Performance Planning

The ASPCA: Edwin Sayres, President and CEO

“INPEx has provided the ASPCA with a method, a structure, and a sounding board that helps us make better choices. Their process gives us a way to aim high and prioritize our goals according to greatest needs of our board, our management, our staff, and our clients. Our board and staff are enjoying a closer, more mutually supportive relationship.”

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), New York, NY, one of the top 250 nonprofits in the United States, has experienced a period of unparalleled growth and financial strengthening as a result of its determination to be guided by sound planning.

In 2003, then-incoming president Ed Sayres decided that one sure way of increasing the ASPCA’s ability to be mission driven and to achieve organizational cohesion was to launch a strategic planning process. He was convinced progress would come more rapidly on the heels of a sound plan, and based upon our broad experience in working at the highest levels of large organizations, both for profit and nonprofit, he invited INPEx to develop and facilitate that process. The early planning assignment quickly expanded to include executive coaching, board development, training and management by objective stewardship.

After starting work with INPEx, the ASPCA’s annual revenues grew from $41 million in 2003 to $105 million at year-end 2008. Direct private support grew from $35 million in 2003 to $94 million for 2008. President Sayres attributes this growth to a number of factors, including sharper organizational focus, a vibrant philanthropic giving environment, tighter cohesion among senior leadership, and a growing appetiteat the board level for fundraising.

Key percentage increases for the years 2003 through 2008: 

Every summer, the ASPCA’s senior management team convenes with INPEx to examine the previous year’s results. Through a series of planning retreats, which focus on input from nationwide staff, senior staff, and the board, the senior management team identifies the major goals for the coming year in each of the five main areas of the organization and then the process is cascaded down to the departmental level.