Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley

5 Year Strategic Plan 2011 - 2015

Executive Summary

Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley, with the board's full support, embarked on a strategic direction in 2008 to upgrade our status as a Neighborhood Builder. To achieve this level of building capacity and growth requires that Habitat build 10-20 homes annually, in accordance with the Habitat International Capacity Building Model. Over the last few years, we raised several million dollars, constructed two blocks of new roads and infrastructure for the James and Aaron Street subdivision in South Bethlehem and completed 15 homes, including two rehabs in Allentown. In order to continue building at this level requires that we actively engage our volunteers/donors on a personal level. Our objective is to complete and dedicate up to 16 houses annually over the next 5 years, producing a total of 74 new Lehigh Valley homes for children and families in need.

The 5-year plan outlines the strategic direction necessary to accomplish this goal, and identifies the specific initiatives the Board of Directors, committees, and staff must execute to build the 74 homes outlined in the plan. Additionally, the plan provides the ability for Habitat to: complete the Bethlehem infrastructure work; implement a training program to enhance volunteer performance; finalize subdivision approvals for a block of homes in Allentown and Easton; and increase the number of new volunteers serving on committees and the Board. This plan is ambitious, but we are confident our team is up to the challenge and will rise to meet the challenges ahead. Importantly, in light of the difficult economic times we currently face, the families and children we serve have an even greater need now and this plan provides a means for serving this increased need.

Our Goals

Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley Corporation has two primary goals that form the foundation of planning for all of the teams:

1. Build 12 affordable Habitat homes in 2011, with six being in Allentown and six being in Bethlehem, and 74 homes over 5 years.


2. Raise sufficient funds to build 74 homes in the next 5 years (12 homes in 2011; 14 in 2012; 16 per year thereafter) and acquire 55 additional building lots/units over the next 5 years to sustain this annual building level in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.
   
   

Our Strategy for Achievement

The overall strategy utilized is to draw the local community together in a large scale collaborative effort to raise local funds, form teams of community volunteers to build homes for disadvantaged children and families in need.

Sound fiscal management practices combined performance-based leadership and creative empowerment are utilized to successful manage achievement of mission-based goals and objectives. Under the direction of the CEO and the Executive Board, with guidance from goals and objectives outlined in the 5-year Strategic Plan and 1-year Operational Plan, the organization maximizes the use of volunteers, leveraging their resources and talents to deliver excellence in the performance of the local Habitat mission. High performance of the Habitat mission draws additional people and resources into the organization, which in turn increases our capacity to achieve our goals.

In order to enhance stability and incrementally increase capacity to serve we strive for continuous process improvement in our strategy implementations and daily operations across the organization, adhering to the basic Peter Drucker theory of “How do we do what we are already doing better?”
Additionally, we manage our business by the following guidelines:

1. Fully fund homes built each year.
2. Expand partnerships and community collaborations.
3. Strive to brand Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley.
4. Cultivate relationships with Habitat families, volunteers, and donors.

Our Capacity for Achievement

Habitat Lehigh Valley has an established Executive Board and Organizational Development Team consisting of members with executive business experience and education. The CEO holds a doctorate degree in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University Sarasota, attended post-doctorate Executive Education at Harvard Business School, and Project Management training at Lehigh University. Together with the various teams, they help establish measurable goals and objectives for the plan, identifying specific sources and uses of funds; and strengths, weaknesses, impediments and opportunities.  Habitat has a small professional staff, approximately 150 core volunteers, and provides up to 5,000 volunteer opportunities annually.

With the input of the various teams, staff, and the Board of Directors, we periodically make any necessary changes to our plan due to unforeseen gaps in organizational capacity or a lack of funding created by a continued economic downturn.

We strive to maintain our position as one of the highest performing Habitat affiliates in the Northeast and a nationally ranked nonprofit for sound fiscal management.
We currently own more than 40 properties and building lots, setting a solid base for several years of construction. We work in partnership with local governments to leverage funding for acquisition and infrastructure. Then form partnerships with community and faith based groups as well as local corporations to sponsor and build the homes. We have several homes currently under construction this year. Our family selection and mentoring teams are continuously identifying and working with qualified applicant families. We continuously work towards improving our processes and increasing the incoming revenues sponsorships and partnerships, to build more homes, to meet the growing needs of hardworking families who are trying to provide safe, decent and affordable homes for the children.

How We Measure

The 2011 Strategic Plan continues to incorporate Performance Metrics. We successfully tested this concept for the last two years and will now expand them broadly throughout our local Habitat system. Performance goals and outcomes will be monitored and evaluated semi-annually by the CEO, Executive Team and Board of Directors. We incorporate Project Management techniques into our daily operations and continue to work towards an automated, system-wide, balanced scorecard approach.

Progress to Date