Why, you might ask, should we spend time and resources on strategic planning?
Many organizations avoid strategic planning for these reasons:
- It’s time consuming, especially for leadership.
- It’s expensive (and it’s not always easy to find the funds).
- It’s scary. What if the process reveals negative things about my organization?
But, despite this, strategic planning is very important and can be very useful to directors and boards IF (the vital if) you use the process and result to make strategic decisions. So you must do it!
A structured process for strategic planning can articulate organizational success. It can give you a step-by-step plan for getting there.
Strategic Plan Benefits & Considerations:
- A strategic plan can help you and your Board of Directors align resources.
- A good strategic plan can guide board development, identifying sector gaps in board membership.
- Your strategic plan can (and should) connect with your fundraising plan.
- The strategic plan should address your staffing. For example, if your plan calls for program expansion, you’ll need to determine the skills and talents necessary and how much will it cost to secure staff to fill those roles.
A strategic planning process gives you an opportunity to re-examine, and revise if necessary, the vision, mission and values of your nonprofit.
Your strategic plan can be the foundation of your operations plan, using goals to develop specific and time-driven objectives.