Background
DRG Talent is offering a pro bono strategic planning engagement to support a mission-driven nonprofit organization navigating growth, transition, or change. Many organizations are operating amid uncertainty and increased demands, making this a critical moment to step back, assess what is shifting, and make thoughtful decisions about the future.
For decades, our firm has partnered with purpose-driven organizations through their most significant transitions to strengthen strategy and organizational effectiveness. Through this initiative, we aim to support an organization seeking facilitated alignment, strategic clarity, and practical tools to guide decision-making.
We welcome applications from nonprofit organizations across issue areas that are ready to engage in a collaborative strategy process over the course of 3 months.
Purpose and Scope
The strategic planning engagement will be conducted on an accelerated timeline and will be completed within three months. During this “strategy sprint” DRG will support the selected organization to:
- Align staff and board leadership around shared understanding and priorities
- Assess organizational context, including external trends and internal strengths
- Clarify organizational mission, vision, and business model
- Develop or refine a strategic framework to guide decisions
- Identify and assess strategic priorities
The work will include process design, targeted pre-work, facilitation of a one-day, in-person retreat, and post-retreat synthesis. The goal is not a lengthy plan, but clarity, focus, and momentum.
Eligibility
Applicant organizations must be nonprofits headquartered in the United States, prepared to engage staff and board leadership meaningfully in the process.
Organizations are not eligible if they are current or recent clients of DRG or are seeking support primarily related to executive search or recruitment.
What We’re Looking For
We are especially interested in organizations that are navigating strategic change, value facilitated dialogue, and are seeking alignment rather than prescriptive solutions.
Application Requirements
Interested organizations should submit the following information via a brief form:
- Organizational overview and mission
- Description of current context and why a strategic planning sprint is timely
- Key questions or challenges the organization hopes to address
- Expected participants (e.g., staff leadership, board members)
- Availability of expected participants to participate in person for a one-day strategy retreat on specific dates and confirmation of time commitment (Dates offered are April 28, 29, or 30, and May 5, 6, 7, 8,12,13,14, and 15).
- City where retreat will take place (organizations are responsible for securing the room and paying for food/refreshments during the retreat).
Applications should be concise; completeness and clarity matter more than length.
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and evaluated based on:
- Alignment with the goals and intent of the pro bono program
- Readiness for a strategy engagement
- Potential impact of the work
- Overall fit with DRG Talent’s expertise and approach
Final selection is subject to internal review and approval.
Timeline
Application Deadline: February 27, 2026
Selected Organization Notified: March 2026
Engagement Start: Spring 2026
How to Apply
Please submit an application using the link below and complete all questions. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 27, 2026. We will review organizations on a rolling basis.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please reach out to our team leading this project at probono2026@drgtalent.com
Heather Gowdy
Senior Partner
hgowdy@drgtalent.com
Michelle Tafel
Principal & Managing Director, Organizational Consulting
mtafel@drgtalent.com
Emmanuel Fortune
Senior Talent Consultant
efortune@drgtalent.com
Alessa Lacarta
Senior Manager, Marketing
alacarta@drgtalent.com
