This document discusses strategic planning and provides guidance on developing strategic plans that are effective and avoid becoming neglected. It recommends keeping plans focused on 3-5 key priorities, making them simple to understand and track progress. The planning process should involve key stakeholders and identify priorities through discovery and analysis of changes, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The resulting plan should establish a few concise, measurable recommendations to guide the organization for the next 3-4 years.

1. WHY STRATEGIC
PLANS GATHER
DUST
A practical and simplified
approach to planning for
organizational and fund
development success.
Peter Hoppe

2. OUR EXPERIENCE IN
STRATEGIC PLANNING
 Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors
 Coalition of Family Physicians
 Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities
 Junior Achievement of Central Ontario
 Pathways for Children and Families in York Region
 Station Gallery
 YWCA Canada
 HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic of Ontario (HALCO)
 Canadian Childcare Federation Strategic
 Luke’s Place Planning is one
 Boys and Girls Club of Peel of five core
 Golden Rescue services we
provide.

3. WHY DO WE ADVOCATE
STRATEGIC PLANNING
 It allows us to learn where our clients have been
 It allows us to better understand where our clients want to go
 It either supports or contradicts fund development goals and desires
Strategic Planning
provides valuable
information about
an organization
and the cause
they serve.

4. WHY YOU SHOULD ADVOCATE
STRATEGIC PLANNING
 An opportunity to learn about your organization
 An opportunity to learn about the cause you serve
 Builds organizational consensus and harmony
 Helps you to allocate resources effectively and efficiently
 Allows you to plan for success and prevent failure
The process of
Strategic
Planning is as
important as the
outcome.

5. THE DEFINITIVE STRATEGIC PLAN MODEL
 There is none
 Strategic plans come in many shapes and sizes
 Even approaches to strategic planning vary
Build a Strategic
Planning model that
works for you and
your organization.

7. WHY DO STRATEGIC PLANS GATHER DUST?
 Too time consuming and complex
 Too all encompassing and over-reaching
 Too many recommendations and goals to track
 They don’t have benchmarks to measure progress
 Not viewed as an ongoing process
 Not dynamic or flexible enough to accommodate change
 Lack of commitment to the process
 No strategy to measure progress

8. STRATEGIC PLANS THAT STAY ALIVE
 Focused on priorities
 Three to five key recommendations
 Simple to read and comprehend
 Easy to adapt
 Easy to track & measure
 A commitment to the process after the plan has been finished
Your strategic plan does
not have to do everything
for everyone. Focus your
plan on priorities.

9. The more goals and
recommendations you try to
incorporate in your plan the
more likely your plan will gather
dust.

10. STRATEGIC PLANNING OPTIONS
 Plans to advance your organization and mission
 Plans to promote your cause – public awareness
 Plans to improve revenue generation
 Plans that blend all of the above
Effective Strategic
Planning combines
organizational goals
with organizational
capacity.

11. STRATEGIC PLANNING GUIDELINES
Simple & Practical
Realistic & Achievable
Measurable & Trackable
Dynamic & Flexible An effective strategic
plan is a living
document of the most
important goals you
want to achieve in the
next 3 to 4 years.

12. STRATEGIC PLAN TIME FRAMES
 Two Years: Too brief to incorporate major changes or goals
 Three Years: Optimal balance between keeping pace with
change and repeating the planning process
 Five years: Difficult to project five years in advance
Choose a shorter
time frame if your
organization is
impacted by constant
or rapid change.

13. WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE
STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
 Volunteer Leadership
 Staff leadership
 Program & Services Leadership
 Fund Development & Marketing Leadership
 Financial Leadership
A task force of 5 to 6
motivated and
knowledgeable
individuals.

14. AN IDEAL STRATEGIC PLANNING TEAM
 Board of Directors President or Vice-President
 Organization President, CEO or Executive Director
 Director of Fund Development & Marketing
 Director of Programs and Services
 Director of Finance
Yes, strategic
planning is that
important!

15. MISSION , VISION & CHANGE
 Your organization’s greatest challenge is change
 Change impacts your:
 Cause
 Mission Strategic planning is
 Vision a great opportunity
to review the
 Markets relevance of your
 Programs & Services Mission and Vision
 Future Statement.

17. STEP 1: ADDRESS THE CHANGE
THE DISCOVERY SESSION
 A half-day, full day or weekend session to discuss
1. The status of your last strategic plan
2. The primary changes that have occurred in your environment
3. The relevance of your Mission and Vision Statement
4. Three or four key priorities for your organization
Don’t try to
accomplish
everything here. It’s
an opportunity to
discover.

18. STEP 1: ADDRESS THE CHANGE
THE DISCOVERY SESSION
The discovery session is your opportunity to include everyone who
is important to the organization.
 Stakeholders
 Beneficiaries
Everyone should
 Volunteers
have an opportunity
 Staff
to help shape the
 Funders
future of your
 Leaders
organization.
 Community

19. STEP 2: EVALUATION & ANALYSIS
Fund Development Strategic Plan Organizational Strategic Plan
 Key Fund Development Programs  Key Programs & Services
 Key Communications & Messaging  Key Organization & Structure
 SWOT: Focus on Priorities  SWOT: Focus on Priorities
Your SWOT analysis
should only focus on 2
or 3 Strengths,
Weaknesses,
Opportunities and
Threats.

20. A WORD ABOUT SWOT
 Strengths: Characteristics that contribute to success or provide
a competitive advantage.
 Weaknesses: Characteristics that inhibit success or place you
at a disadvantage.
 Opportunities: External changes or new elements that may
help your organization succeed.
 Threats: External changes or new environmental elements that
may have a negative impact on your organization.

21. STEP 2: EVALUATION & ANALYSIS
 Competitive Analysis:
 A look at what 2 or 3 similar organizations are doing
 Mission & Vision
 Programs & Services
 Fund Development and Marketing
Understanding your
competition allows
you to evaluate your
organization’s unique
nature and
contribution.

22. LET’S REVIEW
 You’ve reviewed your last strategic plan
 Discussed changes in your environment
 Addressed the relevance of your mission
 Agreed on organizational and/or fund development priorities
 Evaluated your key fundraising and communication programs
 Evaluated your key services and programs
 Completed your SWOT analysis
 Reviewed organizations similar to yours
 What’s next?

23. STEP 3: PRELIMINARY
RECOMMENDATIONS
 A set of preliminary ideas and suggestions that address the
changes and priorities you’ve discovered in light of the evaluation
and analysis you conducted.
 Nothing carved in stone – points for further discussion
 Keep it focused – 8 to 10 ideas/suggestions/recommendations
Think of it as
focused
brainstorming

24. STEP 4: RECONVENE THE TEAM!
 Review discovery session discussion and priorities
 Review evaluation and analysis SWOT
 Discuss Preliminary Recommendations
 Choose three to six final prioritized recommendations
 Develop shape, structure and substance for each recommendation
 Goals and objectives
 Human and financial resources
 Timelines
 Measures of success

25. THE PLAN OF ACTION
 A series of action steps required each quarter to execute your
recommendation and achieve your goals/objectives.
 Establish benchmarks for each quarter that can be measured.
Recommendation
Develop corporate January - March 2012
partnership Research and identify
opportunities and 30 potential corporate
secure 5 new partners partners that have the
that can generate capacity to contribute
$100,000 in new or generate $25,000.
revenue.

26. THE PLAN OF ACTION
Strategic Plan as your architectural
 Think of your
drawings and your Plan of Action as your blueprints.
Recommendation January - March 2012
Stream line programs to Prepare evaluation
eliminate duplication of matrix for each
services and reduce program and ensure
annual expenditures by staff/board approval of
15%. measurement criteria.

27. YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN
1. Introduction & background
 Status of your last strategic plan
 Primary changes that have occurred in your environment
 Relevance of your Mission and Vision Statement
 Key priorities for your organization
2. Evaluation & Analysis
 Key Fund Development Programs
 Key Programs and Services
 SWOT
 Competitive Analysis

28. YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN
3. Recommendations
 Goals and objectives
 Human and financial resources
 Timelines
 Measures of success
4. Plan of Action
 Quarterly action steps
 Quarterly benchmarks

29. NOW COMES THE IMPORTANT PART!
KEEP THAT PLAN OFF THE SHELF
1. Quarterly Plan of Action = Quarterly Review
2. Reconvene the team 4 times a year
3. Review progress and benchmarks
4. Adjust Plan of Action
5. Amend recommendations
6. Produce a quarterly report – 2-3 pages
7. Attach report to your strategic plan

30. Modifications
Plan of
Action
Strategic Plan

31. Quarterly New Strategic
Reports Plan
Quarterly
Modifications
Plan of Action
Quarterly
Review

32. KEEP YOUR PLAN ALIVE
1. Focus on your priorities
2. Keep it simple
3. Involve key stakeholders
4. Fewer recommendations & goals = greater probability of success
5. A quarterly plan of action
6. Review progress and benchmarks every quarter
7. Report on plan adjustments and recommendation amendments
8. Stay committed to the process

33. Thank you!
Rharms.com.com
Peter Hoppe
phoppe@rharms.com
416 281-7816 Ext. 1