’s community and the lives of young people.
The Challenge:
BBBS sought to create a strategic plan that aligns with the National Strategic Plan of the broader organization and continues to support their mission and vision for the next three years. They came to Bridge Innovate for help in facilitating research and a series of sessions to define a strategic plan and supporting actions.
Before defining a strategy, Bridge assisted BBBS in identifying several areas that presented challenges to their continued long-term success and the impact of their organization in the Chattanooga community. These areas would serve as the primary strategic drivers, shaping what initiatives they needed to prioritize over the next several years.
Bridge and BBBS narrowed down four main initiatives for the strategy to address. The strategic plan would seek to:
Increase volunteer enrollment
Engage the 18-24 year old community
Develop a community maturity cycle to nurture and engage
Build a mental health plan and approach
To determine the challenges presented in each of the four areas, Bridge led BBBS through a series of facilitated research sessions. With this research, Bridge Innovate helped BBBS gain empathy and gather both external insights and relevant internal data about each of the four areas.
One significant challenge that emerged during the research session had to do with the volunteer enrollment process. While BBBS had a growing number of “Littles” on their waitlist, they noted a shortage of qualified “Bigs.” In particular, there had been a large decrease in male volunteer inquiries. Further analysis revealed a significant drop-off of new “Bigs” from the initial inquiry to the completion of the application process. Additionally, inefficiencies in the application process were identified, further complicating volunteer recruitment.
To address these challenges, Bridge outlined a plan to create a customer journey map in order to improve the volunteer enrollment process. Then, Bridge would work with BBBS to define their broader strategic design and develop an actionable strategic plan for the next three years.
The Solution:
Before developing the broader strategy, Bridge wanted to address the challenges in the volunteer enrollment process through customer journey mapping.
A customer journey map serves as a visual story of your customer’s interactions with your organization. It requires the organization to step into their customers’ shoes and see their business from their perspective.
First, to build a successful customer journey map, BBBS needed to understand their target audience for recruitment. So, to start the session, BBBS defined the ideal volunteer persona, using empathy mapping to describe the persona's thoughts, feelings, and needs to develop a strategy that addressed those needs.
Then the BBBS team divided into groups, working through the current enrollment processes to pinpoint pain points in the volunteer experience. In doing so, they identified opportunities for improvement in the recruitment and matching process for new “Bigs” and “Littles.” This session, along with the earlier research efforts, provided a clear understanding of the specific challenges and opportunities within the organization.
Following the mapping session, Bridge Innovate facilitated a day-long strategy design session and a half-day action planning session. The strategy design session enabled the BBBS team to identify the particular drivers and actions needed to achieve their overall strategy across the four key areas.
The subsequent action planning session allowed the BBBS sponsor team to prioritize these strategies and tactics, making strategic decisions on which areas to focus on over the next several years. This structured approach ensured that BBBS could address the immediate challenges, while also laying the groundwork for long-term success.
The Result:
As a result of this comprehensive research and mapping effort, BBBS developed a robust three-year strategic plan designed to strengthen their core operations and enhance their impact on the Chattanooga community. This plan provided a clear roadmap for addressing the identified challenges and leveraging opportunities for growth and improvement in each of the four areas.
In the short term, the insights gained from the customer journey mapping session enabled BBBS to launch new male-specific recruiting campaigns. Combined with a redesigned and more efficient application process, these campaigns led to an increase in new “Bigs,” particularly among male volunteers. By addressing the drop-off points and improving transparency, BBBS was able to better match “Bigs” with “Littles,” thereby reducing the waitlist and enhancing the overall effectiveness of their programs.
With the help of Bridge Innovate, BBBS has clarified their priorities and strategic vision, guiding them to fully actualize their mission and vision for the coming years.
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