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Your organization is not working the way you want it to. Your goals are not being met, and you have some major concerns about the viability of your organization over the long run. You are frustrated. You feel that the organization is sick and in need of help. A strategic plan might be just what the doctor ordered. Every organization needs a clear sense of purpose, a commitment to its mission, and a defined course of action that can lead to success. To achieve this state, most successful organizations rely on strategic planning. The strategic planning process requires structured analysis of where your organization is today and creative thinking about where we wish it to be tomorrow and how we will get there. Perhaps most importantly, strategic planning is a vehicle that brings team members together in a shared image of potential. A strategic plan may be long-term (three to five years), intermediate-term (two to three years) or short term (one year). It may be designed for internal guidance and management only or it may play a major role in seeking external funding. Throughout the process honesty will be encouraged. The most productive planning processes air issues and concerns thoroughly while achieving areas of consensus. If you do not know where you are going, it is likely that you will never get there. You are leaving your future to chance, rather than taking control of your own destiny. Strategic planning can reverse your situation by providing a road map- by helping your organization define its purpose and destiny and set a reasonable course to follow. With careful planning, a management team can anticipate change and respond to it in a constructive manner. The planning process will also develop alertness to changes in economics, competition, society, politics, technology, and demographics within your organization. It will take time to see a payoff. Your organization will probably have to engage in strategic planning three or four times before it becomes natural. The core planning team must be enthusiastic sponsors and supporters of the process. Ultimately, strategic planning works because you- the management of the organization want it to work. Though the planning process is expected to meet the specific needs of your organization, all strategic planning goes through these same phases and is flexible enough to accommodate many types of nonprofit organizations. The Strategic Planning Process PHASE 1: THE GROUNDWORK Once there is a commitment to strategic planning in general, our first step will be to decide the purpose of the plan, outline the process, answer any questions, select the core planning team and conduct a preliminary S.W.O.T. analysis. This work will be done during a retreat with the organization’s key people and the facilitator. This session will be held at a comfortable site away from the distractions of the normal workplace. PHASE 2: RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Surveys developed by the facilitator and administered by a member of the core planning team will be presented to the management group designed to identify the organizations strengths and weaknesses, structures and procedures, products and services, competition, tax exempt organization trends, and other factors that may influence how the business operates. The management group will be asked to supply information related to the organization’s fundraising and financial history as well. An external analysis will be conducted during which we will attempt to include an evaluation of niche markets, economic changes, technological changes, demographic factors and the competitive environment in which CityNet Ministries operates, based on research already conducted and/or provided by key management. PHASE 3: PLANNING SESSIONS The core planning team, without the direct involvement of the facilitator, will outline in greater detail the planning process, the team’s role and the time commitments.
The group will then develop a preliminary mission statement and several objectives, along with specific strategies for accomplishing these objectives. This information will be provided to the facilitator for inclusion in the written plan. PHASE 4: PRESENTATION, REFINEMENT AND RATIFICATION At an off-site retreat, the core planning team will present to all key members of management the findings from its research and the draft of the strategic plan. The full group will discuss and refine the mission and objectives and expand upon the strategies presented. At this retreat, all key members of management will be given an opportunity to challenge, discuss, or modify the plan. Through this process they will develop a sense of personal ownership in the plan. With help from the facilitator, the objectives will be finalized, and lists of actions and activities, along with responsibility assignments and timelines, will be developed. PHASE FIVE: FINALIZE THE WRITTEN PLAN The facilitator, working in concert with other members of the core team, will commit a summary plan to paper. The summary plan will include the mission statement, objectives and strategies ratified at the retreat. An action plan will then be developed to specify criteria for implementing the activities and actions. The action plan will assign responsibilities, timetables, and budgets and will provide the means for evaluation. PHASE 6: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION The vision of your organization, as defined in the strategic plan, must be communicated repeatedly to everyone in the organization. The goals of the organization should become high in everyone’s consciousness so that routine, daily decisions are in harmony with the goals. A written communications plan outlining these things should be developed during this phase. The facilitator will advise the core planning team as the plan is implemented, especially during the launch of the communications plan; however, primary responsibility for long term implementation and monitoring will be assigned to (and assumed by) key members of your organization. PHASE 7: MONITORING An annual reassessment of the plan at an off site location will be conducted in coordination with the management team. In addition, quarterly evaluations will be built into the strategic plan, but will be performed without the direct involvement of the facilitator.
Contact us today for a free Strategic Planning consultation.
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STRATEGIC
PLANNING
