It’s the first week of the final quarter of 2022, which is the perfect moment to talk about the relationship between goal setting and strategic planning for nonprofits.
Q4 tends to be a hectic period. Not only do we have fall and winter holidays coming up, but it’s also the season of year-end fundraising pushes and many other end-of-year responsibilities.
With that in mind, it’s important to make time to center the big picture. As you set goals for the final quarter of 2022 and look ahead to the next year, it’s time to check in with your strategic plan.
So let’s dive in.
Introduction to strategic planning for nonprofits
It can be helpful to think of your strategic plan as a roadmap from your current state to your desired state. It should outline the strategies that your organization will use to accomplish its mission and vision.
For example, if your mission is to increase access to urban green spaces, then your strategic plan should outline how you plan to accomplish that. For example, you might lobby city council members to set aside funds for new parks. Or, your strategy could include organizing members of the community to do park clean ups, which not only gets folks outside but also makes the outdoor spaces safer and more attractive. Or, you might focus on decreasing transportation barriers to urban green spaces by advocating for a path system or public transportation to add stops at parks along routes.
The point is that for every vision, there are countless paths to achieving it, so your strategic planning should be clear about which strategies you’ll use.
Not only that, but strategic planning for nonprofits should also take into account your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and external factors that could impact your plans.
If you have a small staff but a group of dedicated volunteers, for example, think about the ways in which that will make it difficult to implement your strategies and the ways in which it will make it easy.
External factors might include the political climate, the economy, public sentiment, and your competitors.
How to use your strategic plan in quarterly goal setting
I’m a big believer in the power of directing our attention and energy toward the activities that will have the biggest impact.
When you set quarterly goals for your nonprofit, you should tie each one to a particular strategy and desired outcome. I do this in my own business. When we set quarterly goals, we tie them to our yearly goals, and when we set monthly goals, we tie them to the quarterly goals. This process extends to our weekly meetings: we assign to-dos that will put us on track to meet the monthly goals.
I know this might sound like a lot, but being explicit about the connection between what you’re working on and the goal it is serving will keep you from spending too much time on activities that don’t get you any closer to what you really want to accomplish, saving time in the long-term.
So, if your organization has a strategic plan, pull up that file at your quarterly goal setting meeting. Discuss whether the strategies outlined are still working or if you need to adjust course. Set goals directly related to achieving the outcomes laid out in the strategic plan.
And remember: your strategic plan is a living document. It should be periodically updated to reflect the actions your organization is taking and the changes in external factors that impact your work.
If it’s been more than a couple years since you created your strategic plan, it is likely time to embark on the strategic planning process again.
And, if you’ve never created a strategic plan before, then your first step is going to be to set goals for your strategic planning session with your team.
That’s right, your team should absolutely be involved in this process because they have insights about your organization’s capacity and strengths and weaknesses that need to be accounted for in the strategic plan.
Your next steps
Whether this is your first time creating a strategic plan or you find that it’s time to revisit and revamp an outdated strategic plan, I have something for you.
Like I mentioned above, it’s important to be strategic about your strategic planning. If you’re unsure how to get your team together and guide the process, check out The Ultimate Strategic Planning Workbook.
When I was a development director at a nonprofit I was tasked with designing a strategic planning retreat and writing the strategic plan. I spent multiple work days just researching to put together what I needed to run the retreat and write the plan. This workbook does all of that for you.
The workbook is 60+ pages chock-full of guidance and advice on how to create a strategic plan for your nonprofit, start to finish, and the prompts in the workbook will actually help you create your plan.
