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Gasp. “Wow!” “Are you serious?”That’s got to be the reaction of staff at the 103-year-old National Audubon Society this week as news spreads of its largest grant ever: $20 million over five years from Toyota. That’s the kind of chunk o’ change that can fundamentally alter how an organization operates—even a big one like Audubon. So how does an organization keep the deliverables required by a monster grant from overshadowing and dominating the workload of its staff—or does it?

In 1995 Audubon took the unusual approach of writing a strategic plan with a 25-year timeline, rather than the usual three to 10 years. From the plan emerged three mandates: re-focusing its then-disparate programs on its core mission of conserving birds and their related wildlife and habitats, expanding educational programs that emphasize the interconnectedness of healthy ecosystems and humans, and upgrading—through more funding and resources--Audubon’s unique but dissatisfied grassroots network to become the group’s top eco-advocacy tool.

I love that the plan doesn’t flinch from Audubon’s internal and external problems, acknowledging such problems as corrosive in-fighting, off-the-menu programming that strays from core competencies, and the need for a “manageable number of campaigns” and more partnerships. This is 34 pages of “stop the madness” laid out raw, a near starting over with everything on the table and everyone pulling up a chair. Even new accountability mechanisms are apparent in the revised governance and operational provisions. I found the plan to be excellent, thoughtful reading.

The Toyota grant reflects just how hard Audubon has “worked the plan” by launching what Audubon calls “TogetherGreen:”

(1) Innovation Grants to fund dozens of annual on-the-ground conservation projects—many of them pilot approaches (plan: increased flexibility, decentralization, local component engagement, core mission focus);

(2) Conservation Fellowships for 200 emerging eco-leaders who can engage diverse audiences (building stronger component management and leadership), and

(3) Volunteer Days at the community-based Audubon Centers (local focus, component engagement, showcasing facilities born from the strategic plan).

Will the money and the efforts it funds allow Audubon to stay focused on its 2020 goals? From the outside, it looks like this enviable news marks a solid step in the nonprofit’s makeover.