This document provides guidance on effective strategic planning for nonprofit organizations. It recommends starting with the organization's vision and mission and gaining input from leadership. The strategic plan should include a funding strategy based on a case for support, as well as integrated financial and fundraising strategies. Key elements of a strategic plan include purpose, vision, values, strengths, and growth indicators. Metrics should measure progress in areas like finance, operations, income generation, communications, and personnel. Buy-in from staff and leadership is important for successful implementation.

1. MAKING STRATEGIC
PLANNING WORK
29 FEBRUARY 2016

2. INTRODUCTIONS

3. WHO WE ARE
Dan Fletcher MInstF(Dip)
Deputy Director
Kingston Smith Fundraising and Management
Caroline Holton MInstF(Dip)
Principal
Funding Fixers

4. STRATEGIC PLANNING
THEORY
WHAT YOU NEED
TO KNOW

5. • Start with
organisation vision
and mission
• Gain input and
leadership from SMT
and Management
Board
• Build a Funding
strategy from your
case for support
• Integrate a Financial
strategy with a
Fundraising strategy
BEWARE OF THE DOG

6. • Don’t start with your
financial sources or
your income
generation techniques
• Know the difference
between Features and
Benefits
• Articulate your impact
rather than describe
your outputs
START WITH A CASE FOR SUPPORT

7. • These should be linked to mission and vision
• Make sure both are aligned rather than at odds
• Income generators - learn to speak ‘Finance’
• Don’t confuse ‘Costs’ with ‘Investments’
FINANCIAL AND FUNDING STRATEGIES

8. “If you don’t know where you are
going, you might not get there.”
Yogi Berra

9. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

10. KEEP IT SIMPLE
Elevator Pitch: Can you sum up what your charity does in
90 seconds, or in 100 words?
In pairs, pick one organisation and draft a 100 word or less
elevator pitch that links your funding strategy with your
mission.

11. DESIGNING A STRATEGY
A BLUEPRINT

12. STRATEGY ON A PAGE
• Vision, Purpose and Values
• USP, Niche and Reputation
• Long-term and mid-term strategies
• Long-term and mid-term growth indicators
• Key actions
• Key growth indicators
• Consider economic, social and political backdrop.
à la BGI Strategy

13. BGI Strategy’s Strategy on a
Page methodology

14. SPEND TIME ON FUNDAMENTALS
• Purpose: What drives your passion for the charity? It
needs to be sustainable too.
• Vision: What is the need for your work and how is this
changing? Where do you want to be in 3-5 years
time? What will have changed?
• Values: What activities would be a sackable offence?
What do you stand for?

15. CONSIDER WHERE YOU FIT IN
• USP: What makes your cause special, why should
people give to you?
• Niche: What ‘market place’ do you operate in? Who
are your competitors?
• Reputation: How do your beneficiaries and donors
define you? How do you manage and protect donors’
interests and investments? Your ethos and strategy
are inter-linked.

16. “However beautiful the strategy,
you should occasionally look at the
results.”
Winston Churchill

17. There are five top-level
areas to consider
• For each there will be
long-term, mid-term
and immediate
actions
• The time-scales will
vary for different
organisations
• Each strategy area
should have growth
indicators to measure
progress
KEY ELEMENTS TO REMEMBER
Strategy area Example
Finance Reserveswillreach3
month’sexpenditure
Operations Introduce2new
multi-yearprojects
Income
generation
ROIexceeds2:1for
community
fundraising
Communicatio
ns
50%donorsreceiving
emailoverletter
People 100%stafftrainedon
dataprotectionrules

18. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

19. Create some examples
for your own work
• Choose a time-scale -
possibly 12 months
• For each of these five
areas, define how you
will measure growth.
It is always a number.
• Sense check with the
person next to you
GROWTH INDICATOR EXERCISE
Strategy area Example
Finance
Operations
Income
generation
Communicatio
ns
People

20. GROWTH INDICATOR HAND OUT
Strategy area Growth indicator
Finance
Operations
Income
generation
Communication
s
People

21. STRATEGIC PLANNING PRACTICE
CASE STUDIES

22. PLANNING PROCESS
• Start with organisation strategy first - where do we
want to be and what market are we operating within?
• Develop Fundraising strategy based on financial
targets and realistic ROIs
• Write a ‘Department’ plan for different disciplines -
overall target broken down into manageable monthly
chunks.
• Develop a granulised ‘Output Document’

23. CULTURE AND STRATEGY
• Strategic Plans don’t shift organisational culture -
beware of ‘pot-chasing’
• Be open, transparent and fair. Different disciplines
will have different targets
• How do you manage and reward success?
• Show progress publicly - use graphics, boards, charts.
This creates buy-in.
• Educate the whole team out of their silos. Each
‘department’ should understand the other.

24. GAIN TEAM OWNERSHIP
• Help individuals understand their role/place - how will
the income that they raise be used, what will its
impact be?
• Keep strategy alive in one-to-one meetings. This can
form a part of ‘Output Document’ which can be
measured during 1:1 and supervision
• Keep balance between carrot and stick
• Develop better team cohesion

25. GAIN SENIOR OWNERSHIP
• For new work have an agreement with SMT and
Board
• What happens if they only offer half?
• How will this affect your ability to deliver and how
will this impact upon the charity?
• How can existing work be ‘packaged’ into new
projects?

26. CONSIDER WIDER IMPACT
• Shift from capital bids to full-cost recovery
• Shift from office-based to home-working
• Shift from quantity to quality - high volume can
actually be detrimental to success.

27. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

28. Review this Output
Document for Trust
fundraising.
In threes, discuss:
• How would you talk to
the Trusts fundraiser
about the results?
• How would it affect
the current strategy?
• How would this be
communicated to the
wider team/charity?
MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING

29. FURTHER INFO/CONTACT DETAILS
Dan Fletcher MInstF(Dip)
dfletcher@ks.co.uk @DanFletcherKSFM│
Caroline Holton BA (Hons) MInstF(Dip)
fundingfixers@outlook.com 07961 001710│

30. NCVO champions the voluntary sector and
volunteer movement to create a better society.
We connect, represent and support over
11,500 voluntary sector member
organisations, from the smallest community
groups to the largest charities.
This helps our members and their millions of
volunteers make the biggest difference to the
causes they believe in.
•Search for NCVO membership
•Visit www.ncvo.org.uk/join
•Email membership@ncvo.org.uk
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