HTML Preview Small Non Profit Strategic Plan Format page number 1.
1
Strategic Planning in Nonprofit Organizations – a Brief Overview
Strategic planning involves choosing the highest priority achievements that an
organization is prepared to commit to over a period of three to five years. The process of
planning emphasizes conscious, thoughtful choices. If an organization is in crisis or if the Board
and/or management are spending most of their time reacting to tense or uncertain present
circumstances then the organization is not in a good place to begin the planning process.
How do you begin? Strategic planning builds commitment so it is very important for all
levels of the organization to be involved. A good first step is to form a Strategic Planning
Committee (SPC). This committee should involve creative energetic thinkers from management
and non-management staff and the board. Many organizations choose to bring in an outside
consultant (can be paid or volunteer) to facilitate conversations and capture external interviews.
He or she will move the process along, and may draft the final plan, however, in the end the plan
must be owned by the staff and the board in order to move it successfully and strategically into
the future.
The first task for the SPC is to assess the current situation and review the relevance of the
mission and programs. The committee is also responsible for developing a “plan for the plan”
that articulates the outcome(s) of the planning process, strategic issues to address, planning
activities (such as retreats) and time frame. The importance of the SPC’s composition and full
board and staff involvement is crucially important. Strategic planning is iterative – the thinking,
the collective experience of staff and board and the external and internal research may change
the course of the planning and challenge earlier assumptions or conclusions.
The second activity is to summarize the organizational history, detailing what has or has
not been accomplished since the last planning process. Empirical data, such as budget,
fundraising and program trends, should be collected so that the SPC can better understand the