Strategic Planning
Building organizational Capacity for the Non Profit
Strategic Planning is the means of envisioning your non profit future and
asking these three basic questions:
- Where have we been?
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to go?
Strategic Planning emphasizes the process in addition to the end product
and includes your mission, vision, creativity, values and organizational
culture
Strategic Planning is a tool for transforming your mode of functioning from
being reactive to pro-active. The future is anticipated and opportunities
ultized through Strategic Planning. Strategic Planning is future based lead
by creative thinking. An important benefit of the process is team building
that is nurtured by an inclusive process.
Benefits of Strategic Planning:
- Ignite ingenuity and new approaches
- Greater investment of volunteers, community, funders and partners
- Frame a common vision for your non profit
- Crystallize non profit belief and values
- Visualize strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats
- Context for daily actions and decisions
- Bring new people onto the board
- Create and update brand identity items
It gives you a blue print to follow. A strategic plan is an excellent
marketing piece for funders and community partners as well as a road map
for your organization's growth.
Planning to plan - deciding to undertake the Strategic Planning process, board of trustees approval and buy in, leadership selected, consultant hired
Needs Assessment - evaluating the present situation both internally and externally, using reliable measuring tools, identifying strengths , weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Mission - clear, concise, inspirational statement of the dream that defines the non profit.
Vision - visualization of what the non profit can be how you are going to change the neighborhood, the community, or the world.
Strategy - how are you going to implement the mission and build your vision, Goals/Objectives: specific timetables, accountability accomplishments and measurable outcomes to fulfill the mission and vision.
Plan - pragmatic action plan, presented both internally and externally to exhibit the highlighted results from the Strategic Planning process.
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