A Strategic Plan Without Funding Is Just Poetry

Visit the episode page for full details: https://www.moonshotos.com/a-strategic-plan-without-funding-is-just-poetry

This episode of the Independent School Moonshot Podcast is sponsored by Blackbaud.

Blackbaud helps independent schools unify admissions, advancement, academics, and finance so leaders spend less time chasing data and more time leading. Visit blackbaud.com to learn more.

What's the difference between a strategic plan that inspires and one that actually changes a school? In this episode, Mattingly Messina, advancement strategist and founder of Throughline, returns to the podcast and makes the case that the answer is money.

A plan without funding pathways, he says, is just poetry; beautiful language without impact.

We explore how to integrate financial planning early in the strategic process, the role of advancement leaders in shaping strategy, and why schools must get comfortable with sunsetting programs, not just adding more.

Messina makes the case for linking every strategic ambition to a realistic funding plan, providing independent school leaders with a practical framework for turning their vision into reality.

What You'll Learn from Mattingly Messina:

• Strategy without funding is fiction: Schools often create inspiring documents, but unless revenue sources are mapped, the plan remains aspirational.
• Day One vs. Day Two thinking: Begin with uninhibited ideation, but quickly move to financial feasibility to test which ideas can truly advance.
• Involve advancement early: Advancement leaders know donors, timelines, and feasibility; waiting until the end leaves them taking impossible “orders.”
• Addition must equal subtraction: True strategy involves tough choices, including sunsetting programs that drain resources without mission impact.
• Accountability matters: Leaders and boards should regularly audit plans against cost, funding source, and realistic timelines to avoid over-promising.

Recommended Next Steps

• Audit your current plan: For each initiative, ask, 'What does it cost?' Where will funds come from? What's the timeline?
• Engage your advancement team now: Don't wait until after priorities are set; bring them into the design process from the start.
• Create a program viability grid: Score programs based on revenue, cost, and mission impact to identify which ones to grow, maintain, or sunset.
• Build cross-functional task forces: Include CFOs, advancement, faculty, and board finance chairs in planning conversations.
• Document incremental wins: Track financial and strategic progress to hold leadership accountable and sustain board confidence.