Be Strategic About Your Nonprofit’s Strategic Planning

Summer has arrived, and the heat is on. Some nonprofits are making the transition between fiscal years, while others are hoping to shore up plans for the remainder of the year. Whatever the reason, this tends to be the season when many nonprofit organizations head into the board room for … cue ominous music … strategic planning.

Whether your organization is engaging in short-term or long-term planning, the approach you take could make the difference between failure and success. Here are a few tips to help you move toward success.

Be Realistic About What You Are Able to Do

Nonprofit leaders are so passionate about their missions, and have many grand plans for growing their organizations to help more and more people in their communities. Everyone is excited to write it all down on paper and imagine what the future is going to look like, but when they come back to the table a year later to review progress on the magical, mythical plan, hardly anything has been done.

Why does this happen? Many times, the strategic planning process focuses so much on the vision that leadership forgets to stop and think about whether the organization has the capacity to reach the lofty goals that are being set.

While you are putting your plans together, make sure to evaluate them by asking some critical questions:

• Is this goal in line with our mission?
• Does our staff have the time and energy to take on this work?
• Will we need to hire new staff to accomplish these new goals?
• What are the costs associated with the plan?
• Is our development program strong, robust and diverse enough to grow into the additional costs without affecting our current programming?
• Will our donors and community support our new direction?

You’ve Got More Capacity Than You Think

Strategic plans are not “make more work for the staff” plans, although it often feels like that’s the case. Of course, the staff will be the most heavily involved in implementing the plan, but they are not the only pieces of the puzzle to consider when evaluating your organization’s capacity. Make sure you are also discussing how your board of directors can help bring your strategy to fruition.

Each of your board members has unique talents, strengths and connections that can help your organization reach both your short-term and long-term goals. It is important to incorporate them into any conversation surrounding strategic planning.

Remember that fundraising and board work are not one-size-fits-all. Board members will be much more likely to commit to helping if they are comfortable with the jobs they are being asked to do. Get to know them and customize each member’s participation based on their availability, comfort level, energy level, talents, etc. Consider each person on the team a piece of a whole. When everyone does their part, the puzzle comes together.

Make a Plan for Your Plan

One of the biggest missteps that nonprofits make during the strategic planning process is thinking that writing down the organization’s goals is the end of the conversation. In fact, it should be the beginning of a much larger discussion.

In my capacity as a consultant, I often see organizations get excited by all of the possibilities of what could be, then stall when it is time to tackle the mountain of goals they have set for themselves. As you are evaluating your capacity, you may realize that you need to slow down your time frame, or even reevaluate priorities. Once you feel confident that the strategy is achievable, it’s time for the most important step in the process: making a plan for your plan.

What does that mean, exactly? Now that you have established your overarching goals, break them into the smaller steps that are required to accomplish each goal. Who is responsible for carrying out each step? What are the specific, measurable tasks that need to be accomplished to achieve success? What is the time frame or deadline for each milestone?

Be Prepared to Pivot

Strategic plans are just written on paper, not set in stone. Whether you are planning far into your organization’s future or creating a development or marketing plan for the remainder of your fiscal year, strategic plans should be living, breathing documents that can be amended as circumstances change. This is why it is important to reevaluate as you reach each milestone. Ask yourselves whether it is still in the best interest of the organization to continue with your plans, or whether you need to change course.

Now you’re ready to head into that boardroom and take strategic planning season by storm. Remember to consider your capacity, involve your board, make a plan for your plan and be prepared to pivot, and you’ll be set for success.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.