Tag archives: strategic planning

Effective Planning post #4 and an introduction to the 5 Whys Technique You have gathered the team- staff and board- around the table. It’s time to brainstorm the list of new programs or consider a new partnership. But wait! Before you hop over to the ‘real work’ of setting goals…

Effective Planning- part 3 Nonprofits often shy away from benchmarking themselves.  The reasons are understandable. It takes time to develop and track a set of indicators. An organization might have to purchase data, such as a salary survey or report. It can be threatening to compare your organization’s performance to…

Bad plans simply restate whatever the organization is currently doing and adds 10% or 15% more. Effective plans come from a planning process that is fearless.   Fearlessness allows the organization to consider its mission and vision and honestly assess the size of the gap between what is and what could…

Effective strategic planning requires traction Ask ten non-profit board members about strategic planning, and eight will probably say it’s a waste of time. Many non-profit leaders feel the same way. Sums of money, not to mention valuable time, are expended to create plans without traction, destined to sit on the…

Benchmarks: don’t settle for mediocrity In parts 1, 2, and 3, I presented simple ways to future-proof your organization and create an early warning system by creating simple but powerful processes to help you monitor internal and external changes. Telling your organization’s story with emotion AND data is powerful. Connecting…

Trends- what are they, what do they mean. This post is the third in a series about creating an early warning system for your organization. In the first post, I talked about how dangerous it can be to ignore the environment in which your organization operates. Small changes in rules,…

…and create an early warning system for your non-profit or foundation. You can respond to rapidly changing conditions and provide nimble leadership and high-quality decision-making when you have access to timely information about the environment and the organization.   A fundamental expectation of leaders in the for-profit world is that…