06/03/2024
THE CHALLENGE
Black Tie Dinner is the largest fundraising dinner for the LGBTQ community in the nation. In addition to their national beneficiary, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Black Tie Dinner selects up to 20 North Texas beneficiaries each year to receive funding. To date, Black Tie Dinner has distributed over $30 million.
To support their desire to grow, Black Tie Dinner needed to thoughtfully organize, prioritize, and execute transformational projects. They decided to partner with Sendero to develop a five-year strategic plan to effectively scale and continue to make a substantial impact in the community.
Sendero was an invaluable strategic partner. In the nonprofit space, it's easy to focus on the day-to-day tasks without taking a step back to plan for the future of the organization. Through this partnership, we were able to take that step back and make a tangible plan that will only strengthen Black Tie Dinner's impact moving forward.
Dustin Vyers, President and Co-Chair, Black Tie Dinner
Our Approach
The Sendero team began the project with a discovery phase that would inform the strategic plan. This phase included stakeholder interviews to better understand the organization’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities. Working from this information, the Sendero team collaborated with Black Tie Dinner stakeholders to develop a five-year plan to achieve the organization’s growth and impact goals.
One significant consideration of the strategic plan was the organization’s board governance structure, which is comprised of volunteers who commit to two-year terms of service. For this reason, the Sendero team emphasized the need for ample documentation, realistic resource planning, and transparent communication so the five-year plan could be executed in full.
The final five-year plan included more than 20 recommendations for specific initiatives, including a robust digital transformation strategy. Sendero worked with Black Tie Dinner to implement three of the phase one initiatives:
Clarifying Board Expectations
- Facilitated information gathering sessions and defined time commitments and objectives for each role
- Developed role descriptions for all board positions, including event chairs, committee members, and advisors
- Documented existing processes and procedures
- Created a formal knowledge transfer process and associated materials
Optimizing the Board Selection Process
- Completed a current-state assessment of the board makeup
- Developed a future-state structure to increase networking opportunities with candidates, enhance transparency of the selection process, and ensure diversity of membership and leadership
- Strengthened the talent pipeline by developing a recruitment campaign to identify North Texas professionals with applicable skills for board service
Identifying Additional Avenues for Sponsorship
- Researched options to expand the event, as Black Tie Dinner is currently hosted in the largest ballroom venue in the DFW area
- Recommended supplemental fundraising initiatives that could scale outside of the physical event space restrictions
- Created a monthly giving plan called Steps for Progress
