Discovery Phase

Written By Grace Andruszkiewicz

No matter how long you have been doing this work, the discovery phase always leads to the greatest learnings. I like to think about this in 4 stages:

STAGE 1

Ask your community. During this phase, conduct focus groups, surveys and/or individual interviews with your stakeholders. You have a mission that should be transformative. Is it? You’ll find out here because you are only succeeding if others can tell the difference. Look for patterns in responses. Those patterns are important, but don’t miss out on the one-offs. Sometimes you are only hearing something once because it takes bravery to say it. Don’t ignore those comments. You’ll want to make sure you are talking to the following groups:

  • Your Staff

  • Your Board 

  • Those that you serve (clients, participants, etc.)

  • Your funders

  • People who don’t know you at all, but you wish they did 

  • Similar organizations

  • At least 1-2 people who fall into each of the stakeholder categories you listed.

STAGE 2

Skip the SWOT and SOAR instead. For years, we have been conducting SWOT analysis that tell us our Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Instead of focusing on weaknesses and threats, a SOAR analysis aligns really well with nonprofits because it’s positive, participatory, and future-focused. It will tell you your:

  • Strengths: What are we doing well?

  • Opportunities: What opportunities can we build on?

  • Aspirations: What do we aspire to become?

  • Results: What measurable results define success?

STAGE 3

Evaluate the landscape. I like to think of this in two ways: 

  • First, who is doing similar work well. What makes them seem successful? What can you replicate? 

  • Then, who is not doing this well? What is holding them back? What pitfalls have they exemplified that you will want to avoid?

Often, this will give you the same information that your Weaknesses and Threats side of a SWOT analysis will, but you will see real-time results rather than just linger in the what-ifs.


STAGE 4

Know your landscape. Nonprofits often operate within complex systems—this helps you think beyond your organization and into policy, culture, and structural change. A PESTLE analysis tells you what external trends are shaping your work and what systemic barriers or opportunities are emerging. PESTLE stands for:

  • Political

  • Economic

  • Social

  • Technological

  • Legal

  • Environmental

Grace Andruszkiewicz
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Conducting Your Organizational Assessment