Battle of Flowers Association
From Deep Listening to a Five-Year Strategic Plan
The Challenge:
For 135 years, the Battle of Flowers Association has been a cornerstone of Fiesta San Antonio, staging the nation’s oldest and largest all-volunteer parade and building a legacy the whole city recognizes. But recognition and understanding aren’t the same thing. Members were proud of that legacy, and they were honest that much of San Antonio still sees the Battle of Flowers as “a parade” and nothing more, even as its volunteers pour thousands of hours into scholarships, Texas history education, and community programs that deserve wider recognition. The leaders and members were ready for a thoughtful plan to advance their vision and sustain the organization for many years to come, while recognizing the unique nature of an all-volunteer organization. The Battle of Flowers Association Board brought us in to help meet this moment: to protect what members love most about the Association while building the structure that would let it thrive for another 135 years.
Our Approach:
We started the way we always do: by listening, not assuming. From the summer of 2025 through the early winter of 2026, we ran the most thorough listening process in the Association’s history. 242 members completed a comprehensive strategic planning survey. We conducted 10 in-depth one-on-one interviews with Association and Foundation leaders, facilitated two in-person member conversations and one virtual session, and convened a focus group of former presidents to capture decades of institutional memory. The Strategic Planning Committee met eight times over the course of the year, including three joint sessions with the Board, shaping every step of the process with us. From there, we turned listening into direction. We facilitated a planning session to revisit the Association’s core purpose, and for the first time in the Association’s 135-year history, its leadership put words to a formal mission statement: “We honor Texas history and heritage by engaging the community through celebration, education, and service.” We brought the priorities members had named back to the membership itself, using live voting sessions to confirm what mattered most, and then facilitated priority-development workshops with the Strategic Planning Committee to develop specific goals, objectives, and multi-year tactics for each priority. We wrote, tested, and refined the plan alongside the Strategic Planning Committee and the Board through structured feedback sessions before it went to a formal vote.
From Our Partner:
The Outcome:
The Battle of Flowers Board unanimously approved its new mission statement and the five strategic priorities, or “North Stars,” which led to a five-year strategic plan built entirely on member voice. Five strategic priorities anchor 16 strategic goals, 51 strategic objectives, and year-by-year tactics to guide the Association forward. And for the first time in 135 years, the Battle of Flowers Association now has a mission statement that its members helped shape and that its Board formally adopted: a shared, enduring declaration of purpose to carry the Association into its next era. We wrapped up our planning engagement one year later in the summer of 2026. The hard work of building the plan is done. The Battle of Flowers Association has now brought Cielo Strategy Group on board for a phase two partnership to launch a strategic planning implementation task force that will carry the plan forward, and we are now in the early stages of putting the plan into action: growing community visibility, strengthening leadership pipelines, and deepening the partnership between the Association and its Foundation. We’re honored to keep walking alongside these remarkable women through May of 2026, and we’re proud that they are not putting this strategic plan on a shelf but truly living it as a workable plan.