apologizing to disgruntled folks about their seating<\/a>, I got a call from McKinsey. Can they help us with strategy work?<\/p>\nHell yes. One month later they offered $1.5 million and a dedicated team of three in pro bono resources for a six-month process. Holy cow!<\/p>\n
Scale this to suit your organization. Six months out, think about your organization\u2019s sphere of influence. A volunteer? A board member with strategy experience?<\/p>\n
But the bottom line is you\u2019ll have to come up with some<\/em> money. The following three approaches come with increasing levels of organizational investment.<\/p>\nHOW TO INVEST IN NONPROFIT STRATEGIC PLANNING<\/h3>\n
1) Hire A Traffic Director. <\/strong>Clearly some organizations can\u2019t (or won\u2019t)<\/em> invest in much more than a facilitator to direct traffic.<\/p>\n2) Invest modestly but keep it largely in-house. <\/strong>This is kind of the \u201cDIY version\u201d of nonprofit strategic planning. Establish a working group \u2013 board and staff. Tap someone on the board or a volunteer with this expertise to help construct and guide the process and monitor drive. This individual is likely to be the chair of the strategic planning committee. It\u2019s labor intensive, but if you have strategic planning expertise leading the group, it can be successful.<\/p>\n3) Full Investment.<\/strong> You hire an outside consultant or firm and they drive the process, often with a working group of both board and staff. The consultant becomes a full partner with your strategic planning committee and does the heavy lifting.<\/p>\nTHE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD NONPROFIT STRATEGIC PLAN<\/h3>\n
What should a good strategic plan include? Here\u2019s a checklist.<\/p>\n
\n- A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) to see where you are today as an organization and how you\u2019re perceived by both internal and external stakeholders. Why external? You get clearer and more interesting results when this is done with an outside set of eyes and ears.<\/li>\n
- An environmental scan \u2013 where does your organization fit within your sector? Does it fill a unique gap? Could it?<\/li>\n
- Development of key strategic questions the organization must answer before it can build, grow, or add any programmatic initiatives.<\/li>\n
- A formal process for the discussion and further exploration of these questions. Give this the time it deserves.<\/li>\n
- A presentation from the committee or consultant of Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. You typically don\u2019t buy the first suit you try on, right? You need to compare and contrast. Same here.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
STRATEGIC PLANNING ONLY WORKS FOR NONPROFITS WHEN\u2026<\/h3>\n
A few more pieces of advice:<\/p>\n
\n- Don\u2019t let the group off the hook.<\/strong> Beware of treating your three options like an a la carte menu. They weren\u2019t developed in that way and that\u2019s basically making no decisions at all.<\/li>\n
- Go There.<\/strong> Ask the tough questions. Some good ones I use: \u201cWhat would be missing if this organization disappeared?\u201d<\/em> or \u201cIs this organization an acquisition target for any other organization?\u201d or <\/em>\u201cWhen I spoke with 30 people I got 20 different mission statements. Why?<\/em>\u201d Be tough.<\/li>\n
- Remember Implementation<\/strong>. What will your current organization need to do<\/em><\/strong> in order to head toward the selected path? Include your board in this. They too will need a list.<\/li>\n
- Market Your Plan.<\/strong> If you are smart and thorough (3 year budget, org chart and visionary language), you can paint a picture and sell it to donors. Our plan with McKinsey became a successful platform for multi-year gifts.<\/li>\n
- Monitor As You Go.<\/strong> And I\u2019m not talking about conversations in the weeds about to do lists. I\u2019m talking higher level. You picked a visionary destination and maybe there are 25 scenic overlooks, each better and better before you get where you\u2019re going. Ask yourself: are we getting closer and closer?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Maybe you\u2019ve just read this and are feeling mighty good. Some of you might be thinking that I need my head examined to lay out such a labor intensive set of elements. Some of you wonder how in the wide world of sports you can fit a process like this into your already ridiculous workload. And I suppose some of you may disagree with my steps.<\/p>\n
Speak up! Comment below. I don\u2019t have all the answers. I reserve the right to be wrong. And if history has taught me anything, I know that each of you benefits from the good thinking of each other.<\/p>\n
Let the good thinking begin!<\/p>\n
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