[PERRY] How to Practically Craft a Strategic Plan for Your Organization

Most nonprofit leaders know they need a strategic plan. Fewer know how to build one that actually gets used instead of admired once and shelved. This half-day workshop takes the mystery out of the process and walks you through it step by step, from deciding whether your organization is even ready to plan, to leaving with the bones of a plan you can take back to your board.

We'll cover how to prepare and organize for planning, how to choose a planning model that fits your organization rather than forcing your organization into a model, and how to revisit mission, vision, and values as the foundation for everything that follows. You'll learn how to scan your internal and external environment through a community lens, listening broadly through surveys, focus groups, and needs assessments so the plan reflects the people you serve, not just the people in the room. From there we move to the practical work: setting three to four clear goals, writing SMART objectives that build in equity and inclusion, and connecting a three-to-five-year plan to your annual operating and budget cycles so progress is monitored, not assumed.

We'll also name the pitfalls honestly...the one-day retreat with no follow-up, the imbalance between board and staff roles, the new programs added without resources, and the plan that ends up in a drawer. Participants will work with sample plans, worksheets, and an implementation/action plan template they can adapt immediately.