Services & Core Competencies

Together, we collaborate with clients to imagine new possibilities and create actionable solutions to solve persisting problems.

OUTCOMES & EVALUATION

Whether you are looking to design a new program, evaluate a pilot project or take your theory of change to the next level, we can help bring clarity to your evaluative processes.

Aurora consultants are grounded in outcomes-based thinking. We bring curiosity collaboration into the room to help you:

  • Design, simplify, or expand on your theory of change
  • Educate your staff and board on the fundamentals of evaluation you can apply to future efforts
  • Assess your program’s impact to increase your competitiveness in grant writing
  • Create internal processes to bake evaluation into your nonprofit’s culture
  • Work with you design inclusive community engagement processes for gathering feedback about your impact

Prioritizing evaluation as a core concern for your organization can amplify your effectiveness in program development and in fundraising, human resources, leadership, and sustainability of your mission.

PLANNING & CONSENSUS BUILDING

Giving your team the greatest chance for success means having a clear picture of what success means for your team to begin with. While this may seem like a rather simple principle, finding the time and energy to set goals in a collaborative setting can be a daunting proposition for nonprofit leaders given the mountain of tasks that greets you every day.

Aurora consultants can work with you to design and facilitate a purpose-driven, meaningful strategic planning process that holds space for critical conversations and diverse perspectives and creates clear, concise goals and intended outcomes for your work.

Our inclusive strategic processes can help you with:

  • Strategic Planning
  • Implementation Planning
  • Mission, Vision, and Values
  • Exploring a New Potential Strategic Partnership
  • Decisional Thinking

Bringing your team together in a meaningful way to call upon their collective imagination, distill ideas and align for action not only drives progress, but also creates a sense of purpose and clear expectations for your nonprofit’s most invaluable asset: its people.

LEADERSHIP & CULTURE CHANGE

For nonprofit leaders, knowing where to start with culture change can feel like trying to thread a needle in the dark. You may know that something is not quite right or believe that a particular goal should feel easier to reach, yet you can’t find the precise cause of the problem.

Put simply, relationships within your organization can either create or limit your mission potential. Your organization’s collection of values, expectations and practices creates your personality—and affects everything from satisfaction to performance to the impact of your work on the ground.

Using a developmental framework, we identify the right next step with and for your group and begin the process of change together.

Our work with leaders and culture can help you:

  • Unpack limiting beliefs and biases
  • Create positive practices that value diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Communicate and collaborate more clearly and effectively
  • Utilize conflict as an opportunity for self-awareness and growth
  • Nurture board and staff teams that are adaptable and resilient.

Ultimately, an investment in your nonprofit’s culture can build a stronger foundation of trust and an environment where your team feels a sense of safety, purpose, connection, and belonging.