Operational Structure

In order for the Foundation to achieve its goals, the following operational infrastructure will be developed.

• Board. We will establish and maintain a fully functioning Board, which include founding members for a two-year term, to be followed-up by an appointed Board for years two and beyond.
• Staffing. We will work to develop and fund appropriate professional staffing for the Foundation over time.
• Areas of Interest. We will establish an organizational structure that will help broaden the vision and scope of IFS along a continuum, to promote healing on one end and overall well-being on the other.
  • HEALING.Guiding individuals to achieve emotional healing involves psychotherapy and mental health-related activities; this requires the process of emotional “unburdening” as a component of the IFS work (see Healing-to-Well-Being Continuum).
  • WELL-BEING.Achieving a wholesome state of well-being beyond psychotherapy has many facets. These include, for individuals: medical health, education, and spirituality; and for organizations: self-led practices in business management and organizational development, mediation and law, politics, and education. These areas may or may not include unburdening as defined by the IFS model.
  • PARADIGM FOR BETTER LIVING. IFS as a paradigm for better living and stronger relationships can facilitate good parenting, harmony among couples, and cohesive families and communities, even more enjoyable team sports. Such applications do not include unburdening, but allow for an expanded understanding of internal our internal processes including Self Energy and our parts.
  • SELF LEADERSHIP is the foundation supporting all components of the work. Each of these areas of application may have a research, scholarship, advocacy and fundraising component to it.
• Leadership & Support Teams. We will lead the formation of the “Research Development Team,” whose members consist of invited volunteer members of the IFS Community, define its role, function, and close working relationship with the Board. The Team will engage in activities to help realize the Goals of the Foundation in the Promotion of IFS Research. Areas of interest will include development of adherence scales, maintaining the annotation effort, identifying new research directions and establishing contacts with prospective IFS researchers, and tracking interest in IFS research.. We will further help establish “Affinity Groups” as needed.
• Advisory Council. We will establish an independent Advisory Council, with expertise in, research, legal, foundational development and fundraising.
• Communication Follow-up. We will help set up a mechanism with CSL for following up regularly on contacts made by Dick Schwartz after his workshops and lectures.
• Governance. We will periodically review and update the Foundation’s Bylaws, and Policies, and do our due diligence regarding legal and financial obligations.
• Transparency. We will seek legal counsel where pertinent to establish conflict of interest and compliance statements for Board members, and publish such statements on the Foundation’s website.
• Collaboration with CSL. We will seek consultative and administrative support from CSL as well as from partnering organizations and volunteers within the IFS Community.
• Annual Report. We will produce an annual report showcasing pertinent developments in IFS research and training and acknowledging donors.

Fundraising Activity

A separate fundraising plan will be developed to support, and as a companion to, the strategic priorities. The plan will incorporate strategies and specific implementation timelines. This is a macro-view of the fundraising initiative. In order to support the Foundation, we will set up and administer and ongoing fundraising program.

• Consultation. We will seek consultation to establish the fundraising strategy consistent with our priorities. (Year 1 and ongoing)
• Funding Goals. We will set up target fundraising goal for immediate (2014-2016) and for long term (2016-2020).
• Case Statement. We will craft a funding case statement that provides compelling reasons to give to advance IFS. Year 1.
• Database. We will set up and maintain a robust fundraising database (may be different from research database). Year 1 and beyond.
• Funding Strategy. We will determine a methodical fundraising approach to meet the target goal. (Years 1-2)