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NonProfit Strategic Planning

There are various models for strategic planning; however this is one that The Andringa Group finds useful as their senior consultants assist nonprofit leaders and boards with planning.  If your organization is embarking on a planning process, this provides a working definition and a helpful overview of the process.

Definition of Strategic Planning:

Strategic planning is an ongoing process by which leaders envision the future of their organization and then develop the structures and procedures required to achieve that future. The intent is to create the future, not predict it.

Primary Purposes for Engaging in Strategic Planning:

• Greater unity on purpose, values and culture
• Improved selection of appropriate board members
• CEO and management focus and application of personal strengths
• Donor confidence in the future of the organization
• Better staff teamwork and higher morale
• Reduced crisis management
• Improved effectiveness (doing right things) and efficiency (doing things right)
• Better staff recruitment and training
• Focused board and staff meetings
• Guidance in branding the organization's name/role
• Better results from marketing/advertising
• Basis for employee performance reviews

Whose Responsibility is Strategic Planning?

1. The governing board, representing the moral owners (key stakeholders), determines the "essentials" (mission, values, goals, etc.) and sets broad parameters within which the board wants its CEO and staff to achieve the mission.  The board also identifies the data it needs to monitor progress toward achieving the mission and goals.

2. The CEO and key administrators then develop a more comprehensive plan that takes into account human and financial resources, legal constraints, partnerships, timing, etc.

3. The CEO and staff provide monitoring data to the board and make recommendations on changes in the board's policies that affect planning.

Key Elements of the Strategic Planning Process:

A. Articulation of the organization's vision and mission as defined by the board. The vision defines the broad future it envisions and reflects the values that are intrinsic to the organization. These tend to remain constant over time and require no external justification. Many other organizations are needed to achieve a broad vision. The mission defines the central purpose of the organization and the result it exists to achieve independent of the methods for achieving it.

B. Identification of the emerging trends and changes in the organization's basic political, economic, social and technological environments, which will have the most affect on how the organization will function in the future. These factors serve as a major impetus for change and are frequently summarized by the CEO for the board.

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