NONPROFIT · CONSERVATION · CULTURAL INSTITUTION · STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATION
When Where You Are Is Who You Are
When a hidden geographic asset becomes the strategic foundation for everything that follows
Is this your situation?
This engagement may resonate if your organization is experiencing any of the following:
Your organization is stable and credentialed but undifferentiated. You blend into a crowded field rather than standing apart from it
Your board and staff know something important about who you are, but it has never been translated into a strategic identity or a case for support
You are looking for the organizing theme that connects your mission, your programming, your location, and your community into one coherent story
You want to deepen community engagement and donor investment, but your current positioning doesn’t give people a compelling reason to choose you
The Strategic Dilemma
Credentialed, stable, and invisible, in plain sight of something extraordinary
A historically significant aviary, more than 60 years old and AZA-accredited, and recently stabilized after a period of serious mismanagement, was building its first strategic plan. The organization had earned the right to look forward. But as the planning process began, a fundamental question emerged: what would distinguish this aviary from any other cultural institution competing for community attention, donor investment, and civic relevance?
The answer was hiding in plain sight. The aviary site sat directly on one of the most ecologically significant migratory flyways in the Western Hemisphere, a pathway used by hundreds of species across thousands of miles. The aviary’s collection, its location, and its conservation mission were not just locally relevant. They were part of a global natural story that very few institutions were positioned to tell.
But the aviary had never framed itself that way. Its community saw it as a place to take young children on a nice day out. Its donors supported a beloved local institution because they remembered visiting as a child and now bringing their children and grandchildren there. Its staff cared deeply for the birds in their collection without connecting that care to the broader ecological narrative their work embodied. The strategic question was not whether this story existed, and it did. The question was whether the aviary had the clarity, the confidence, and the plan to claim it.
The engagement and our approach
A cross-sector insight that changed the strategic frame
The insight that unlocked this strategy did not originate inside the aviary. It came from parallel work Focused Momentum recently conducted with a global land conservation organization that had just completed a landmark strategic shift of its own.
THE CROSS-SECTOR CONTEXT
A global land conservation organization had moved from an opportunity-driven acquisition model, courting landowners willing to conserve or sell, to a science-based, geography-first conservation strategy. Their new approach prioritized acquisition based on ecological and wildlife needs, breaking down traditional boundaries of state, region, and country to protect the landscapes that matter most. Focused Momentum was engaged to work with state-level teams implementing this new strategic direction.
One of those state implementations was in the aviary’s region. When Focused Momentum’s founder met with the aviary’s new Executive Director, the connection was immediate. The aviary’s location on the Western Hemisphere’s most important migratory flyway was not incidental to its mission; it was the geographic and ecological context that gave the mission its full meaning.
Surfacing the insight with the planning team
Many of the aviary’s board members and major donors were experienced birders who knew the flyway story well. Staff members who cared for the collection understood the ecological significance of the species in their care. The insight was not new to them, but it had never been organized into a strategic framework. The planning process created that framework.
Building the unifying theme
During the Strategy Creation phase, the Great Flyway became the organizing theme for the entire strategic plan. It connected the live collection to global conservation, the aviary’s location to planetary ecology, and the visitor experience to something far larger than a local attraction. This was not a marketing slogan; it was a strategic identity that could guide every major decision the organization would make over the next decade.
Translating theme into strategy across every function
The Great Flyway framework was applied systematically: exhibit planning was redesigned to use the collection to tell the flyway story; educational programs were updated to incorporate the migration narrative; new partnerships were formed with conservation organizations working along the flyway; the fundraising case for support was rebuilt around the aviary’s unique role in a hemisphere-wide conservation story; and a conservation science department was established to conduct and publish original research connected to the flyway.
Making the case for capital investment
With a differentiated strategic identity and a compelling conservation narrative, the aviary was positioned to make a credible case for public investment. A $3.3 million bond measure was placed on the ballot and won. The funds supported the renovation of a historic building into a new education and event pavilion.
The Result
A local institution becomes a regional conservation leader
The strategic differentiation produced by the Great Flyway framework transformed not just the aviary’s positioning but its organizational trajectory. Within the 10-year strategic plan period:
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
Public exhibit space evolved over four years to use the live collection to tell the story of the Great Flyway, significantly updating and differentiating the visitor experience
EDUCATION
Programs redesigned to incorporate the migration story within the first year of the plan, giving educators a compelling new framework to engage students
CONSERVATION SCIENCE
A conservation science department was launched to fund and conduct original research connected to the flyway and the institution’s collection
PARTNERSHIPS
Reciprocating relationships formed with other AZA institutions, creating a network of conservation credibility that extended the aviary’s influence and reach
FUNDRAISING
Contributions grew from less than 20% of annual revenue to 80%, a direct result of a more compelling case for support built on strategic identity
LONG-TERM GROWTH
Sustained revenue and contribution growth for 25+ years since the first strategic plan, with regional nature centers and a new facility now approved and fundedThe insight that unlocked the strategy didn’t come from inside the organization. It came from seeing the organization’s assets through the lens of a broader conservation movement, recognizing that where they were was, in fact, the most important thing about who they were.
What this means for you
The strategic principle behind this result
The most powerful strategic differentiators are often already present in an organization; they simply haven’t been named, organized, and claimed. A location, a collection, a history, a community relationship, a technical capability, or a network position can all serve as the foundation for a strategic identity that no competitor can replicate.
The work of strategy is not always inventing something new. Often it is seeing what already exists with fresh eyes, then building a coherent direction from what was always there. That kind of insight is rarely generated from inside an organization. It requires an external perspective that can connect what you have to what the world needs, and name the story you are uniquely positioned to tell.
If your organization is stable but undifferentiated, or if you know you are doing important work but struggle to explain why you specifically are the right organization to be doing it, the strategic planning process can surface the answer. And when it does, everything else becomes clearer: what to build, what to stop, who to partner with, and why your community should invest in your future.
Recognize your situation in this story?
Let's talk about what a strategic planning engagement with Focused Momentum would look like for your organization.