Do you know who you should work with and who you need to watch out for?

The competitive landscape is constantly changing, and it can be difficult to stay informed about what other organizations are doing. Lacking information on your competitors not only puts your organization at risk of being blindsided by a competitive threat, it also puts you at risk of missing out on valuable opportunities. Your organization could miss the chance to capitalize on competitive gaps or to collaborate with similar organizations, sharing resources or information that could give you both an edge. Our team helps you understand your position in the competitive landscape and the strengths and weaknesses of similar organizations so you can make informed decisions.

In our Competitor/Collaborator Analysis project, our team helps you to define your unique competitive landscape by identifying an array of possible competitors and collaborators. The team first creates a set of simple profiles of each of the players. Then they work with you to analyze the initial set of profiles and define a small set of organizations for which to build more in-depth profiles. These more detailed profiles provide the basis for a discussion of the opportunities and threats your organization might consider in making strategic decisions, and possible next steps.

The impact of each project varies, but a Competitor/Collaborator Analysis Service Grant is best suited to a nonprofit that wants to:

• Better understand their competitive landscape to make sure they have not missed threats or opportunities specific to their situation
• Perform an in-depth study of new organizations with a similar mission
• Identify or learn more about organizations with whom they might be able to form collaborative relationships

• Development of a competitive landscape and simple profiles of the players
• Research on potential competitors and collaborators
• Creation of in-depth profiles of a small set of competitors or collaborators
• Discussion of relevant threats and opportunities
• Development or updates of a strategic plan, or merger or partnership brokering, is expressly out of scope for this Service Grant

• Description and analysis of the competitive landscape
• Simple profiles of a wide range of potential competitors or collaborators
• In-depth profiles of a select set of competitors or collaborators
• Detailed threats and opportunities report

Our Competitor/Collaborator Analysis Service Grant is most likely to be successful under certain circumstances. We recommend you apply if your organization has:

• An Executive Director and Board of Directors strongly committed to this project
• Either a current and complete strategic plan or the ability to describe strategic priorities and need for this information
• Staff that can invest the necessary time to make the project succeed:
  • Executive Director: 10-15 hours total
  • Day-to-Day Contact: 3-5 hours each week
  • Board of Directors Representative: 5-10 hours total

Your Taproot Foundation Competitor/Collaborator Analysis team will be staffed by strategy and management experts who have made a personal commitment to strengthening the nonprofit sector. Visit our volunteer roles page for additional information about Strategy Management volunteer roles.

If this project appeals to your organization and you have the recommended items in place, please review our grant process and criteria, and then apply. If you have questions about the grant or your eligibility, please contact us.

• Financial Analysis
• Strategic Planning Prep
• Strategic Scorecard