As the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research in the world, the organization is committed to making ALS livable for everyone, everywhere, until a cure is found. Their strategic decisions, like the investment of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge's $115M proceeds, have dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS, increasing annual dollars spent on research around the world by 187% and funding the development of the newly approved treatment for ALS, Relyvrio.

Problem:

Before using Cascade, The ALS Association faced challenges with disjointed strategy execution. Different strategic implementation plans across various levels of the organization led to inefficiencies in resource allocation, decision-making, and overall agility.

“Sometimes it takes an investment...but it also takes commitment. We needed to be intentional and deliberate in tracking our strategic decisions to maximize our impact. Our diverse initiatives required alignment, and risk mitigation was crucial.” – Michelle Sweeney, VP of Operations Strategy, The ALS Association

Solution:

Cascade, supporting over 45,000 strategy, transformation, business planning, and leadership teams worldwide, offered a solution that checked all the boxes for strategy execution. The ALS Association got a centralized place to house its long-term objectives. They were able to drive org-wide focus on five key priorities broken down by projects and initiatives for each department and individuals in it.

“Cascade checked all the boxes for our strategy execution. It provided us with the structure we needed to organize our work effectively and report both internally and externally with clarity. Along with the platform, Cascade's teams supported us along every step of the way.” – Michelle Sweeney, VP of Operations Strategy, The ALS Association

With all their teams and departments aligned on key objectives, they could focus on what was working well and where they needed to course-correct. Having a centralized system of truth made it easy to drive strategic governance across the organization.

Instead of spending hours compiling information from different systems, they were able to drive faster reporting from this central system – from high-level quarterly reports to granular operational dashboards. 

"With Cascade's support, we've become agile, insightful, and more efficient in our operations." – Gary Shipp, Director of Operations Strategy, The ALS Association

Results:

Through the implementation of Cascade, The ALS Association achieved significant improvements in agility, consistency, decision-making, risk mitigation, and responsiveness to changes. It created a unified front toward their common goal, resulting in stronger strategy execution and improved overall efficiency.

Achievements like the approval of Relyvrio, are the result of successful strategic decisions and mission alignment across the organization. Through its continued investment in Cascade, stewardship of Ice Bucket Challenge funds, and the emphasis on strategy execution, The ALS Association will achieve even more as they work towards making ALS a livable disease until they cure it. 

Sweeney encourages other organizations to embrace platforms like Cascade that support coordinated efforts to drive missions forward.

“Cascade is supporting our efforts to drive our mission forward. It is not just a platform. It's a tool that has allowed us to better execute our mission and drive our vision forward with precision and agility." – Michelle Sweeney, VP of Operations Strategy, The ALS Association

"The insight and agility into the work we're doing has felt tremendous. I'm excited to see how this partnership will further propel our mission in the future." – Gary Shipp, Director of Operations Strategy, The ALS Association