We all know continued growth is an essential part of fulfilling our not-for-profit mission, particularly as the number of potential residents explodes over the next decade. But so many of us get stuck when it comes to growth. Why is that? What makes the difference between a growth strategy that works and one that \u2026 doesn\u2019t? Where do you even start and what practical steps can our organizations take to scale effectively and sustainably?<\/p>\n
Over a 12-month period, Lutheran Senior Services<\/a> has grown by 33%. For that to happen, there was a lot of critical, internal work. Start your journey a couple of steps ahead by gleaning some of the things we learned in our senior living growth strategy.<\/p>\n When our board was discussing the future of our organization, we talked extensively about what kind of growth we wanted to pursue.\u00a0 We knew we were good at some things and not as experienced in others, so we had robust conversations about our boundary lines and our objectives. What are we trying to achieve through growth? We realized that Lutheran Senior Services\u2019 biggest strengths were a combination of affordable housing and Life Plan Communities that served each end of the economic spectrum. But we knew we didn\u2019t have a good handle on how to fill the gap in between\u2014the middle market.<\/p>\n After robust conversations, we concluded that a residential middle-market initiative wouldn\u2019t play to our strengths, so we decided to focus on our Home & Community Based Services (HCBS) that would allow us to meet the needs of a more diverse population. This wasn\u2019t a gut-made decision. Our strategic plan and goals had to be supported from available data. We have also committed to getting good at understanding how new business can intersect or be supported with our existing service lines. It means we don\u2019t have to start from scratch and can leverage current tools and support already available for quicker deployment and growth.<\/p>\n As part of our focus on alternatives to the bricks and mortar solution for the middle market, we acquired a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) this past February. Over a period of nine months, we invested time and resources into fixing staffing issues and overhauling our marketing approach.<\/p>\n With Affordable Housing communities as well as Life Plan Communities in the surrounding area, we knew that we could build some quick momentum through these channels. Our HCBS current offerings and team members were also able to connect existing referral sources and relationships to further promote and cross-sell PACE. As a result, the program has seen significant growth\u2014in fact, participation has expanded from the low forties to 83 in less than a year. What\u2019s more, data projections suggest participation may top 300 in just a few years.<\/p>\n When we weighed the acquisition of this PACE program, we knew we would lose up to two million dollars during the first year or two. But a thorough analysis of the data revealed that once we reach a critical participation mass, it will drive millions of dollars of margin every year thereafter\u2014becoming a real boon to our HCBS offerings.<\/p>\n At the same time, for all these new initiatives, we also know we must make sure we are staying competitive in our existing markets and keeping up with demographic growth. That\u2019s why we\u2019re kicking off full scale master planning for all our Life Plan Communities in 2025.<\/p>\n Master planning at LSS started with compilation and analysis of all our historic data to indicate how our residents are moving through the continuum and identify patterns of care needs. This data showed that our Care Centers were too large and Assisted Living and Independent Living could further grow. Changing the physical spaces of our buildings will take time, but getting the unit mix right for the future means we will face fewer swings in occupancy in the coming years that directly impact the bottom line. We will also have a long-term vision for amenities and spaces throughout our organization to better plan for upcoming capital needs.<\/p>\n Implementing growth strategies is only the beginning. It\u2019s critical to maintain board alignment throughout the growth process. That\u2019s why we developed a unique tool for assessing growth opportunities: a \u201cgrowth scorecard.\u201d It uses a color-coded system to evaluate growth initiatives based on how they\u2019re aligning with our organization\u2019s mission, geography, capabilities and finances.<\/p>\n By regularly evaluating these key analytics-driven matrices, our organization can compare the anticipated results of growth initiatives to what actually occurred. Not only does that build momentum for additional growth, but also bolsters trust between our leadership and board\u2014something all nonprofits need when facing the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n Together, we look forward to the future knowing that we\u2019re all working towards the same milestones and goals, all of which underscore our desire to provide exceptional places, services, and opportunities for people to age well with purpose and fulfillment.<\/p>\n As the calendar turns to 2025, a data-based plan for growth will help your Life Plan Community navigate the trials and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. For a deeper dive, view the December growth strategies webinar<\/a> and panel discussion hosted by Love & Company.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to start a conversation about driving growth in a changing market, contact Tim at 410-207-0013 <\/strong><\/a>or tbracken@loveandcompany.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn how Lutheran Senior Services achieved 33% growth. Discover strategic planning, long-term vision, and data-driven success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Nonprofit Growth Strategy: A Case Study","_seopress_titles_desc":"Learn how Lutheran Senior Services achieved 33% growth. Discover strategic planning, long-term vision, and data-driven success.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-contributors","category-industry-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.loveandcompany.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Develop a Strategic Plan with Your Board<\/h2>\n
Gain a Long-term Perspective<\/h2>\n
Measure Success Successfully<\/h2>\n
Explore Other Actionable Insights on\u00a0<\/strong>Senior Living Growth Strategies<\/h2>\n