Fixed. Flexible. Free

Expanding and replicating with intentionality & Innovation

There’s something incredibly powerful about watching an organization’s mission expand when the evidence shows lives are being changed. The question becomes: Why wouldn’t we do more, if we could?

I’ve had the immense joy of being part of several organizations whose missions have grown in remarkable ways. During my time at Gilda's Club Grand Rapids, with the help of the Lowell Pink Arrow, we expanded into the Lowell community and even brought grief support services into local schools. Kids' Food Basket spread its reach from Kent into Muskegon, Ottawa, and Allegan counties, setting up two new locations and launching a second farm in Ottawa County. As a board member of Children's Healing Center, I witnessed dramatic expansion across the state, building a second location to serve Southeast Michigan and a new facility in Kent County to meet rising needs. Today, I work with a variety of clients who are expanding their footprints and programming, all asking important questions about what healthy expansion looks like.

One of the key challenges in any expansion is ensuring we stay true to the organization's culture and values while also staying innovative. How do we replicate what works without losing what makes us unique?

Using the Fixed, Flexible, and Free model provides a framework for this balance:

1. Fixed: What Must Stay the Same

In every expansion, certain elements must remain consistent to maintain the integrity of the mission. These Fixed elements are non-negotiable—they uphold the organization’s identity and ensure that the work being done in new locations or via new programming reflects the same quality and values.

Examples of Fixed elements include:

• Governance structures: Ensuring that board responsibilities and decision-making processes align with the organization’s overall mission. This includes the use of local site and advisory boards and how they function in coordination with the Board of Directors.

• Core Values: These are the guiding principles that drive our work and help us make decisions that reflect our mission, no matter where we are.

• Key Communications Messages: Standardizing the way we talk about our “why” and ensuring we’re telling accurate and compelling stories about our mission.

• Volunteer protocols: Maintaining consistent standards for how we welcome, train, and treat our volunteers, ensuring every volunteer experience aligns with our values.

• Quality Assurance Measures: For example, standardized service checklists or procedures to monitor and maintain the same high level of care across programs and/or locations.

• Leadership meetings and feedback loops: Establishing consistent formats for one-on-one meetings, team meetings, and check-ins to foster open communication and continuous feedback.

2. Flexible: Adapting to Local Needs

Flexible elements allow us to adapt to the unique culture or environment of each new location or program. This flexibility ensures we’re meeting local needs while still holding true to the mission. This list consists of the “we need to do it” but doesn’t define the “how it’s done”.

For example:

• Community celebrations: While the organization's mission is the same, how we celebrate staff birthdays, milestones, or community achievements can vary depending on local culture.

• Local partnerships: Tailoring engagement with local businesses, schools, or community groups to best serve each new region and build relevant networks.

• Volunteer roles: Creating specific volunteer roles or adapting responsibilities to better fit the needs of the community served by each location.

• Service delivery methods and/or frequency: For example, one location may offer workshops, while another hosts community events, depending on what best serves the population in each area. One program may offer daytime services, another nighttime.

3. Free: Creative Autonomy

The Free elements encourage creative problem-solving and innovation. These are areas where new locations or teams can put their own spin on things, empowering them to shape certain aspects of their work to best fit their community’s and/or program’s needs. Basically, if it’s not on the fixed or flexible list, consider it free to total creativity within the values of the organization.

I’m a bit of a plant lady these days (I have 17 indoor house plants and counting!). Plants are a sign of new life, and trees specifically can be a powerful metaphor for growth and grounded values:

• The roots represent Fixed elements (deep, foundational aspects that support the whole organization).

• The trunk or main branches represent Flexible elements (providing stability but allowing for branching in different directions).

• The outer leaves or smaller branches represent Free elements (the creative aspects that can flourish uniquely in each new location).

Expanding With Purpose

Expansion is about more than just growing our footprint—it’s about deepening our commitment to the communities we serve. When lives are being changed, the question is no longer, Can we expand? but rather, How can we expand in a way that honors our values while staying innovative?

When was the last time you identified what’s fixed within your organization? Is that list so long that it stifles innovation? Does everyone even know these are fixed ideals?

Have you identified where your team has flexibility to adapt and respond to local needs?

When you’re looking to replicate a program, is this list of Fixed, Flexible, and Free elements clearly defined? When you’re onboarding a new team at a new location, are they aware of the non-negotiables and the areas where they can bring fresh ideas? If you’re launching a new program, have you set these elements to ensure consistency and room for adaptation?

By defining Fixed, Flexible, and Free elements, we can grow with intention, preserve our values, and encourage the kind of local innovation that makes growth sustainable and meaningful for every community we serve.