Is it time?
- Are you wondering whether you have agreement and alignment between the board and staff about your future direction?
- Have you completed everything in your last strategic plan?
- Or has it been a while since you engaged in strategic planning?
- Or perhaps has your organization never done strategic planning before?
- Or has it been a while since you engaged in strategic planning?
- Do you have concerns about whether your governance and staff structures and roles and responsibilities are in line with what the organization needs as it continues to grow and develop?
- Has your organization been growing recently or been through a major change? Do you need to take a fresh look at your future direction, given recent changes?
Step back and envision your future
Assess your organization's program portfolioIs it time to take a step back and collectively envision your organization’s next 3-5 years?
There are many reasons organizations engage in strategic planning and each organization starts with a unique set of circumstances. Strategic planning provides you with the opportunity to take a step back, collect input from key stakeholders and have a series of focused conversations about the key strategic questions facing your organization.
Through those conversations, the group will identify 3-5 key priorities, action steps, as well as success criteria. You will also develop a tool to enable you to assess future opportunities and challenges as they emerge. In addition, the group will review and update your mission, vision and values statements. You will also have agreement on how you will review and update your plan to ensure its continued relevance to the organization.
Staff then identify tasks, accountability and timelines in your Year 1 action plan. In 1-2 pages, you will have your organization’s future direction mapped out with agreement on what demonstrates success.
You may decide to tackle additional elements such as a strategic portfolio review or developing a theory of change depending on your needs.
There are many reasons organizations engage in strategic planning and each organization starts with a unique set of circumstances. Strategic planning provides you with the opportunity to take a step back, collect input from key stakeholders and have a series of focused conversations about the key strategic questions facing your organization.
Through those conversations, the group will identify 3-5 key priorities, action steps, as well as success criteria. You will also develop a tool to enable you to assess future opportunities and challenges as they emerge. In addition, the group will review and update your mission, vision and values statements. You will also have agreement on how you will review and update your plan to ensure its continued relevance to the organization.
Staff then identify tasks, accountability and timelines in your Year 1 action plan. In 1-2 pages, you will have your organization’s future direction mapped out with agreement on what demonstrates success.
You may decide to tackle additional elements such as a strategic portfolio review or developing a theory of change depending on your needs.
“The strategic plan itself looks phenomenal. These are seriously some of the best working sessions I’ve seen a board go through, with high level strategic goals that can be divvied up into action steps defined by board/staff. That is everything a strategic plan should be. So many get lost in the weeds.”
- Bridgette, Board member, human service nonprofit
What to expect
By engaging in this process, you will:
- Create a road map for your organization’s future
- Agree on a common language that help your stakeholders align
- Develop tools for assessing challenges and opportunities as they pop up
- Achieve clarity about what your big goals are for the next few years.
- Create an action plan that your team can start implementing immediately
“There was structure about organizational needs and growth and where the organization was growing from a short term perspective and long term. It also allowed us to think about organization from a continuity aspect as well amid the current state of events. I think it also allowed us to get creative on how we can offer more programming in an ever changing world.” – Kiel, Board member, disability nonprofit
Partnering with you
Your situation is unique and Grace Social Sector Consulting, LLC will partner with you to customize our approach. Strategic planning typically includes four phases.
- Gather insights: Compile information on where your organization stands today and what the key strategic questions are that you need to grapple with during the process. This typically happens through a combination of stakeholder interviews, focus groups and/or surveys.
- Imagine new options: Convene your key stakeholders and take time to review the findings from the discovery process. Consider what this means for your organization’s future. Brainstorm options. Brainstorm criteria for future decision-making.
- Decide on big goals: Come to agreement on your big goals and action steps. Then define what success will look like
- Create your action plan: Translate your big goals into a Year 1 implementation plan.
“Thanks for a productive and successful session today. It went very well - significant engagement from all involved, a better sense of the direction we are to go to.” – Matt - Board member, environmental nonprofit
What works
Organizations that benefit from this type of strategic planning the most:
- Are ready to invest energy into a planning process that engages their whole organization effectively
- Understand that much of the value of the planning process is in the conversations it sparks that uncover untested assumptions and open up new possibilities.
- Want to be intentional about their organization’s future
Frequently asked questions
I have been through strategic planning processes before and there was a lot of brainstorming, but not a lot of prioritizing. We ended up with a laundry list of things to do with no clear way forward. How will this be different?
We structure the process so that there is time and space for brainstorming AND prioritizing. If the group identifies more than 5 strategic priorities, we work with them to narrow their focus to no more than 5 big goals.
The last organization I was with had a strategic plan was so long and complicated no one could wade through it and make it useful.
You will end up with a “just right” plan that identifies the high level goals and success metrics/criteria with a year 1 detailed implementation plan with accountability and timelines identified.
My organization has a lot of stakeholders. I am not sure how to effectively involve them in the process without it feeling like an overwhelming number of voices and opinions.
We will work together to identify who will be on your ad hoc strategic planning committee, a small group of up to 5 people to guide the process, who will be interviewed, invited to a focus group or asked to answer a survey. The planning process with your key leaders will kick off with a summary of the key themes that emerged from those conversations. Sessions will be a series of focused conversations that build on each other to enable the group to envision your future, identify key priorities and success criteria. Rounds of feedback and input are built into the process to ensure buy in from your key constituents.
We structure the process so that there is time and space for brainstorming AND prioritizing. If the group identifies more than 5 strategic priorities, we work with them to narrow their focus to no more than 5 big goals.
The last organization I was with had a strategic plan was so long and complicated no one could wade through it and make it useful.
You will end up with a “just right” plan that identifies the high level goals and success metrics/criteria with a year 1 detailed implementation plan with accountability and timelines identified.
My organization has a lot of stakeholders. I am not sure how to effectively involve them in the process without it feeling like an overwhelming number of voices and opinions.
We will work together to identify who will be on your ad hoc strategic planning committee, a small group of up to 5 people to guide the process, who will be interviewed, invited to a focus group or asked to answer a survey. The planning process with your key leaders will kick off with a summary of the key themes that emerged from those conversations. Sessions will be a series of focused conversations that build on each other to enable the group to envision your future, identify key priorities and success criteria. Rounds of feedback and input are built into the process to ensure buy in from your key constituents.