Jun 27 / Staff

Scaling for National Impact in Youth Mentoring

Designing a five-year strategy to align, innovate, and inspire a movement.

Client Context

A century-old national nonprofit dedicated to youth mentoring faced a pivotal question: How could it grow its reach and relevance in a rapidly changing world, while aligning nearly 300 autonomous affiliates behind a shared vision?

The organization—recognized as the largest and longest-running youth mentoring entity in the United States—saw the opportunity and responsibility to evolve. Advances in technology, shifting demographics, increased competition for volunteer time, and growing public demand for more equitable and measurable outcomes were reshaping the expectations for mission-driven organizations. It became clear that the organization’s next era of impact would require strategy, structure, and storytelling at a new level of integration and ambition.

The Challenge

The organization sought a strategic plan that would do more than chart a course—it needed to mobilize a distributed network, respond to shifting social dynamics, and position the brand for long-term relevance and sustainability.

Key strategic questions included:
  • How can we unify a vast affiliate network while honoring local autonomy?
  • What innovations are needed to strengthen quality, equity, and scalability?
  • How do we better engage our core stakeholders—volunteers, donors, and partners—especially men of color?
  • What leadership and infrastructure investments are required to support transformation?

The plan needed to span internal alignment, external communications, technology modernization, and cultural renewal—without sacrificing clarity or momentum.

The Symphonic Approach

Symphonic Strategies was selected to lead the design and facilitation of a national strategic planning initiative, later branded as the “Bigger Impact 2022” plan. Our approach blended systems thinking with networked engagement, ensuring the voices of affiliates, staff, and stakeholders shaped both the content and commitment behind the strategy.

The process unfolded through five integrated components:

1. Strategic Situation Assessment
We conducted a broad environmental scan, organizational review, and SWOT analysis to identify the opportunities and constraints facing the movement. This included landscape trends in youth development, mentoring innovations, funding models, and affiliate operations.

2. Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement
Across regional meetings, interviews, surveys, and a national conference, we engaged affiliate CEOs, national board members, and external partners. This multi-layered input created shared language, surfaced priorities, and deepened buy-in.

3. Scenario Planning and Strategic Options
We developed multiple strategic paths—each illustrating trade-offs and possibilities. These scenarios helped leadership test ideas around innovation, equity, technology, branding, and operational coherence.

4. Plan Development and Performance Design
With feedback in hand, we facilitated the development of a refined strategic framework with measurable goals, implementation timelines, and operational implications. We helped define key performance indicators to monitor growth, retention, and affiliate strength.

5. National Rollout and Communication Strategy
To sustain momentum, we supported the development of communication tools, leadership briefing materials, and branded collateral to bring the strategy to life across the entire network.

The Impact

The Bigger Impact 2022 strategic plan created a clear and actionable roadmap for transformation.

Key achievements included:
Technological Innovation
The organization launched a new national CRM system, improving match tracking, child safety, and affiliate-level data sharing.

Volunteer and Donor Engagement
A national campaign was launched to increase mentor recruitment—particularly among men of color—and to grow unrestricted donor contributions.

Leadership Development
A new Leadership Institute was established to train affiliate executives and strengthen leadership succession, equity practices, and organizational cohesion.

Service Expansion
The plan set—and began to meet—ambitious goals for increasing youth served, improving match retention, and supporting financial health across affiliates.

Most importantly, the strategy reinvigorated the organization’s identity as a trusted, modern, and equity-driven national movement, positioned to support the next generation of children and communities.

Reflections

This case demonstrates that strategic planning at scale is both technical and relational. Symphonic’s process helped this mentoring leader make sense of its complexity, translate ambition into architecture, and center equity and innovation in the same conversation.

Since the adoption of the plan, the organization has sustained its focus on impact, regularly updating progress, convening leadership cohorts, and adapting the framework to new realities—including the COVID-19 era and renewed calls for racial justice in youth-serving institutions.

Feedback

“We knew we needed a bold plan. Symphonic helped us see what was possible and helped bring everyone to the table to shape it.”
— Chief Strategy Officer (anonymous)