Strat_Plan

Developing a Strategic Plan for you Nonprofit:

I realize that a lot of people think of strategic planning as a retreat or as a product that can be delivered in a matter of days.

However, strategic planning (I prefer the concept of strategy formulation) is not a product, it is not a retreat – it is a process. Formulating strategy or strategic planning is an on-going process and is in fact a way of thinking and making decisions. It is said that the elders of the Iroquois tribe when making decisions that had long-term implications would always ask – how will this affect the tribe seven generations in the future. How often does your nonprofit engage in this type of thinking. In fact, one important question that the nonprofit board should ask itself is this: What percentage of the time during our board meetings do we spend on strategic matters or issues? It is a good start to determining if you are serving your most important component of board governance, which is "being strategic".

It is also important to realize that strategic planning (or strategy formulation) is only one-third of the process of strategic management. This three part model is: strategy formulation/strategic planning which is the responsibility of the board of directors; strategy implementation which is the responsibility of the Executive Director and the staff; and, strategy evaluation which is the province of the board of directors. This is the start to understanding the strategic planning process.

This strategic planning engagement therefore is geared toward the board of directors.

The intention is to take the board through a learning process that will result in a revised strategic plan for the nonprofit that is strategic in nature and is not preoccupied with operations.

Consider this example: Mission represents the transformation you will bring about in the client you serve. That is the essence of being strategic. How you will make that transformation happen is up to the Executive Director and the staff through the nonprofit’s programs. You design your programs to deliver mission. There is a distinction here.

In this engagement and in working with the board and the Executive Director, the Board of Directors will explore all the critical issues that relate to who you serve, your purpose in serving them and what you want to accomplish. This journey can be very conceptual and cerebral at the start but it is an important effort that will serve the nonprofit well.

The deliverables will include (but will not be limited to):

• An assessment of the organization’s present strategic plan and all its component parts

• A reassessment of the nonprofit’s strategic components, which would include the following

    ˗ Client definition
    ˗ Mission & Vision Articulation
    ˗ Identifying core organizational values
    ˗ Completing a SWOT analysis for the nonprofit (Strengths & Weakness of the nonprofit – an internal assessment; and, Opportunities and Threats in the environment that includes competitor nonprofits – an external analysis)
    ˗ Establishing strategic goals (that make your organization distinctive from other nonprofits)
    ˗ Establishing organizational objective (three to five year thresholds)
    ˗ Identifying critical processes (what you must be good at in order to make all the above happen)

• A formal written strategic plan that will serve as a tool for future efforts by the nonprofit

• A separate document that will lay the foundation for tying the strategic plan to the organization’s brand and its marketing and fundraising efforts

As mentioned above, I am looking for only two nonprofits to guide through this process, so if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity please call me at (210) 912-3433 or email me.