The Mapt Transformation Challenge is a competitive grant opportunity for Indiana’s nonprofit community designed to help them reimagine their futures and amplify their impact. In starting Mapt, we wanted to help make critical planning services more accessible to nonprofits - especially those who are just getting started, small or navigating difficult periods of change. Offering the Transformation Challenge is just one example of how we’re putting that vision into action.

Mapt Solutions isn’t your typical strategic planning firm. We help you see things in new ways, challenge you to confront root issues and encourage you toward new potential. We work to help you realize new dreams because what you do really matters. Along the way, we’ll become trusted partners and an extension of your team.

“That all sounds wonderful,” you’re probably thinking. “Sign me up!” But how do you know if your organization is a strong candidate for transformational work?

It happens all the time. You embark on a strategic planning process, building synergy and direction for what's ahead. Then, the feeling of accomplishment you have once the plan is finalized turns to... well, nothing. The next thing you know, it’s six months or a year down the road and no progress has been made.

Those who work inside an organization — especially its leaders — often admit to feeling as if they're so immersed in the organization and the daily tasks at hand, that they struggle to innovate or see problems before they arise. Having an unbiased third party to provide outside perspective can be a pivotal moment for a leader and an organization.

When you hear the words strategic planning, do you envision a bunch of executives or consultants sitting in a room and whiteboarding a new plan? One that lists all the goals the organization or business hopes to achieve over the next 1-3 years, that will likely, after being presented to the staff and board, sit on a shelf until it’s time to see how the organization measured up?

Strategic planning consultants have a bad rap for spending a lot of client time (and money) bringing themselves up to speed on their client's business model and work. So when we tell a client our first phase of work is a Discovery Phase, we typically hear that they either don't need it or want us to skip it and get straight to planning. And that’s where strategic planning goes awry.