Non-profit Company Reintegrate Psychotherapy

Reintegrate Psychotherapy is a non-profit organization that provides counseling consultancy and assistance to retired military veterans via phone, online chats, email, and real face-to-face group sessions. The company strives to address the problem of abandoned post-military service members in the state of Virginia. The recent research and statistics suggest that many veterans suffer from a strong depression and post-trauma stress disorder, as well as refuse to resume a normal social life. Thus, they do not socialize, work, have relationships, and often engage in substance or alcohol abuse. A growing rate of suicides in veterans suggests that this population needs proactive external assistance for sustaining mental health and subsequent social readjustment. They require help from the side of the community, as their reintegration is only possible with the active participation of people. The following paper provides a project proposal for the startup initiative of a non-profit company, Reintegrate Psychotherapy.

The organization plans to operate within the state of Virginia, in such locations as Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Hampton. It also intends to raise public awareness on the issue since the present situation is entirely a result of societal ignorance. This paper is a project proposal that covers the most important elements of the startup of such a business initiative. It explains the rationale for starting the business, SMART objectives and succession planning, managerial issues, evaluation, and financial projections. In such a way, Reintegrate Psychotherapy presents its startup project. However, certain issues regarding the context of the proposal, as well as the initiative as a whole, should be considered with more details.

The project proposal includes projections and recommendations regarding the planning of the startup initiative for the Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Clear objectives, deadlines, and budget are forecasted and may moderately deviate from actual performance of the initiative implementation. Still, the main purpose of the project proposal is to acknowledge potential funders such as business sponsors, social movements, governmental agencies, and local communities about the intentions of the organization. Consequently, this paper is a direct encouragement for these entities to participate and estimate the value of a non-profit initiative. Reintegrate Psychotherapy is a socially transparent organization; thus, all schedules, plans, and decisions regarding its business sustainability should be clearly outlined. The proposal contains information concerning the issue, as well as a justification for a particular decision, choice of model, or allocation of funds that are to be collected prior to the implementation of the startup initiative. Also, the paper outlines actions planned for the long run and rationale for the use of innovations.

Thus, the Reintegrate Psychotherapy is expected to be not only a strong community leader but also a top innovative non-profit business in the state of Virginia. The company aims to address the issue by raising public awareness, providing primary mental health assistance, ensuring social reintegration, and creating a digital community. The latter aspect is fundamental for the entire initiative since such a community will be able to unite all representatives of the target population within the state. Nowadays, social media and information technologies are a powerful trend; thus, utilizing this marketing and strategic means is a sound solution to the problem targeted by Reintegrate Psychotherapy. All in all, the Reintegrate Psychotherapy presents its business proposal in order to outline its main objectives, roles, deadlines, funds, and rationale for the use of certain information technologies. Since the purpose of the proposal and its key points have been introduced, it is necessary to proceed to the next section.

Proposal Statement and the Case for Change

A non-profit psychotherapy counseling consulting service for veterans in the state of Virginia is supposed to provide help via phone, online chats, and face-to-face group discussions. Post-military service members are reported to develop strongly in capability for resuming a normal social life. Braswell and Kushner (2010) provided such evidence and explanation for this phenomenon. The concept is called the fatalism of social integration. It is based on the following statistics: 26% of veterans commit suicides; 11.7% are unemployed; 20% suffer from PTSD; 7.1% are alcoholics or drug addicts (American Psychological Association, 2016). On the contrary, 40% of post-military service members consult mental health professionals (American Psychological Association, 2016).

In terms of the nature of social fatalism, it is an external outcome of internal depressive and aggressive states that cause self-destructive behaviors in post-military service members. Aggression arises as a result of the negative emotional experience of survival in a combat and constant fear of death. Veterans are unable to express their aggressive feelings to the surrounding society as they respect its moral standards and feel a responsibility for the protection of these communities (Braswell & Kushner, 2010). As a result, veterans keep these negative emotions and feeling deep in their subconsciousness; thus, they lose contact with the society with time (Gewitz et al., 2010). Such a problem is commonly widespread in American veterans; therefore, it should be addressed in the state of Virginia, in which one of the most numerous populations of veterans lives (American Psychological Association, 2016). Reintegrate Psychotherapy will take responsibility for addressing the primary mental health problems of veterans, reintegrating them back to a normal social life, and raising a strong public awareness regarding the issue. The organization will perform in the segment of the non-profit business; therefore, raising funds and sponsorship will require the active participation of local communities.

First of all, the organization is going to provide the target population with quality service of mental health counseling and consultation so that veterans can reintegrate into society. The second aim of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy is to create a digital community of veterans, which will unite the target population within the state of Virginia and represent veterans as an independent and sound social body, which should not be ignored. It will promote a view that veterans need not only some financial support from the government but also the basic social integration (Gewitz et al., 2010). In such a way, post-military service members in Virginia will be involved in the social life of the community and will not feel abandoned any longer. The second aim is a consequent rise in public awareness on the issue. Fundraising, as well as a range of public presentations and social advertising, is expected to boost a public movement in support of the retired military service members. The organization expects the community to take some action and engage in resolving the problem. In the long run, the Reintegrate Psychotherapy plans to expand its activity into other states and gain nation-wide social effects. However, initial issues for the startup should be given an account.

Proposal Goals and SMART Objectives

The first goal of the proposal is the establishment of sufficient funds and institutional presence for the development of a startup. Common practice suggests that non-profit organizations usually settle their startups within six months. Reintegrate Psychotherapy is planning to gain $500,000 for its startup expenses via fundraising; such a goal can be justified by its measurability and evident attainability. To be more specific, the firm intends to make a startup capital within three months, so it is also an attainable objective. Funds collected will cover startup expenses, in particular, the preliminary advertising and marketing campaign. A strong social presence is important to any non-profit business, so the next goal of Reintegrate Psychotherapy is to gain and service 1,000 customers in the first two months of performance. In the long run, the Reintegrate Psychotherapy plans to utilize an information technologies system for forecasting customer demand, customer retention, and optimize basic business procedures. These objectives are attainable, but minor corrections in terms or budget may be required. Raising funds should take the lowest margin for the subsequent budgeting because the collection of funds and sponsorship at a startup stage are not determined by any tangible performance, as funders should be simply convinced that the initiative will be successful.

A rationale for the information system used in the non-profit business environment is quite obvious. Lawler, Moller, and Salloum (2014) suggest that the attachment of customer data to the business intelligence drastically enhances the marketing performance and operational excellence of a company. Therefore, Reintegrate Psychotherapy relies on this innovation. Nowadays, information technologies are developing into a vital element of strategic performance, but their strong presence in the non-profit sector is hardly observed. The organization should adequately realize both costs and benefits of the IT implementation for its business purposes.

In terms of such long-term projections, the firm plans to implement mHealth application for increasing the productivity of customer communication and open access for customers, who need to undergo the entire course of counseling. The application renders high scalability and general accessibility of information; thus, it can become an effective platform for an intended digital community (Lawler et al., 2014). The retention and attraction of customers are much effective in the digital space, as it presupposes a rather narrow selection of a particularly interested population. The firm considers its innovative leadership one of its main competitive advantages; thus, the development of its custom IT infrastructure is a long-run goal (Lawler et al., 2014). Beyond a doubt, information technologies are an important tool, especially for sustaining the company’s leadership in the market and attracting customers. Nonetheless, it is a significant change for any entity in the organizational, strategic, and financial sense; thus, its planning and adequate timing are of paramount importance.

The implementation of information technologies is not recommended at the early stages of the initiative, as the firm needs to make its primary working capital and gain financial liquidity. The deployment of IT is an expensive initiative, and it should take place when the basic elements of the business performance are patched up (Grant, 2016). The application of mHealth is evidently an effective technology, but the organization needs to investigate and scan the local market and overall business environment, as the application works only with specific data that are attached to a certain location (Grant, 2016). Reintegrate Psychotherapy intends to create a strong digital community; thus, the use of information technologies is mandatory in such a case. Still, the basic strategic and managerial issues should be resolved first.

The goals suggested above are measurable, specific, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. One can argue that they can be more ambitious and strategic, especially from the perspective of business performance. Nevertheless, the central aim of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy is to maintain its institutional presence as a credible and effective non-profit business entity in the state of Virginia. According to this viewpoint, the company is required to sustain the main constraints of its strategic and business performance: context-sensitivity, commitment, measurability, and balancing (Grant, 2016). These components are crucial factors of a successful business startup, as long as Reintegrate Psychotherapy wants to position its business adequately from the initial stage of the development. In such a manner, the consideration of multiple perspectives and highly scalable sensitivity to external changes are vital in the preliminary stages of business development (Grant, 2016). However, strategic planning should be designed in this period; otherwise, the company will not raise the second sum for its regular performance and covering operational expenses.

Alison and Kaye (2015) argued that a business initiative should be environmentally sensitive, build commitment, measure performance, and allocate available resources. Particular attention should be paid to building commitment. Nonprofit organizations value the commitment of their personnel much as it is the main source of motivation and operational excellence. Accordingly, the firm should provide employees with favorable conditions for full job satisfaction, personal curiosity, and a feeling of self-fulfillment (Alison & Kaye, 2015). People, who work for non-profit organizations, are usually motivated by a need to make a change in society. Henceforth, this need should be satisfied: the provision of a workplace, clear task outline, rewards, and cooperative atmosphere are the main steps to building a strong commitment.

Inline, the aforementioned pillars of strategic planning should be considered in every part of the startup plan of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Thus, the initiative needs to implement its startup plan for sustaining its business performance. This plan includes the following stages:

1. The evaluation of the business environment and collection of related information;

2. Fundraising;

3. Institutional foundation;

4. Fundraising for the liquidity and making the primary working capital;

5. The proper distribution of resources;

6. The assessment and correction.

It is possible that in some stages, the company faces difficulties, challenges, and even planning fails; in such cases, it is reasonable that the initiative returns to the previous step for the evaluation and reconsideration of the further aims. Succession planning is an especially challenging pattern for the startup implementation in the non-profit segment, but its appliance is the most efficient approach in this regard. For example, Froelich, McKee, and Rathge (2011) suggest that nonprofit businesses with a succession planning pattern are capable of advancing their sustainability potential to the most optimized performance. Planning succession is not only a startup and strategic framework but also an extensive methodology for organizational management and change. Managing the organizational behavior and culture is an integral element of any business, but non-profit organizations should pay more attention to the organizational management since their performance depends mainly on the workforce commitment (Froelich et al., 2011). In planning the training, organizational changes (especially the implementation of new technology), or reconsideration of the workflow patterns can also be managed with the help of the succession planning. A gradual change in the organizational environment balances the performance and keeps workers generally satisfied with their working conditions. Reintegrate Psychotherapy will need to undergo some major changes as soon as it establishes its organizational presence; therefore, its organizational culture has to promote flexibility and innovation.

An organizational change via succession planning renders the strategic value, as well; thus, this aspect is worth a detailed discussion. Any organizational decisions do not have to be taken instantly rather they should align with the strategic orientation of the company. The improvement of the personnel performance should take sequential steps for the preparation and implementation of certain incentives or rewards (Froelich et al., 2011). As a result, a succession planning pattern can be utilized for multiple purposes; it is especially recommended for the use by the Reintegrate Psychotherapy. However, succession planning implies a requirement for a profound executive leadership since the implementation of each step should be controlled by the board of executives (Froelich et al., 2011). A common practice also suggests that board members usually neglect low-profile operations and receive poor performance outcomes as a result. A startup phase is especially vulnerable in relation to the managerial misconduct; thus, the involvement of the executive leadership will serve a function of guidance, control, and evaluation (Froelich et al., 2011). This aspect is also valuable for the provision of particular behavioral patterns since non-profit organizations usually form their executive performance on the basis of commitment. Accordingly, the provision of an adequate pattern of the operational performance will epitomize standards for the implementation of a succession plan.

Taking into account suggestion regarding the succession planning, Reintegrate Psychotherapy will be established according to the pattern described in the article: each step should be approached independently and gradually. In such a way, it is necessary to refer to the aforementioned six-step plan and provide outline each stage. The first step is the environmental assessment and data collection. This procedure includes gathering any information about state’s demographics in terms of the veteran population, their social status, welfare, access to healthcare, and counseling services (Anheir, 2014). Also, the presence of organizations and business entities that are particularly interested in sponsoring nonprofit initiatives of such type should be verified, as it determines the further budgeting strategy. These data should be collected and attached to respective startup capabilities of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy. The second stage is raising funds, which should involve preliminary social advertising, contacting potential sponsors, and allocating the preliminary working capital since it depends on the raised funds (Anheir, 2014). Common practice suggests that the collection of donations online is less popular and effective than the real-world public presentation; consequently, social media should be utilized for encouraging the public to participate. Contacting interested parties, as well as demonstrating a strong public presence, are the main objectives at this stage. Fundraising is the main mechanism of collecting money for a subsequent performance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy, so a detailed discussion of fundraising plan is also vital.

Fundraising Plan

To start the fundraising plan, first, it is necessary to identify a particular strategy and provide a related rationale. Since the initiative is particularly interested in raising public awareness and the establishment of a digital community of veterans, it is essential to achieve a strong social presence. Advertising via social media and crowdfunding would be ineffective for our purposes whereas advertising specific real-life events is a much more powerful way of generating publicity in proactive participation (Anheir, 2014). Henceforth, the fundraising strategy should be established via a combination of social media presence and regular initiatives for collection donation in the real world. That is why event management, as well as social media management, are the two main methodological approaches needed for executing the selected strategy (Anheir, 2014). However, such a choice implies much wider opportunities, so that the initial scope of the strategy should correlate with the organization’s budget.

The scope of the fundraising strategy should be limited to promoting the organization and its events in the most prominent social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. and initiating fundraising events at least twice per month. Needless to say, providing the opportunity to donate online is a must, but it should be not a central focus of the fund raising strategy at least at a current stage of the firm’s start up (Anheir, 2014). A partnership with charity organizations, securing grants from governmental agencies, and engaging with non-profits can be a reasonable solution at this stage, especially when Reintegrate Psychotherapy offers its assistance in social media placement and promotion (Anheir, 2014). Social media management obviously should be not underestimated, but a heavy reliance on it would not be justified, and quality of fundraising events has to be appropriate. That is why indication of specific audiences, locations, and target funds will vary, and a respective framework should be applied.

To be more specific, the fundraising events should be oriented towards the following social groups: youth, businessmen, local community organizers, and veterans themselves. The first group is not likely to provide substantial donations, which is why orientation towards quantity is the central driving force for such events. Accordingly, business representatives should be addressed with consideration of the choice of companies, which might be interested in the incentives offered by Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Bryson, 2011). The third entity requires a more complex approach, so traditional marketing solutions can be deployed. The veterans, however, can be addressed via social advertising and social media communication, as they are the most involved party, and many veterans feel empathic towards their colleagues (Bryson, 2011). In such a way, targeting the fundraising strategy is based on the diversity of the local community, as the central purpose of Reintegrate Psychotherapy is to raise public awareness regarding mental health issues of active and inactive military service members (Bryson, 2011). Besides that, a choice of target audiences suggests that specific content for each event should be provided.

It is hard to argue that any contemporary initiative should be a platform itself. That is why initial and subsequently regular instances of going viral is pivotal for the fundraising strategy (Bryson, 2011). Adjustments of event themes, their media presentation, and even the form of invitation should differ depending on the target audience. At any rate, speculating on the past as well as the shortcomings of the event are the main reasons for creating viral content attached to causing inclination to participate among target audiences (Bryson, 2011). This element will be discussed further within this plan, but now it is relevant to place the emphasis on the fact that fundamentals of social advertising should be integrated to digital domain where information is spread fast and without time considerations (Bryson, 2011). Overall, the scope, rationale, and choice of the fund raising strategy itself should be built on these constraints, and a detailed methodology of their implementation should be outlined.

To start with, it is necessary to note that the implementation steps coincide with the general fundraising plan. This decision can be justified by the fact that the strategy should be closely attached to its executive domain, and respective control needs to obtain the pattern of basic implementation operations. That is why the implementation of the fundraising plan includes the following steps:

1. The creation of a strong social presence and media. Reintegrate Psychotherapy needs to create accounts on the most prominent digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube, in order to reach out to the widest borders of its target audience (Nah & Saxton, 2013). Also, such an approach helps to recognize the diversity of the local community, which is why multiple social media outlets should be obtained.

2. Scanning the local area’s demographics. This procedure has been discussed in terms of establishing an institutional presence and rationalization of the startup, but target population research is needed in order to prioritize content and plan fundraising events (Nah & Saxton, 2013). The most prevalent population should be addressed first, but the organization strives to address the public concern regarding the issue, so that recognition of diversity is especially important (Nah & Saxton, 2013). The organization may even use basic tools for web analytics and other means of digital marketing, since addressing the target audience is a foundational aspect for a successful startup, especially when a community renders a double value for the organization.

3. Design related to viral online content. As soon as the target populations are located and mapped, it is essential to address them with the creation of unique and engaging content, which will provide motivation for taking part in fundraising events on the basis of certain incentives. Educating, entertaining, or any other type content that attracts a target audience should be created, but with the shaping according to Reintegrate Psychotherapy’s mission and vision: the final outcome of any content should be linked to participation in fundraising and other actions aimed at resolving the problem of veterans’ mental health problems within Virginia (Nah & Saxton, 2013). That is why the consideration of quality choice of content is important.

4. Design of respective offline content. Offline content means a certain form of fundraising-related event: it can be a presentation of the organization, workshop, concert, public record of a video blog, quest, etc. The main purpose of the offline content is to engage the target audience by providing incentives, in which people will receive some unique experience and simultaneously donate in support of the organization (Nah & Saxton, 2013). In the same way, the target audience may participate in other activities aimed at supporting veterans with mental health problems (Nah & Saxton, 2013). The content, however, may depend on initial funds dedicated to arranging fundraising events, but the majority of fundraising incentives do not require substantial budgeting.

5. Promoting the event. As soon as a specific date of the fundraising event is arranged, it should be promoted with the use of the aforementioned online content in order to encourage the target audiences to participate. Video invitations, blog postings, and other forms of content can be used for promoting a fundraising event, especially if a certain benefit is clearly seen by potential participants (Nah & Saxton, 2013). Moral and spiritual motivation to participate in charity action should obviously already exists, but the target audience should be motivated to opt for Reintegrate Psychotherapy’s event among a wide range of other non-profit initiatives, so a clear outline of a certain unique incentive is pivotal.

6. Contacting potential stakeholders. Arranging a fundraising event does not have to be an expensive endeavor, but a number of organizational and managerial issues should be still resolved, so Reintegrate Psychotherapy should consider cooperating with local businesses to support a certain fundraising event or even ask for assistance from similar non-profit organizations. Moreover, involving the target audience in preparation for the event on the basis of volunteering or additional incentives is the most efficient and optimal way to ensure the organizational credibility of an upcoming event (Bryson, 2011). This step is mandatory for Reintegrate Psychotherapy regardless of its business sustainability, as the potential to manage such events without outsourced assistance does not necessarily mean a rejection of a possibility to engage more citizens.

7. The preparation stage in the form of a mini-project. Every single fundraising event should be implemented as a project with an allocation of budget, resources, and deadlines. Hence, appropriate project management should be applied along with quality assurance and control. These procedures can follow the same guidelines described in the section of the management plan. Such an approach is justified with the fact that the organization is expected to arrange various fundraising events in order to boost its financial efficacy, and the quality of each event should comply with the organization’s turnaround expectations (Bryson, 2011). Therefore, the preparation step includes the work breakdown structure, which will vary depending on the type of event.

8. Execution of the event. This step would involve the deployment of offline content so that its performance and record/creation of new media such as video, blogs, interviews, podcasts, etc. are essential. Along with collecting donations, the organization is required to report about its event and distribute this information with integration to new online content. Even if an event has passed and even been a disappointment, there is a possibility that more people will be engaged in the next initiative (Bryson, 2011). The cyclic nature of events and related content is the central driving force of fundraising plan methodology, so evaluating the past events is an indispensable element of the implementation plan.

9. Evaluation. This step is independent, and it should involve data analytics, participant feedback, and the advice of partners with regard to the success of a particular fundraising event.

Institutional Presence

Concerning the stage of establishing the institutional presence, some basic financial and physical assets should be collected. Renting an office, recruitment of personnel, and minimal promotion of the organization are the central activities needed for building the institutional presence. Moreover, the registration of a non-profit business, as well as license for the counseling and psychotherapy services and standard compliance with the safety, fire emergency, and other federal requirements comprise the institutional essence of any firm (Anheir, 2014). The fourth stage is the collection of funds for working capital and liquidity. This process of fundraising differs from the initial one as the firm collects money for operational expenses and is liable to sponsors in terms of operating a certain number of customers out of the target population. The company is recommended to design a specific fundraising mechanism and program of incentives for a particular budgeting period, as the working capital should circulate on a regular basis (Anheir, 2014). The fifth step is the resource allocation, and it is pivotal for further business sustainability because balanced expenses imply a balanced performance of the firm and its stable potential for donations and sponsorship in the future. Initially, the firm needs to allocate its assets according to the basic needs for the holistic business performance so that the innovation and expensive marketing initiatives are omitted (Bryson, 2011). The last stage is the evaluation and revision. The assessment of the initiative should undergo the basic measurement of the expected and actual state of the company. Meanwhile, revision is applicable to any of the stages after during or after its implementation.

Organizational Structure

Taking all managerial and executive issues together, the organizational domain of Reintegrate Psychotherapy should be also addressed. Organizational structure is particularly important to this non-profit company, as a certain layout of working relationships, ethical code, and distribution of decision-making largely determine performance of the foundation thereby orienting it towards success of a particular extent (Puyvelde et al., 2012). That is why Reintegrate Psychotherapy will utilize a flat organizational structure, as informal and friendly relationships between the team and its leaders establish an atmosphere of commitment and cooperation towards a common objective. Also, such an organizational structure is more open to internal motivation of each worker, as they are provided with a greater freedom of choice rather than in companies witha top-down structure.

Therefore, devotion of the employees should be based on a wide range on incentives (non-material) that motivate workers to participate in active promotion of the mission and vision shared with Reintegrate Psychotherapy. These incentives can create a flexible framework for human resource management strategy and recruitment since the organization needs people sufficiently motivated and committed (Puyvelde et al., 2012).This aspect is also discussed within domain of a stewardship theory, which is given an account further within this proposal. Still, it is relevant to mention that a flat organizational structure provides personalized working conditions for each employee while their performance is aligned with strategic objectives and mission/vision statement of the organization (Puyvelde et al., 2012). Another important consideration regarding the organizational structure of Reintegrate Psychotherapy is a policy of transparency. All financial operations, budgeting, and other material assets should be a matter of public record (Puyvelde et al., 2012). In particular, owners of the organization, as well as any stakeholders except the target population, are prohibited from making a profit from the performance of the organization or utilize its operations/name/mission in a context of politics or lobbying a certain agenda. For that reason, the tax exemption form and procedures should be discussed.

Registration of tax-exempt status is enacted by section 501(3) (c) for non-profit organizations. A non-profit organization is recognized as having a purpose to address a particular social, environmental, educational, cultural, or religious issue while spending all net income on performance towards the outlined goal without sharing any financial benefits with its owners (Fritz, 2016). Reintegrate Psychotherapy belongs to this category, and can be classified as a public charity, since it raises funds by collecting money from local communities. According to section 501 (3) (c) the organization must perform exclusively for non-profit purposes, so Reintegrate Psychotherapy is congruent with the primary requirement (Fritz, 2016). Second aspect refers to the aforementioned policy of transparency, as owners as well as any other interested parties are forbidden from making any profits from the performance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Fritz, 2016). Likewise, 501 (3) (c) restricts politically related promotion, and the organization complies with this obligation. As a result, Reintegrate Psychotherapy enjoys multiple advantages of tax-exempt organization, which will be also described.

The organization is able to receive grants from private foundations and the government, so it has the extensive supplementary support needed to sustain the performance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy, especially in the event of collecting donations lower than the established minimum. Naturally, the organization is not obliged to file state, federal, and local taxes, and this advantage is particularly valuable for any business, as planning the strategy and budgeting becomes more realistic (Fritz, 2016). Furthermore, donating to Reintegrate Psychotherapy qualifies as a tax deduction for those who provide money, and this opportunity will motivate regular donors to keep donating. The company, as tax-exempt non-profit, is eligible for advertising bonuses and other discounts, so obtaining a digital platform and gaining assistance from the community will become less challenging. All in all, an appropriate organizational structure and filing of 501 (3) (c) section are vital for Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Fritz, 2016). However, such formalities as article of incorporation and bylaws form should be also presented. The respective templates can be viewed in the Appendix.

Furthermore, it is important to note that such an organizational structure is applicable to Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Certain changes, however, can be made for strategic alignment purposes or for establishing the stewardship model of governance, but these constraints will do not drastically influence the organizational structure of the firm (Puyvelde et al., 2012). Instead, Reintegrate Psychotherapy has to anticipate and respond to the implications of information technology implementation in the future. The third wave of digital revolution leads many employees to feel concerned about their job safety. Non-profit segment is presented with companies, where commitment to the job is the most valuable asset, and this means that internal motivation of workers may be affected with implementation of information technology system in Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Puyvelde et al., 2012). A fear of losing a job position and failure to fulfill a personal ambition may cause certain organizational and operational disruptions, and so an adequate change management and culture of innovative leadership should be present. On a separate note, the allocation of duties and responsibilities plays a great role, especially within the highest level of governance. This issue is discussed further in the paper, which is why it is reasonable to make a remark that Reintegrate Psychotherapy is planning to deploy a model of board-executive governance. The board of directors is the central decision-maker meanwhile executive officers are responsible for implementing these decisions (Puyvelde et al., 2012). Besides that, important roles a secretary and treasurer are involved in adequate and balanced communication between the board and executive branches of Reintegrate Psychotherapy.

Summary of the Key Elements of the Proposal Achievement

The startup of the initiative should presuppose a profound environmental scanning with the view to identify required costs, potential benefits, and related implications that may become an obstacle towards sustaining a regular performance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Thus, the company is required to evaluate the business environment, as its startup cannot be isolated from external influences. James and Rose-Ackerman (2013) assumed that environmental scanning has to consist of market research, industry assessment, social trending, and the analysis of regulatory policies. As soon as managerial planning is settled, an executive part of the initiative should take place. The company needs to hire board members, managers, counselors, psychologists, and support staff for starting its factual performance according to the already developed strategy (James & Rose-Ackerman, 2013). Funders and funders should be not neglected, as well, since their decision-making regulates the investment and sponsorship for the future (Puyvelde, Caers, Du Bois, & Jegers, 2012). As for customers, a proactive advertising campaign and further retention program should be applied for their active involvement. All in all, the Reintegrate Consultation Firs is expected to address such constraints as the environment scanning, market research, further market entry, PR management, settlement of legal requirements and standards, and studying the target audience.

Advertising

Utilizing some elements of social media marketing is an obvious managerial activity needed for the marketing strategy of an organization and its regular business performance. As long as the organization aims at founding a digital community of retired veterans, a strong social media presence and going viral are needed. Seingah Nah and Gregroy Saxton (2013) admitted that non-profit businesses that utilize social media management can effectively encourage people for real-world action and monetary donation. Again, Reintegrate Psychotherapy intends to create a digital community for veterans; thus, particular management of social media platforms is a natural need (Nah & Saxton, 2013). The company has to manage its social media accounts such as Facebook and Tweeter in order to reach its target audience.

Executive Leadership

In spite of managerial excellence, non-profit companies often tend to fail their executive leadership and activities, especially at the board level. Non-profit companies perform based on the commitment of its employees; thus, executive leadership plays a much greater role. Executive leaders provide their subordinates with a certain example of behaviors, actions, and mindset. Henceforth, the executive leadership sets a particular form of commitment in the personnel. Moreover, an actual performance of certain activities and their control is a responsibility of an executive leader, who should be able to guide other workers and perform these activities instead of them, if needed (Holloway, 2012). Thomas Wolf (2013) suggests that that executive leadership is an important issue not only in strategic but also in an organizational context. The researcher argues that board members often do not see an organization in its largest context; thus, their performance is limited to managing regular activities. Meanwhile, the participation and understanding of their executive essence are usually neglected (Wolf, 2013). It becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that a flat organizational design is an independent managerial activity for the Reintegrate Psychotherapy and the most desired organizational structure for its regular performance.

Management Plan

Any project can achieve success only in the case of its precise control and effective time management. An organization is expected to place its project in a Gantt chart framework in order to track the sequence and progress of tasks to be completed (Bryson, 2011). The chart is presented below and demonstrates the main tasks under the project of the startup initiative of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy.

It is abundantly clear that the firm needs to recruit its own personnel: board executives, managers, counselors, psychologists, IT specialists, and the support staff. By the same token, the provision of resources is mandatory. Reintegrate Psychotherapy has to raise funds for budgeting its physical and intangible assets, workforce, and IT equipment. As it has been already discussed, these issues should be managed within the first two years, and resource provision/allocation plays a great role in this regard. Bryson (2011) argues that it is an important strategic consideration since the distribution of resources for non-profit organizations is a managerial issue, especially under circumstances of the limited working capital. Evidently, the organization depends on funding and sponsorship from the outside; consequently, sustaining the flow of investing should be achieved via the adequate management of resources.

Aside from other issues, stakeholder management and a stewardship model should be applied to the initiative, as well. It is hard to argue that non-profit organizations usually perform according to the commitment of devoted workers and strong leaders; thus, measuring success with values rendered to the communities is quite explicit (Bryson, 2011). Therefore, the creation of appropriate working conditions is a key factor in satisfying and ensuring the workers’ commitment. Likewise, open access to the firm’s services for customers is also one of the main goals that are pursued in the stewardship model. For sure, Reintegrate Psychotherapy is able to implement other organizational management models, but the stakeholder management is best addressed by the stewardship model as it is particularly focused on the workforce and customer commitment. Such an approach is especially important to the non-profit business.

As a matter of fact, the workforce represents operational and executive stakeholders; thus, favorable conditions for their operational excellence is a mandatory requirement. In the same vein, the accessibility, attainability, and flexibility should be demonstrated in approaching the target population. Anheir (2014) asserts that the stewardship theory is a means of rendering values of a specific community and constant enhancement of its qualities. In such a manner, a frequent update and optimization of workflow patterns rewarded training, and team building activities are a crucial part of the effective human resource management and organizational governance of the firm (Anheir, 2014). In approaching the target population, utilizing the innovative retention and analytics technologies can assist the firm in defining the desires and behavior of customers (Anheir, 2014). Such a vision fully reflects the main statement of values of the Reintegrate Psychotherapy and creates a fundamental organizational and executive framework; therefore, the stewardship model is applicable to the startup initiative of the company under consideration.

Key Roles

The Chairman of the board plays the most important role at Reintegrate Psychotherapy as its central person. While he/she is the main decision-maker, his/her job is nonetheless consulting with an executive director, and executives are dependent on these decisions. Therefore, a determining factor of chairman of the board effectiveness is a collaborative performance, as long as this person coordinates and aligns the decision-making of the chairman with executives (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Furthermore, the chairman of the board is expected to demonstrate the highest commitment to stakeholders. Again, this aspect is especially pivotal for a non-profit organization, since addressing the organization’s stakeholders means acting in the best interest of the company. At the same time, board leadership and governance are essential. A perfect balance between managing stakeholders and strategic decision-making involves a strong leadership board, which satisfies all stakeholders but keeps their performance-focused on distinct goals (Galaskiewicz, 2016). To the greatest extent, the chairman of the board is involved in decision-making, standards of performance, and hence the culture of the organization (Galaskiewicz, 2016). All these pillars are of paramount importance in Reintegrate Psychotherapy since they build commitment and operational excellence that ensure sufficient turnover and thus the potential for subsequent funds and donations.

Regarding the chairman of the board in terms of board leadership, its determinant nature is worth mentioning again. The chairman of the board is required to govern policy-making, adjust the performance of the organization towards mission and vision, settle the priorities, and critically evaluate the course of Reintegrate Psychotherapy. At the same time, all these components should be adequately agreed upon with the executive director; otherwise, the organization will be placed at a strong risk (Galaskiewicz, 2016). As has already mentioned, board members often neglect the executive perspective of their decisions, so chairman of the board is expected to make sure their relationship is maintained. Respect for the interests as well as a clear understanding of the’ interdependency of roles is a key factor of the chairman of the board’s performance (Galaskiewicz, 2016). He/she has to see organizational relationships in the largest context by finding a balance between board decision-making and executive performance. Such performance is expected from the chairman of the board, and its value should be not underestimated.

Consequently, the vice-chair is also a key figure in managerial governance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Common practice suggests that the vice-chair acts as a substitute for chair of the board, but it is certainly true owing to a wide range of reasons. Needless to say, the vice-chair serves a supplementary function to chair of the board, but the vice-chair also serves several primary roles. First, the vice-chair has to serve the government of the board committee at a more localized level. This role may be limited to the directions of the chair of the board, but such high positions do not presuppose direct instructing of its close subordinates, as its representatives are usually experienced enough to know their roles without any specific guidance (Galaskiewicz, 2016). That is why the vice chair should take on such responsibility. In the same way, the vice-chair is responsible for developing a strategic plan and allocating decision tasks among the board members. At the same time, close cooperation with the chief executive officer for agreement and correction of the strategic implementation framework is obviously a requirement. Subsequent measurement and assessment of the developed strategic plan is also a duty of the vice-chair. The vice-chair reports to the chair of the board and acts accordingly based on his/her feedback, but the number of strategic issues is also determined based on this role.

Since the vice-chair is expected to address multiple strategic issues, his/her active participation in negotiations with grantmakers and other important funders can be useful because the vice-chair is most aware of the strategic objectives of Reintegrate Psychotherapy compared to any executive member owing to the specific course of his/her work. Furthermore, the vice-chair can just supplement the performance of the chair of the board (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Fundraising and general governance should be assigned to the chair of the board while the vice-chair works on the management of the regular activities of the organization. Taking all these points into account, cooperation between the vice-chair, chair of the board, and chief executive officer comprises strategic governance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Such a model is traditional among non-profit organizations, as it provides a distinct allocation of roles and related responsibilities. The role of the vice-chair is vital in that regard, as the vice-chair connects the chair of the board’s decision-making and executive potential of the CEO.

The secretary of Reintegrate Psychotherapy also plays a critical role in the organization. This role is devoted to fostering organizational communication and operational diligence among the workers of the non-profit. The secretary works with various data records and documents related to bylaws, and thus a sufficient part of the organizational work is the responsibility of this person (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Concerning communication, the secretary addresses the distribution of needed material and arranges the meetings with funders, grant providers, and other external stakeholders. However, providing the required data and operational material to board members and executives is the most important role of secretary, in that his/her work presents a transition between board decisions and executives’ operations (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Furthermore, the distribution of working material should include all recent news, related customer and market data, law amendments, and any other information implicitly or explicitly tailored to the performance of Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Operational and communicational assistance, however, are not limited to these procedures, as the secretary is also responsible for the guidance and support of representatives with fiduciary duties towards Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Hence, the secretary’s role is evidently significant in organizing the non-profit.

Since the secretary is the main custodian at Reintegrate Psychotherapy, he/she is responsible for keeping records of all legal filings and reports as well as their timely delivery to the required governmental agencies. Nonetheless, non-profit organizations usually utilize their secretaries for serving a specific function, which sustains a particular organizational aspect (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Reintegrate Psychotherapy may also consider such an approach, as multiple aspects of its performance will require regular communication and management. Returning to the subject of the core competencies of the secretary, it is worth noting that this role is valuable for the coordination of board and other members’ performance. Given that the chair of the board, vice-chair, and chief executive officer comprise the central strategic entity of Reintegrate Psychotherapy, the secretary is expected to address communication and coordination between them. That is why the secretary at Reintegrate Psychotherapy would fulfill traditional roles rather than a specified range of activities within a single domain of organizational performance (Galaskiewicz, 2016). The company needs to manage its stakeholders via the stewardship model, so that appropriate communication and coordination of information exchange are extremely important for Reintegrate Psychotherapy. The scope of the secretary’s responsibilities is quite standard unlike the duties of a non-profit treasurer, which are also worth describing.

The treasurer serves a pivotal function in a non-profit organization, as his/her primary responsibility is reporting and management of finance within the company. There is a number of duties that are typically associated with the functions of the treasurer such as bank account maintenance, financial transaction overview, budgeting, financial policy, reporting, and arrangement of finance committee (Galaskiewicz, 2016). The role of the secretary is closely tailored to financial management and therefore to internal and public trust, allocation of funds, and measuring of fundraising outcomes. As a consequence, the treasurer must have basic financial literacy, attentiveness, and reciprocal skills. Again, communication between the treasurer and the board is crucial for the organization, since approval of certain financial decision is still determined by the board members. This requirement is especially important in light of unallocated economic downturns, and other external events that may influence governmental policy-making and hence the financial sustainability of Reintegrate Psychotherapy. Thus, the treasurer serves a function of a person, who keeps an updated record regarding the financial state of the company and all factors that may it affect (Galaskiewicz, 2016). Needless to say, the role of treasurer means that a hired person should be sufficiently trustworthy, resilient, and willing to ask various questions from the board and external stakeholders of the organization.

On a separate note, it should be noted that the treasurer does not have to be a single person responsible for expenses and safety of finance within the organization. The entire board would share accountability and trust while treasurer just serves the function of the active financial manager. In general, the treasurer is responsible for conducting basic and complex financial operations. Signing checks, choosing the bank, and reallocation of excessive funds in the most reasonable assets are the main duties of the treasurer at Reintegrate Psychotherapy (Galaskiewicz, 2016). By the same token, tracking all incoming and outgoing funds within the company is also treasurer’s responsibility, as a large presence of debts and unexpected liabilities is recognized as neglect of fiduciary duty (Galaskiewicz, 2016). All in all, this role is also attached to the board and executive members but within the financial domain. Still, this role should be not underestimated, so the financially wise and trustworthy worker is the best option for the role of treasurer.

Evaluation Plan

It is increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that the timely, efficient, and reliable attainment of project deliverables is possible only in the case when the basic project tasks are being evaluated on a regular basis. Therefore, the evaluation and progress metrics are essential in any startup initiative. Nonetheless, the project should fit its tasks into a specific framework; otherwise, the independent quality control and assurance may revise separate tasks in the light of different objectives. Kazi and Radulovic (2011) confirm that a balanced scorecard is the best solution for the alignment and enhancement of the project’s tasks. They argue that the use of a balanced scorecard in the project management framework, internal communications, and workflow designs can leverage the accuracy and relevance of quality control (Kazi & Radulovic, 2011). Reintegrate Psychotherapy is suggested to use the balanced scorecard model for aligning the project tasks completion and evaluation because of the fact that this model addresses multiple perspectives of the initiative. It is difficult to deny that the startup initiative involves numerous activities, which often are to be performed simultaneously; thus, they should be adjusted according to a certain objective and priority.

In light of the stewardship model, it is worth saying that the model should be applied to the workforce performance evaluation. In spite of the fact that it has been suggested to use a flat organizational structure, top-down relations in the evaluative process are compulsory (Puyvelde et al., 2012). The assessment of the workforce performance is based on their job satisfaction since the Reintegrate Psychotherapy is a non-profit organization and the workforce commitment is its valuable executive asset. In such a way, providing favorable working conditions can determine whether the project tasks are completed in accordance with standards of quality, timeframes, budget, and resources allocated for a particular task (Puyvelde et al., 2012). However, the latter element is another matter of the stewardship model since workers should be supplied with sufficient recourses for successful task performance.

In terms of quality assurance and control, it is relevant to refer to Joanne Carman (2014), who provided the following argument. The main point of the author is based on the evidence of the heterogeneous environment of a non-profit business. Evidently, an extensive presence of common values matters, but a worker may not perform to the best of the own potential provided that some gaps in the workflow design or physical workplace are present (Carman, 2014). Consequently, quality control and assurance can be the most objective measurements for both the project performance and workforce commitment. As a result, the quality assurance is expected to conduct a comparative analysis: initially, most members of the staff are devoted employees, and the assessment of the quality has to start with scanning and evaluating the working conditions (Niven, 2008). Specific attention is paid to the concept of stewardship because the central focus is paid to the devoted performance of the workforce. Thus, employee commitment has a direct influence on the quality of completed tasks under the project, as well as the execution of the operation as a whole. Workers perform different tasks, the quality of which is determined by the level of employee commitment (Niven, 2008). Therefore, the management and improvement of ethical and organizational perspectives of Reintegrate Psychotherapy will provide evaluative outcomes and necessitate some internal updates.

Financial Analysis

At the beginning of the financial analysis, it is worth saying that any firm should comply with section 501(c) (3) in order to register its nonprofit status. Reintegrate Psychotherapy is a public charity organization; thus, it is free of taxes that are applied to for-profit businesses and private foundations (IRS, n. d.). The company heavily depends on public donations and sponsorship; therefore, it is supposed to be registered as a public charity and assigned the primary tax-exempt status (IRS, n. d.). It requires the organization to declare all physical and monetary assets for public transparency.

Nevertheless, Reintegrate Psychotherapy should make its primary working capital for budgeting startup expenditures. The model of the Wall Street Journal (2016) suggests that the organization is supposed to spend $596,750 for its startup capital and $408,000 for reaching sufficient liquidity within two years (Figure 2). Tim Berry (2011) argues that making forecasts for short terms and low-bottom margins is an adequate decision. The startup financial planning can be limited to the identification of expenses for the establishment of the company’s institutional presence and the launch of the primary working capital only. Even though the overall success of this planning depends on managerial excellence, initial projections should be respectively adequate. Returning to the subject of outlined assets to be funded, it is worth mentioning that they represent the basic items needed for establishing an institutional presence while such issues as information technology system, telecommunications, specific equipment, and assets for fundraising events are not involved (Zietlow, Hankin, & Seinder, 2007).