Morris Animal Foundation - Achievement in Management

Company: Morris Animal Foundation, Denver, CO
Company Description: Morris Animal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that invests in science to advance animal health. Since our founding in 1948, we have invested more than $136 million toward 2,780+ studies that have led to significant breakthroughs in diagnostics, treatments and preventions to benefit animals worldwide.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Management - Non-Profit or Government Organizations

Nomination Title: Morris Animal Foundation Leadership Team Positions Foundation to Thrive

In the 10 years preceding 2019, Morris Animal Foundation suffered the growing pains of a successful nonprofit. Recurring changes in leadership positions – including CEO, CMO, Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Development Officer – were threatening the Foundation’s hard-wrought gains and mission of bridging science and resources to advance animal health. Stability and visionary thinking were needed.

In 2019, with a new leadership team in place, the Foundation embarked on a program of thoughtful change to dramatically improve operations, increase employee morale, elevate the impact of science, and enhance community reputation. In the last two years, the Foundation’s new Leadership Team pivoted from a toxic work environment to a positive and high-achieving organization recognized as one of the Denver Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in 2020.

Through strategic culture change, the team reduced employee turnover by 30%, moving from a high annual rate of 38% to a below-industry average of 8%.

The Leadership Team is as follows and since 2019 has:

Tiffany Grunert, President and CEO, who brought together a highly functioning leadership team, worked with staff to create a strong set of core values, increased investment in human resources and managed Board of Trustee relationships to ensure strong linkages between day-to-day operations and higher-level strategic planning. Under her leadership the Foundation developed and completed its strategic plan and excelled during the Covid-19 pandemic through a formal employee support plan.

Dr. Janet Patterson-Kane, Chief Scientific Officer, began in 2019 to revamp and revitalize the Foundation’s research portfolio, jettisoning old-school thinking to embrace new funding models, new areas of research in which to invest, and re-imagined her Scientific Programs team to build innovation into their work and ownership into their job descriptions.

Ryan Welch, Chief Development Officer, had the challenge of building a Development team almost from scratch. He was able to recruit highly successful development officers, create new program initiatives, build a membership program to ensure long-term funding, and consistently challenge his team to find new ways of connecting with donors and advancing the Foundation’s mission.

Carol Borchert, Chief Marketing Officer, successfully built a well-run marketing machine to increase awareness of the Foundation, standardize marketing functions, fill the pipeline with potential new donors through acquisition, grow the Foundation’s online presence, find consistency in public and media relations, and keep tight rein on the Foundation’s brand to build its presence in the philanthropic marketplace.

Stacy van Buren, Vice President of Finance, was able to update finance and operations, bringing in new tools to improve efficiency, consistency and protocols that could shore up financial reporting as well as guarantee consistently successful audits.

With this Leadership Team in place, the Foundation increased earned revenue in 2019, including a $2MM partnership with the V Foundation to fund development of a new data sharing platform for the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. The development and launch of a new donor-inspired research program has increased major gifts and donor engagement by allowing animal lovers to direct their funding toward their biggest concerns in veterinary research.

The team also led changes to the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study to bring the management of the $32 million longitudinal cancer study in house, increasing operational efficiency, participant satisfaction and reducing costs by nearly $1MM annually.

In late 2019, the Foundation began planning for a response to the Australian wildfires, resulting in the quick approval in early January 2020 of $1MM to invest in studies of fire-related injury, rehabilitation, and release for native wildlife.

In 2020, the Leadership Team pivoted to a remote work environment, prepared for a downturn in the economy due to COVID-19 and worked to keep staff safe, secure, and productive. Despite the pandemic, revenue increased.

These are just a few of the team’s 2019 achievements that elevated the Foundation, its staff members, and its work, much of which would have been impossible without a highly functioning, innovative and visionary leadership team.

-Revitalized the $32MM Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, bringing operations in-house and expanding the scope of the research. This is one of the Foundation’s premier research programs, so its success is essential to the overall Foundation mission.

-Successfully secured $2MM partnership resulting in the development and implementation of a data sharing platform, a highly valuable tool to advance both veterinary and human health research.

-Increased earned revenue in FY19 over FY18 by 18.3%.

-Invested in the recruitment of top-tier employees, rebuilding a staff of 50 that had been decimated by personnel losses, and at the same time enabling the completion of a 5-year strategic plan in just 2.5 years.

-Strategically managed culture change and increased employee morale by developing and implementing a total rewards program, pivoting from a toxic environment to a high-achieving organization, receiving Denver Business Journal’s Best Places to Work Award in 2020.

-Reduced turnover from 38% annually to 8%.

Successfully moved operations to remote in response to COVID-19 while simultaneously achieving the Paycheck Protection Program and managing finances to $3MM surplus during the recession of 2020.

-Developed and implemented successful donor-inspired studies initiative, providing a new outlet to allow donors to directly impact science by funding topics tailored to their interest, increasing revenue growth among major giving prospects.

-Awards: Following the launch of the Morris Animal Foundation rebrand in 2018, the Marketing and Brand Strategy team won more than 40 national and international branding, marketing, and public relations awards in 2019 and 2020. The Chief Scientific Officer also received a nomination for the Feather in Her Cap Award for professional achievement and mentoring women in the animal health industry.

-Developed a new Information Systems team redefining and expanding the Foundation’s role to build and implement new technologies to advance science through data harvesting and information sharing.