Most nonprofits know the importance of strategic planning to ensure their ongoing relevancy, resiliency, and sustainability. However, few know exactly how to design and conduct a successful planning process that results in an inclusive, consensus-built roadmap to guide the nonprofit to its next level of success.

Ideally, planning is a formalized, creative, and continuous process that involves a coordinated response to the challenges and opportunities that occur from growth and change. The result of this process is a concrete, measurable road map that provides focus and momentum for guiding the future of the organization in mitigating its challenges and leveraging its opportunities.

In those special circumstances when it “clicks,” when strategic planning is done right, nothing is as productive or satisfying. The energy of the planning process becomes contagious, permeating the entire nonprofit, and when it does, everyone feels the effects… the Board, staff, volunteers, and most important, the stakeholders who the nonprofit exists to serve.

What do you need to know in order to do successful strategic planning? If you are getting ready to tackle a new plan or update your existing plan this program teaches the “do’s and don’ts” of proper planning. You will learn how to avoid producing a plan that has limited impact on operational success, is not embraced by everyone in your nonprofit, and worse still, sits on a shelf gathering dust.

This will be a fast-paced, high-impact, and insightful program appropriate for anyone in nonprofit leadership.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand different approaches to planning and which is most appropriate for your nonprofit
• Learn the steps necessary to conduct an effective SWOT Analysis Environment Scan
• Recognize the proper role of the board and staff in the planning process
• Identify the purpose of the vision, mission, goals, and objectives in successful planning
• Learn why planning fails and the essential steps to avoid the common pitfalls
• Gain innovative techniques about how to put the plan into action once it is completed
• Recognize the key strategies to ensure the plan becomes an integral and enduring component of daily operations