An overview of different nonprofit strategic planning processes.

1. Strategic …
Planning
Thinking
Questioning
Paralysis

2. Strategic Planning
Defined
Simply put, strategic planning
determines where an organization
is going over the next year or
more, how it's going to get there
and how it'll know if it got there
or not. The focus of a strategic
plan is usually on the entire
organization.

3. Types of Planning
• Operational Plan
– Decisions primarily affect the day-to-day
implementation of strategic decisions
• Long Range
– Generally considered to assume that
current knowledge about future
conditions is sufficiently reliable to
ensure the plan’s reliability over the
duration of the plan
Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations
1

4. Types of Planning
• Business Plan
– Includes not only strategies and goals but
also detailed projections for revenues and
expenses. Used to communicate with
investors and lenders
• Emergency (Burning Platform)
– Driven by the forces or environment
2

5. Types of Planning
• Organic
– Takes it as it comes. Evaluate the
forces and opportunities in the
moment
• Third Party
– A funder, federation, National
Chapter or outside force makes the
strategic decisions for the primary
organization
3

6. And Finally
• Generative Thinking
– The generative work encourages
boards to be present at those times
when the organization tries to make
sense of circumstances, tries to
make meaning of events.
4

7. So what is strategic planning?
• decision making
• chooses how to respond to the
circumstances of a dynamic
environment
• systemic: Follows a process that is
both structured and data based
• chooses specific priorities
• builds commitments
• guides the acquisition and allocation
of resources

8. strategic planning is not
• prediction of the future
• does not substitute for leadership and
decision making
• rarely smooth
• definitive
• static
• once every 3 years

9. Can you think of any
organizations that
might benefit from
strategic planning?

12. What
happens
when one
decision
changes
everything?

14. Two
new
dams

16. Strategic Planning Models

17. The Traditional Model
Strategies
Goals & Objectives
Mission
Vision
Ann Cohen & Associates

18. 5 PHASES
1. READINESS ASSESSMENT
2. OPERATIVE ELEMENTS
3. STRATEGIC DEFINITION
4. CLARIFY ACTION
5. MAKE IT REAL
Ann Cohen & Associates

19. Cycles of Planning
SHAPING
CHANGE
IMPLEMENTING
CHANGE
LEARNING FROM CHANGE
Ann Cohen & Associates

21. The Process
Get
Ready
Mission
Vision
Assess
Situation
Agree on
Priorities
Write
Plan
Implement Evaluate
Monitor
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

22. ”…before this decade is out, land a man
on the moon and return him safely to the
Earth."

23. Vision
what will success look like
Mission
why the organization exists
Values
principles that guide the organization

24. HIGH MISSION
IMPACT/ LOW
VISBILITY
HIGH MISSION
IMPACT/ HIGH
VISIBLITY
LOW MISSION
IMPACT/ LOW
VISIBLITY
LOW MISSION
IMPACT/ HIGH
VISIBILITY
FINANCIAL VIABILITY
MISSIONIMPACT
COMPASSPOINT’S DUAL BOTTOM-LINE MATRIX

25. BEST
IN THE
WORLD
PASSIONATEDRIVES YOUR
RESOURCE
ENGINE
JIM COLLINS: GOOD TO GREAT AND THE SOCIAL SECTOR

36. Common Elements
• Refresh mission & vision
• Assessment of current environment
• Assumptions
• Input from community
• Research
• Selection of priorities
• Written plan
• Evaluation & Measurement

37. DecidersDeciders
• Board leadership
• Executive Director
• Staff (Senior staff and more)
• Board (depending on size)
• Donors, foundations, supporters
• Stakeholders (community, regional)
• Volunteers
• Partners (nonprofit and business)
• National chapters
• political officials

38. Motivations
• Clarity for the organization
• Organizational priorities selected for
staff work plans
• Programs & Services
• Resource allocation
• Communication
• new 990 Tax Form
– www.stayexempt.org
• Customers, Donors, Volunteers

39. considerations
• What conditions would cause you
quit or release a strategy?
• How can you create a plan that is
dynamic enough that it is
understood by everyone?
• How does the plan become part of
your organization’s culture?

40. • Resources
• The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real Time Strategic planning in a Rapid-
Response World by David La Piana
• Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations (2nd Edition): A Practical
Guide and Workbook by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye
• Driving Strategic Planning: A Nonprofit Executive’s Guide by Deborah Kocsis
and Susan Waechter
• Present: Strategic Planning- Choosing the Right Methods for Your Nonprofit
Organization by Michela Perrone and Janis Johnston
• Culture of Inquiry: Healthy Debate in the Boardroom by Nancy Axelrod
• Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organziations: A Practical Guide and
Workbook by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye
• Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by
Richard Chait, William Ryan and Barbara Taylor
• To Go Forward, Retreat: The Board Retreat Handbook Sandra Hughes
• The Nonprofit Dashboard: A Tool for Tracking Progress by Lawrence Butler
• The Secret of Successful Strategy Execution by Gary Neilson, Karla Martin,
and Elizabeth Powers
• Generating Buzz: Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Boards by Sally
Patterson
• Websites
• Idaho Nonprofit Center www.idahononprofits.org
• BoardSource www.boardsource.org
• Nonprofit Resource Center www.not-for-profit.org
• Free Management Library www.managementhelp.org

41. QUESTIONS

42. Thank You
Will Northrop
Wtfc@mac.com
208-761-7595
PO Box 2724
Boise, ID 83701