Strategic Plan
Throughout its history, Cathedral Kitchen has used food to draw people in and closer together, creating a sanctuary. At the same time, Cathedral Kitchen must do more, much more, to address the host of challenges that lead to people’s food insecurity.
Cathedral Kitchen set out in October 2019 to develop a multi-year strategic plan built on the input of many people. Staff, Meal Program volunteer captains, civic leaders and the Board directly shared their insights and dreams. The voices of meal guests, donors and volunteers were heard via comprehensive surveys.
The COVID-19 disruption in the midst of the strategic planning process became a unique opportunity. Cathedral Kitchen’s mission, vision, values and strategies were tested. They were invaluable in steering CK to decisions that led to triumphs as well as lessons learned. The pandemic vividly exposed to all that people living in or on the edge of poverty are in dire circumstances. It has confirmed that Cathedral Kitchen is an essential, steady and welcoming force amid uncertainty and inequities.
CK’s new vision – Success, Hope and Abundance for people in need in Camden – respects its more than four-decade legacy while setting high expectations for the future through the four goals of the strategic plan:
Food is at the core of Cathedral Kitchen’s mission and work. Yet, it’s not enough. Too many people in Camden are living with chronic homelessness, in poverty or at the edge of poverty. After its immediate response to hunger, CK feels compelled to go farther. Building on the trust it earns by serving meals and providing job training, CK will transform its services and resources to focus on helping people stabilize their lives. Meal guests and students will benefit from new and stronger nonprofit partnerships; and by increasing food-related industry relationships, CK will better support students in taking crucial, early steps to access career opportunities.
To help meet the nutritional needs of people who are food insecure
- Provide healthier, tasty meals at a sustainable cost
- Enhance the capacity to receive and store fresh food
- Deliver meals to people in need on site and through community partnerships
To lower barriers in the path toward stability
- Build case management capacity to help more people tackle the causes of food insecurity and navigate the complex social service system
- Ease the financial challenges of students during job training and/or upon graduation
- Strengthen the network of partners to connect meal guests, students and CK staff to affordable housing and other stabilizing resources
To facilitate access to more and better opportunities
- Expand supportive services and programming available to meal guests
- Increase industry relationships to increase student access to livable wages, health benefits and career-enhancing jobs
- Refine the job training and job readiness programs to meet student needs and respond to the industry landscape
- Mentoring of job training students, providing post-graduation coaching and connecting students to resources
The Board and staff jointly developed Cathedral Kitchen’s values: respect, solidarity, communication, teamwork and sustainability. They are built on pride in CK’s purpose and accomplishments and determination that CK will continue to serve at the highest level. Through these values, CK keeps people at the center of its work. As it becomes a trauma-informed organization, CK will better understand, acknowledge and support the wide variety of backgrounds and experiences in the CK family. This calls for strong intent in how the meal service is designed and executed, how staff are compensated and supported, and how volunteers are identified, trained and engaged.
To enrich the meal guest experience
- Increase hospitality during meal service
- Develop more uniform standards for daily meal delivery
To build a strong, sustainable staff team
- Build a trauma-informed culture to better acknowledge, understand and support staff, volunteers and the people CK serves and to enhance the work environment
- Encourage staff in their professional growth through compensation planning and a commitment to promoting from within
To diversify and deepen volunteer engagement
- Increase diversity in the volunteer pool.
- Provide volunteer training on the effects of trauma in order to foster a more inclusive and mutually-rewarding experience
The staff and Board must have the capacity to implement the strategic plan well. The active and full engagement of Board members will go hand in hand with inspiring their well-informed advocacy for CK’s present and future success. By refining the way CK operates in key areas, people can claim more time to think big picture, longer term, prepare for disruptions, innovate and create new opportunities. Technology will be better utilized in support of greater efficiency and effectiveness. Building capacity and infrastructure is crucial as CK approaches the tipping point of 50 employees. Growth also makes more space a higher priority.
To position CK to create and take advantage of new opportunities
- Reconfigure existing space and acquire space to better support activities
- Establish an “Opportunity Fund” and a Board-staff team to vet and initiate entrepreneurial activities
To strengthen the Board’s role in advancing strategic priorities
- Elevate the Board’s size, overall composition and regeneration through Board-led outreach, recruitment and succession planning
- Establish and empower robust Board committees to drive more structured self-accountability and purposeful staff-Board partnerships
- Refine bylaws and other policies on a periodic schedule to reflect contemporary practices
To enhance infrastructure to support productivity
- Improve the collection and analysis of data to determine program outcomes and to inform future program planning and innovation
- Review the use of technology and of operational processes to maximize efficiency, increase effectiveness, minimize costs and reduce waste
- Sharpen risk management practices across human resources, cyber security, insurance, volunteers and other areas of compliance
- Refine emergency preparedness scenarios for service, logistics, security, staffing, communications, technology
To achieve its vision for people in need, Cathedral Kitchen must attract additional financial resources. Building on a strong track record and reputation, CK will present more vivid descriptions of its impact and seek to increase support from individuals, including its enthusiastic volunteers. Building on its financial strength, CK will embrace a long-term and entrepreneurial approach, actively seeking opportunities, capitalizing on opportunities when they arise, and shifting direction when circumstances change. Cathedral Kitchen will invest in making its social enterprises such as CK Café and catering more profitable and will explore new sources of revenue. The Board’s leadership as ambassadors, door openers and relationship builders will be key to CK’s growth.
To fuel CK’s growth through increased contributed income
- Build donor relationships through cultivation and stewardship to encourage loyalty, increased giving and longer-term commitments
- Integrate communications, volunteer development and fundraising to encourage deeper connections
- Illustrate the importance of CK’s vision, mission and values as well as the impact/outcomes of its programs and services
- Heighten public awareness of CK through marketing communications, media and storytelling
To leverage financial expertise to strengthen CK’s overall fiscal health
- Institute multi-year planning for and management of operating, social enterprise and capital budgets
- Refine financial, internal control and investment policies to ensure alignment with best practices and responsiveness to strategic objectives
- Integrate financial and fund-raising visioning for growth in invested funds
- Document high-level contingency scenarios for major contracts/sources
To boost revenue generated by social enterprise activities
- Increase the profitability of café/catering/food truck services through dedicated leadership, augmented infrastructure and enhanced marketing
- Secure new sources of earned income by monetizing CK’s strong reputation and brand and investing in business development activities; possibilities to explore are product sales or additional corporate/nonprofit contracts
Strategic Implementation
As Cathedral Kitchen moves forward in a dynamic environment, the strategic plan is an important anchor and flexible tool. As the plan is implemented, CK will focus and re-focus energies when needed to shift direction or to capitalize on newfound opportunities.
An annual review of the plan, and what’s been happening internal to CK as well as around the world, will facilitate a comprehensive assessment of progress and lead to refreshed priorities. When the third year of the plan nears, CK will determine if it’s best to refine the existing plan or embark upon a new planning process.
Some strategic objectives are contingent upon having the financial and human resources in place for planning as well as execution.
