Strategic Options Labs

Big organizational challenges require the right strategic move

What’s putting the most strain on your nonprofit right now?

Whether you’re navigating partnership opportunities, sustainability concerns, or operational complexity, the strongest next step starts with understanding what actually needs to change.

GCN’s Strategic Options Labs help nonprofit leadership teams work through major organizational questions with consultant-led guidance, peer learning, and a clear path forward.

All Lab series start up August 5 and November 4. Scroll down for links to registration.

Find the right lab

Different challenges require different strategies

Your nonprofit does not need to do more. Rather, it needs to make the right strategic move – enacting the organizational change that opens up capacity and propels your mission forward.

So what change does your organization need? Match your top challenge to the Strategic Option Lab designed to solve it. (Need help making the match? Just reach out.)

If your nonprofit is asking:
• Should we partner, merge, or share services?
• Could strategic collaboration strengthen our impact?
• What’s the right level of partnership for our future?
Best for organizations exploring: partnerships, alliances, shared services, coordinated programming, or merger opportunities.
What you’ll gain: A structured process to evaluate options, navigate governance and feasibility questions, and build a practical roadmap for collaborating with confidence, clarity, and purpose.
Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4
If your nonprofit is asking:
• Is our current model still sustainable?
• Do we need to rethink programs, funding, or structure?
• How do we adapt without losing mission focus?

Best for organizations experiencing: growth strain, funding pressure, sustainability concerns, or misalignment among mission, staffing, and operations.
What you’ll gain: A practical framework for redesigning your operating model; aligning your programs, staffing, and financial structure; and establishing greater strength and sustainability.
Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4
If your nonprofit is asking:
• Have we outgrown our structure?
• Are unclear roles or systems creating bottlenecks?
• How do we improve execution without changing our mission?

Best for organizations experiencing: role confusion, inefficiency, operational drag, or growing organizational complexity.
What you’ll gain: A strategic reorganization roadmap that clarifies decision-making, right-sizes organizational structure, and strengthens systems for more effective execution.
Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4

Collaborate Lab

If your nonprofit is asking:
• Should we partner, merge, or share services?
• Could strategic collaboration strengthen our impact?
• What’s the right level of partnership for our future?

Best for organizations exploring: partnerships, alliances, shared services, coordinated programming, or merger opportunities.

What you’ll gain: A structured process to evaluate options, navigate governance and feasibility questions, and build a practical roadmap for collaborating with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4

Reinvent Lab

If your nonprofit is asking:
• Is our current model still sustainable?
• Do we need to rethink programs, funding, or structure?
• How do we adapt without losing mission focus?

Best for organizations experiencing: growth strain, funding pressure, sustainability concerns, or misalignment among mission, staffing, and operations.

What you’ll gain: A practical framework for redesigning your operating model; aligning your programs, staffing, and financial structure; and establishing greater strength and sustainability.

Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4

Reorganize Lab

If your nonprofit is asking:
• Have we outgrown our structure?
• Are unclear roles or systems creating bottlenecks?
• How do we improve execution without changing our mission?

Best for organizations experiencing: role confusion, inefficiency, operational drag, or growing organizational complexity.

What you’ll gain: A strategic reorganization roadmap that clarifies decision-making, right-sizes organizational structure, and strengthens systems for more effective execution.

Upcoming cohorts
Starting August 5 | Starting November 4

How Strategic Options Labs work

Strategic support for complex decisions

Each Strategic Options Lab includes four facilitated sessions designed to help nonprofit leaders work through major organizational challenges with structure, expert guidance, and peer learning.

Bring your executive team, senior staff, and board leaders into the conversation to build alignment and make more confident organizational decisions.

Choose the timing that works best for your team:
Starting August 5 and November 4, 2026. (Links to registration above.)

Considering a different kind of transition?

Also available: Exit Strategic options Lab

Some organizations are facing a different question: How do we responsibly transition, wind down, or steward mission impact by closing a program or the organization as a whole?

The Exit Strategic Options Lab supports nonprofit leaders navigating these organizational transitions thoughtfully, strategically, and with mission stewardship in mind.

Learn more about the Exit Strategic Options Lab, starting August 5.

Your nonprofit’s next step starts with the right diagnosis.

Partnership. Model. Structure.

Three different challenges. Three different labs. One goal: stronger, more sustainable mission impact.

Upcoming Strategic Options Labs begin August 5 and November 4.

Ready to take the next step?

▸ Find your lab and register now.

▸ Apply for a scholarship.

▸ Reach out for guidance.

Full scholarships are available for eligible Georgia nonprofits

Eligibility requirements:
▸ Georgia-based nonprofit organization
▸ 2+ full-time staff members
▸ Annual operating expenses of at least $100,000

Each scholarship covers your entire leadership team – including any board members you’d like to include.

Note: Scholarship opportunities are limited; eligibility does not guarantee scholarship approval.

Questions? Reach out to us at consulting@gcn.org.