A design sprint is a type of interactive workshop that allows you to get more done faster—often resulting in better work.

Originally developed by Google Ventures, design sprints aren’t just for creating the latest app. They can be used in your nonprofit as well. They’re helpful for coming up with new campaigns, programs, and initiatives… without the long and sometimes painful meetings.

Because let’s face it: the back and forth can get exhausting, and landing on an idea that everyone loves sometimes feels like an impossible task.

Here’s how we borrow the tools and methodology of design sprints to develop custom sprints for creative planning in a more collaborative way, while also speeding up the time it takes to make decisions. 

Use cases for nonprofit design sprints

Design sprints are great for:

  • Campaign Planning
  • Brand Strategy
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Messaging and Identity
  • Programming and Initiatives
  • Event Planning

Here are the top design sprint tools and tips to use in brainstorming, creative sprints, or strategic planning. 

1 Make sure you always have the right people in the sprint.

It’s always helpful to have the right in the room. Think of this list of personas as your starting place, because every organization is unique. Define what’s best for your nonprofit and your team.

These personas are based on key stakeholders. Some of these are often easily overlooked. Others are helpful to have present to create some necessary tension—because all of the greatest creative ideas come from tension.

  • The Decider – The person responsible for making the final decision and holding others accountable. (This is sometimes two people.)
  • The Money – The person with the greatest financial stake for the brand—usually the CFO, but sometimes an investor or board member. For smaller projects, this is a Manager or VP with a P&L.
  • The Dissenter – The person who often has a viewpoint contrary to the majority of the team. We recommend only one Dissenter to help keep groupthink in check. Having more than one can distract from your time together.
  • The Individual Responsible – The person running the brand day to day.
  • The Builder – The stakeholder who usually has to live with the brand after the fact.

You may want to adapt these roles to include more focused specialists if your sprint has a narrow focus.

2 Time all your exercises and activities.  

When you’re in a brainstorming or planning sprint, use the timeboxing method to limit each activity to a short, specific amount of time.

When you give a task an allotted amount of time, you’re more likely to finish, which ensures you’ll get to every agenda item and accomplish what you need to accomplish.

3 Define the outcomes.

This one sounds easier than it is. People get excited about starting new things, but without a clear desired outcome, your project won’t stay on schedule. 

If it’s not clear what the outcomes should be, then first define your audience as a persona by giving them a name and outlining their pain points, desires, dreams, realities, demographics, and so on. Then ask yourself what outcomes you want for this person with this new project, series, etc. 

Do your best to have a clear understanding of the following before meeting, then reiterate each of these points at the start of any sprint or planning session. 

  1. The desired outcomes of your sprint
  2. The larger outcomes of the campaign/initiative/sermon series, etc.

4 Map it out. 

From the moment someone first donates to your nonprofit, you’re taking them on a journey.

But it’s often difficult for your team to articulate the journey that new donors take with your nonprofit.

It’s important to understand this journey so you can have a clear course of action for what happens when your audience engages with the initiative, campaign, or program—the “product”—that will come out of your sprint.

Mapping it out documents every step in a donor’s journey using just words and arrows. By keeping it simple, you avoid getting hung up on complex flow charts. At the same time, you’re able to visualize the entire journey every step of the way. 

Include follow-up actions that happen after a call to action. Seeing every step will help keep the purpose of your planning in front of you. 

Mapping is usually done on a large whiteboard, but if you don’t have one, no sweat… simply use a large flip chart, sticky pads, or butcher paper. 

5 Brainstorm independently + do Lightning Decision Jams.

Here are two tools for quickly coming up with a bunch of ideas AND decide on what ideas to pursue: independent brainstorming and lightning decision jams.

Oftentimes, people with the most influence or authority have control over the conversation and idea flow. Independent brainstorming helps counter that by giving everyone a chance to ideate.

The best ideas usually come from a large volume of diverse ideas. To get as many of those ideas captured as possible and to avoid unintended influence or bias, have each person write down one idea or thought on one sticky note. Each person should write down as many ideas as they can in a short amount of time (2 minutes works well). Now you’ve got a bunch of ideas! 

So what do you do with those ideas and sticky notes? Look for overlaps and themes, combine duplicates, then discuss as a group.

After the discussion, it’s time to decide by doing a lightning decision jam. Hand out a few sticker dots and have everyone vote on the best ideas or solutions. Set a timer again for a minute. And bam, you’ve got a direction in less than 15 minutes.

6 Try Crazy 8s.

Crazy 8s, or storyboards, are a fun way to get the brain thinking differently in a creative brainstorming meeting.

To start, fold a blank piece of paper in half until you end up with 8 rectangles when it’s unfolded. In each square, prompt people to draw out ideas and solutions to the problem at hand. Set a timer and draw in as many of those rectangles as you can in the allotted time. 

Here are a few ideas for what you can have people draw in each box.

  • Draw the experiences or feelings you want your donors to have.
  • Draw the desired outcomes in the lives of the people you serve.
  • Draw ways to execute some of the ideas you voted on.
  • Draw the felt needs of your persona or donor.

7 Use categories to help with divergent thinking.

Another tool you can use to think creatively about a project and get a new perspective is divergent thinking. 

When your team feels stuck creatively, divergent thinking can help you come up with out-of-the-box ideas and solutions.

Create a list of random categories that become containers for a type of word. Here are a few we use often:

  • Emotion
  • Color
  • Object
  • Place
  • Food
  • Animal
  • Vehicle  

Once you’ve selected a few categories (at least 3, but no more than 6), review either the outcomes you’ve established or your audience persona.

Use timeboxing again. Set a timer for 1 minute per category, prompting each person to write out as many words for each category that relates to the reviewed material.

For example, let’s say we were planning a nonprofit awareness campaign around homelessness. For the emotions category, we might write options such as fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. Objects might include worn shoes, grocery cart, and cardboard sign.

In some categories such as animal or color, you’ll have words that connect abstractly. That’s ok. Look for the themes and connections.

This exercise nudges you to start listing things that you might not normally associate with homelessness, which spurs on new ideas.

Expect to see amazing things: new patterns emerge and new ways to position your solution or initiative.

Try it out!

Now you have 7 different design sprint tools and tips to get your team started, see the ideas begin flowing, and help your crew collaborate.

Need help getting your team going with a creative or strategy sprint? We’ve got your back! Contact us today.