ADRP Strategic Plan 2020 - 2025

ADRP’s Timeless Core Ideology

ADRP's Core Ideology describes an organization’s consistent identity that transcends all changes related to its relevant environment. Core ideology consists of two elements: Core Purpose – the organization’s reason for being and Core Organizational Values – essential and enduring principles that guide the behavior of an organization.

Core Purpose: Elevating donor relations and stewardship to advance responsible philanthropy.

Core Organizational Values:

  • Visionary leadership
  • Absolute integrity
  • Member empowerment and connection
  • Service and program excellence
  • Diversity, inclusion, and equity in all endeavors

Seven Ends:

  1. Members advance within the profession (donor relations and philanthropy)
  2. Members are leaders in the profession
  3. Members have affordable, high-volume, high-quality content, and intelligent educational resources to sustain donor relationship programs, including in-person (national and regional) and online programming
  4. Members have opportunities to partner and network with industry professionals and peers
  5. Members learn effective practices for work being done in the field
  6. Members have experiences at ADRP that model how donors should be treated
  7. Members are knowledgeable and able to communicate the value of donor relations and stewardship

ADRP’s Long-term Envisioned Future (10+ Years)

The envisioned future conveys a concrete, yet unrealized, vision for the organization. It consists of a big (hairy) audacious goal (BHAG) – a clear and compelling catalyst that serves as a focal point for effort and a vivid description which is a vibrant and engaging description of what it will be like to achieve the BHAG.

BHAG (Vision): ADRP is universally recognized as the authority on donor engagement for the philanthropy profession.

Vivid Description of a Desired Future:

Donor relations and stewardship are recognized as essential components of every fundraising initiative. The professionals who are responsible for donor relations and stewardship are integral to the fundraising team and are sought after for their expertise and contribution.

ADRP is the influential voice and top-rated authority for donor relations and stewardship and is recognized for its leadership and expertise within the philanthropy profession and as an advocate for responsible philanthropy.

The association is resourced appropriately and represents the diversity and breadth of organizations with fundraising components. Donor relations and stewardship professionals regard membership in the association as essential to career growth and success. The association is easily accessible globally, facilitates sharing of effective practices, offers a variety of career development opportunities and is known as the trusted source for relevant content for all phases and levels of the profession. ADRP’s offerings are viewed as the “must attend” events for donor relations and stewardship professionals. The association’s certification program is highly valued and has assisted in defining the profession of donor relations and stewardship. The ADRP is responsible for elevating the value of donor relations and stewardship professionals and has become the authority for philanthropic success.

ADRP’s Five-Year Goals and Objectives

Goals represent outcome-oriented statements intended to guide and measure the organization’s future success. The achievement of each goal will move the organization toward the realization of its “Envisioned Future.” Supporting objectives further clarify direction and describe what the organization wants to have happen. In other words, a descriptive statement of what constitutes success in measurable terms.

Key Strategic Outcomes by 2025

  • Sustain or Exceed the percentage of international members at 20%
  • The retention rate of memberships to be at or above the ADRP 5-year moving average
  • Grow total revenue by 5% year over year
  • Increase the percentage of non-higher education memberships by 5%
  • Increase overall membership by 15% by 2025
  • Diversify revenue mix to a 40% conference revenue by 2025
  • Host an International conference by 2025

1. Strategic Focus: Education

Goal: ADRP members and the profession benefit from coordinated, high-quality, and targeted educational and professional development offerings.

  • Objective 1.1 Develop professional development content and identify content relevant to member needs
  • Objective 1.2 Refresh Educational Experience at the International Conference, which could include both in-person and virtual engagement and offerings.
  • Objective 1.3 Create a sustainable regional strategy and model for professional development
  • Objective 1.4 Diversify virtual content delivery to reach more members
  • Objective 1.5 Expand, enhance and/or develop content development initiatives to assure alignment with member needs
  • Objective 1.6 Establish and promote the ADRP research agenda

2. Strategic Focus: Membership

Goal: A strong ADRP membership through the attraction and retention of a diverse spectrum of donor relations professionals and partners around the world.

  • Objective 2.1 Increase the overall number of ADRP members through new member recruitment and retention initiatives
  • Objective 2.2 Increase the number of international members
  • Objective 2.3 Improve diverse representation among ADRP membership

3. Strategic Focus: Revenue

Goal: Net revenue growth annually while creating a sustainable model of diverse revenue streams.

  • Objective 3.1 Increase and diversify revenue streams
  • Objective 3.2 Develop and implement a process for revenue generation for all ADRP initiatives
  • Objective 3.3 Review and update pricing structure for all revenue-generating opportunities

4. Strategic Focus: Marketing and Communications

Goal: A broad, positive awareness of ADRP and its programs and services to the membership and establish ADRP as the authority on the profession of donor relations globally.

  • Objective 4.1 ADRP members are aware of ADRP activities and resources and/or know where to find them (communication)
  • Objective 4.2 Elevate and strengthen ADRP’s brand and visibility across philanthropy (emphasize our brand, reputation, and stature)
  • Objective 4.3 Attract and retain new members (marketing)
  • Objective 4.4 Evaluate the effectiveness

5. Strategic Focus: Organizational Structure and Sustainability

Goal: An organizational structure to fulfill the mission through a blend of sound management, strong governance, and a focus on assessing and achieving results.

  • Objective 5.1 Develop a formalized structure for volunteer roles and engagement
  • Objective 5.2 Assess and analyze the current ADRP management contract with SBI
  • Objective 5.3 Review and assess current ADRP by-laws and policies