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Take Control of Your Nonprofit’s Future: A Strategic Planning Primer

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Our recent article, Rethinking Your Nonprofit’s Future in the Face of COVID-19, highlighted the importance of following a strategic plan while navigating the ever-changing landscape of the COVID-19 world. In this article, we’ll dive a little deeper into the “how” of creating a strategic plan to help those nonprofits with outdated or no plans get started.

For many nonprofit leaders, the idea of creating a strategic plan feels daunting because of four common mistakes:

  1. Trying to plan too far in the future;
  2. Treating strategic planning as an event;
  3. Being stymied by perfection; and
  4. Insisting on a plan. (Confused? Stick with us.)

Start with Two (2) Years

Futurists have predicted that identified generations will soon be divided by as little as a four-year span. Meaning: two siblings from the same family who are 5 years apart in age will have such different formative sociological, economic and technological experiences that they will fall into different generations. That’s an incredibly fast rate of change. And, really, it’s not entirely surprising when we consider how quickly our lives have changed since 2020 started and how different they will be post-COVID 19.

Where it was once commonplace to define a 10-year strategic plan, trying to define a 5-year plan has now become futile. Your nonprofit’s strategic vision must be long-term because it will take decades to create it. However, your strategic goals and objectives to achieve that vision should focus no more than 3 years in the future. Keep it simple and focus on what you want to achieve in the next two years. When the world inevitably changes in ways you never anticipated over those two years, you’ll have a chance to define new, more relevant strategic goals for the next two.

Strategic Planning is a Discipline, Not a Single Event

Too many nonprofit leaders believe that a strategic plan is a final product created from a one-time board weekend board retreat where a consultant presents a plan in a new shiny binder that its placed on a shelf never to be seen again. Strategic planning done well is an active, consistent process that is woven into the daily work of the organization. Ideally:

  • every board meeting will include an agenda item to review and evaluate the organization’s progress toward it’s strategic goals.
  • every employee will understand his/her responsibility in helping to achieve the organization’s strategic goals and annual performance reviews will discuss individual contributions to the organization’s strategic process; and
  • every grant application, grant report and annual report will highlight the organization’s strategic goals and progress towards them.

Think of a strategic plan as a living plant. It will die without regularly evaluating its health and taking the necessary steps to keep it growing and thriving.

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

Because the rate of change is so rapid and there are so many individuals and variables involved in implementing every strategic effort, it’s overwhelming to attempt to define a “perfect” plan. In fact, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t let a desire for perfection stymy your ability to help your organization progress. No plan has ever been perfect and yours will be no exception. The unexpected will happen, and your plan will need to be changed or adjusted. If you are regularly practicing strategic planning (as mentioned above) you’ll be able to respond quickly, make changes needed, re-focus and continue advancing toward your mission. Baby steps can add up to big success.

Variations on a Plan

At Spokes, we have a tried and true strategic planning process that works for us and we use that process to help our members in defining their strategic plan. However, your nonprofit may be facing extraordinary circumstances that make a more traditional, full-scale planning process challenging – a leadership change, unexpected financial issue, a rapidly-emerging client/community need, lack of human resources to staff a planning committee, etc. That’s OK. In those situations, it may be more feasible and beneficial to define a strategic framework with a 2-3 key metric to track and discuss at regular board and employee meetings.

Whether you define a comprehensive plan or a basic framework, your variation needs to address the following questions:

  1. Vision
    1. What world/reality do you want to create? What will be true 20 (or 50) years from now because of the work your nonprofit is doing today?
  2. Mission
    1. What specific types of activities will the nonprofit do every day to achieve that vision?
  3. Values
    1. When faced with an unprecedented situation, what core beliefs or values will guide your nonprofit in finding the right solution? What are the “rules of engagement” governing every interaction between an employee, volunteer, client or other stakeholder?
  4. SWOT Analysis
    1. What are the CURRENT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that contribute or detract from your nonprofit’s ability to perform its mission well and move closer to its vision? (Strengths and weaknesses focus on internal variables like staff, volunteers, equipment and facilities. Opportunities and threats are external variables like donor relationships, community trends, and new legislation.)
  5. Goals
    1. What do we want to be true in 2 years from now? (or whatever timeframe you choose.) e.g. Significantly grow our base of annual donors.
  6. SMART Objectives
    1. What specific, achievable, measurable, relevant, time-based actions will you take to help achieve your goals? e.g. Double the number of $100 donors by December 31, 2020.
  7. Action Plan
    1. Who is responsible for doing what by when? Every task needs to be assigned to an owner who is accountable to a deadline.
  8. Budget
    1. Do we have enough financial and human resources to achieve the goals and objectives we’ve set? Do we need to reallocate resources? Are we budgeting the “right” resources to ensure our success?
  9. Evaluation
    1. What metrics will we track and data will we collect to quantify/qualify our progress toward our strategic goals and objectives? How often will we collect and report the data?

We hope this article gives you some actionable ideas on how to start weaving a strategic planning discipline into your nonprofit’s operations to guarantee greater mission success. Spokes is always happy to offer personalized strategic planning consulting services for its members and, for those who prefer a DIY approach, we’re pleased to provide the following strategic planning resources to help you on your way.

Rethinking Your Nonprofit’s Future in the Face of Covid-19

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The Covid-19 pandemic has rocked the nonprofit sector and nonprofit leaders throughout the United States are now grappling with one or more of the following questions:

  • Can we redesign our annual fundraising event to meet our budgeted revenue goals?
  • If we can only host 25%-50% of our clients in our programs, can we reduce our operating expenses proportionately to avoid incurring too much debt or creating an imbalance in our administrative:program expense ratio?
  • Will our donors and business sponsors need to reduce their philanthropic giving? And, if so, for how long?
  • If many folks are paying significantly less income and sales taxes, will federal, state and county budgets, and, specifically, our government contracts and grants, be significantly reduced?
  • Do we have the right people able to lead our redesign efforts?
  • Will our community consider our mission and programs relevant to the post-Covid world?

All the answers to these questions will require significant operational changes. For some nonprofits, those changes may be so insurmountable that they may choose to cease their operations altogether. If you are leading one of these nonprofits, we want to offer you some ideas for your board to discuss before you choose to dissolve your organization.

Going Out of Business is the Goal

It’s strange to hear, but, really, the goal of every nonprofit is to resolve a societal issue or fill a need so well that there is no need for that nonprofit to continue to operate. Unfortunately, most of the problems that nonprofits address are complex and cannot be solved within a single lifetime. However, no nonprofit should continue to exist simply because it does exist. Every nonprofit leader has an ethical obligation to continually examine the relevancy of the organization’s mission and evaluate its impact. The crisis of Covid-19 is forcing all types of organizations to rethink why they exist and work the way they do. Competition and comparison among similar organizations has become much more pronounced. Nonprofits are no exception and there is no reason to be ashamed of having these types of conversations at the board table. Arguably, when a nonprofit’s effectiveness or relevance is waning, choosing not to compete for limited resources is one of the most socially responsible decisions a board can make.

Be Strategic

Whether your goal is to stay in business or dissolve, you will need a strategic plan to guide you. Continuing organizations will most likely need a plan to help them restructure or redesign operations in response to this strange new landscape. Goals and objectives that once felt relevant and achievable at the start of the year may no longer be so. It may not be possible to start a new capital campaign or hire staff to launch a program when facing a shortfall in operating revenues. Likewise, demand for a new program may increase and make it necessary to let go of other programs due to limited resources.

Organizations that are choosing to dissolve will need strategic plans – even if they’re short term – to direct how to responsibly care for employees and clients and redirect assets.

Whatever is changing for your organization, you need a clearly defined plan that is understood and implemented by all members of your team. There are several variations to the strategic planning process, however, every successful plan will include the following components at a minimum:

  1. Vision
  2. Mission
  3. Values
  4. SWOT Analysis
  5. Goals
  6. Objectives
  7. Action Plan
  8. Budget

Trying to lead your organization through the next several months without a strategic plan is like starting a cross-country roadtrip without a map.

Watch for a future blog article with more strategic planning guidance and tips.

Find a Partner

Most nonprofit leaders are well-versed in the art of collaboration with other entities including schools, government agencies, donors or fellow nonprofits. But, have you taken a moment to identify what new collaboration opportunities may exist post Covid-19? What nonprofits have specific donor or client information you need? What information do you have that might be helpful to other nonprofits? Are there products or equipment that can be jointly purchased and shared? What about room or performance space rentals? Can furloughed staff with unique skills and training be shared with another organization? Can programs working with the same audience or on relevant issues be delivered in shared spaces? How can economies of scale be created to deliver more services with less resources?

Consider Merger Variations

Sometimes the best option for creating more operational efficiency is through a form of merger including joint ventures, parent-subsidiary structures or a full-scale merger. Maybe your nonprofit no longer needs to operate as a stand-alone agency? Maybe your organization has a signature program that is aligned with another nonprofit that could “adopt” it? The key to any merger variation is to identify a partner who shares the same organizational values and strategic vision as your organization. Humility is also necessary. There can only be one board and one Executive Director/CEO. Some folks will need to step down from their leadership roles when two organizations choose to operate as one entity. For these reasons, organizations that are about to experience a leadership turnover are better positioned to pursue a merger option.

Spokes will explore the nuances of merger variations in upcoming blog postings.

Try “Hibernating”

When a partnership or merger is not possible because of your nonprofit’s remote location or very unique mission-focus, but it’s too challenging to continue operating efficiently and effectively while implementing social distancing guidelines, it might be time to consider “hibernating.” Nonprofits must legally conduct one board meeting per fiscal year, submit their annual 990 tax filing and ensure that there is an appointed President, Treasurer and Secretary (with no President simultaneously serving as Treasurer). And, that’s it. All else is negotiable. If your stakeholders understand and support your need to temporarily reduce staff and programming until a future date when the organization can expand and rebuild, then try hibernating instead of formally dissolving your nonprofit. Continue board meetings and stakeholder communications and keep your incorporation status in good standing until you’re ready to ramp up again.

Nothing is Forever

Remember, you can change your organization now – and change it again, later.

Make the best decisions you can with the information you have at this moment and take one strategic step at a time. If you gain more information and realize a different decision is needed, you always have the privilege to re-launch old programs, end joint ventures, reorganize or start a new nonprofit! Always act in the best interest of your clients and communities and you will never make a poor decision.

Nonprofit Leadership During Crisis

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A crisis can tell you a lot about your organization. If your nonprofit is functioning at healthy levels, you are able to build upon these strong foundations to weather storms and continue to further the mission. On the other hand, a crisis can often bring up fundamental issues within an organization that need to be dealt with. Here are some areas to take a closer look into to ensure that your organization is set up to withstand and come out of a crisis situation thriving.

It is a Team Effort 

When determining the health of an organization, one needs to look no further than the leadership of the Executive Director or CEO and the Board of Directors. These individuals should be cultivating a productive culture centered around the nonprofit’s core values and mission. Each individual must have a clear understanding of the mission and display commitment through making unique contributions to its success. 

When crises emerge, these individuals must remember why they are here. Their actions always need to take into account the good of the whole. It is vital to be able to do the right thing even when it is hard. When there is this kind of leadership at the top of the organization, the rest of the staff and volunteers will organically follow their example.

Focused and organized

As a board member or Executive Director/CEO, if you are committed to this type of leadership, you will be able to carry out your mission in a focused and organized way. This will allow you to be able to move through any potential fear surrounding a crisis, see challenges as opportunities, be creative and collaborative and continue serving your mission.

Executive Director/CEO relationship with the Board of Directors:

It is essential as an Executive Director to be able to facilitate discussions that are organized and clear to ensure that a nonprofit is always moving toward mission based action. Everyone must be rowing in the same direction. Miscommunications and disagreements must be handled swiftly and moved past in a safe space where the leaders can work collaboratively. Here are some key focuses for an Executive Director when fostering this relationship with the board of directors. 

  1. Accountability. As the Executive Director, you must be clear about your own commitments and accomplishments and how they further the mission. This will give you the ability to follow up on board commitments and accountability. 
  2. Communication. You are the one who is in the day to day operations and will be able to have a clear insight into what is happening within the organization. It is important to understand the best way to communicate with each board member to keep them informed and on the same track and avoid miscommunications.
  3. Appreciation. Board members are volunteers who make efforts to support the mission and you. Showing appreciation goes a long way to build these relationships and continue to move productively forward together. 
  4. Outreach Efforts. Effective communication about your organization’s impact needs to reach your community to garner continuous support. Know your board and understand how each person can individually support these efforts. 

The Board President

As a Board President, or Chair, you must be one of the most dedicated individuals to the mission of a nonprofit. You must be able to provide clarity if the leadership team ever veers off mission and hold them accountable to doing what they have committed to doing. Here are some focuses that will lead to effectiveness as a Board President.

  1. Culture. You need to be able to partner with the Executive Director to always guide the leadership team with the core values and mission. Part of your role is to hold each individual on the team accountable to operate with these in mind. 
  2. Responsibility. You have a huge impact on the health of your board. It is important to understand the different capacities and capabilities of the board and how they can best serve the organization. Don’t let board members waste energy on efforts that don’t make sense. When issues arise, ask the right questions in order to be able to deal with the issues and move on. Board members should be able to depend on your consistency, honesty, communication and organization.
  3. Productivity. Make sure that efforts are always moving forward and that the team is being proactive and adjusting efforts when it makes sense. If something seems to be stuck, deal with it as quickly as possible so it won’t get in the way of the nonprofit’s momentum. 
  4. Strategic.  We cannot stress enough how important it is that efforts are always supporting the mission. You need to continually be able to take a step back and see how each effort fits into the big picture of accomplishing and growing the mission.

Donor Communications in Uncertain Times

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This year, nonprofits are facing challenges that they have never seen before. However, even in the midst of all of the uncertainty, we have hope. Nonprofits, more than most organizations, are used to having to do more with less and adapt and evolve to best accomplish their missions. Organizations who are strong in these skills and are open to looking for creative opportunities to best serve their clients during this time will survive and be able to eventually thrive again. One important key in this is to have clear and consistent communication with donors and prospects that you have been cultivating in order to sustain support.

Get your nonprofit in order

Before you can communicate with donors, you need to be very clear about how your organization is shifting operationally, staying true to its mission by adjusting to your client’s needs and what plan or plans need to be in place for sustainability. These plans must demonstrate an understanding of the current nonprofit landscape and how your cause fits within that landscape. Strong leadership is needed and some difficult decisions may need to be made during this time to move forward in the most responsible way. Some nonprofits are seeing a need to go into hibernation for a time or reduce staff or services. 

Once your organization has clear plans in place, they need to be sure that those plans can continue to be supported financially. Communication to donors is vital to nonprofits surviving this time. Because crises tend to bring clarity to what is really important, nonprofits have the opportunity to present and plead a very clear case to donors for support. 

When to use enewsletters and mailers

There are a variety of channels for communication that can and should be utilized to maximize outreach during this time. For a wider donor base, nonprofits should be using social media, enewsletters and mailers. We discussed social media platforms in last week’s blog, A Nonprofit’s Guide to Online Communication, and those channels are best used for brief updates on what your organization is accomplishing during this time to keep your audiences informed and engaged.

Enewsletters and mailers can be effective tools if you are very intentional with communication and understand what your audience is feeling and what will resonate with them. Many people are reporting currently feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information and updates they receive in their email inboxes during this time. Because of that, many nonprofits are turning to more traditional mailers to reach their donors. Both methods can be effective if the content is relevant and cuts through high volumes of communications. Enewsletters should be used for consistent concise communication with a clear purpose and relevant information. They can also be used for special announcements or to share stories. Mailers can also be effective when used to announce something important or tell a story and can be exciting for an audience that is feeling stuck at home. Mailers are more of an investment so it is important to look at what return you can realistically expect to receive back compared to the cost to ensure that it is a good investment for your nonprofit.

Tips on messaging

When designing content messaging for either newsletters or maileres, nonprofits must first identify what their objective is for each specific communication. Understand who you are trying to reach, what they care about and what you want them to do in response to your message. 

Messaging that will cut through the noise and stand out will be focused on establishing a human connection. People want to feel strongly about what you are doing in order to support your cause. An example of this could be to tell stories about donor impact rather than just reporting your fundraising metrics being met. 

Many nonprofits aren’t sure what length will work best for their communications. It is important not to include irrelevant or unorganized content. This can overwhelm the readers and cause them to stop reading. Only include a message that is related to your objective. On the other hand, when trying to be concise in your message, it is also important not to just boil content down to the top three bulleted points and miss out on telling the story that will result in establishing a human connection with the audience. 

Communications with major donors

Nonprofits must connect with their major donors during this time. Rather than relying on mass communication channels, calls should be made or personal letters sent. It is important to remember that relationships can become stronger when you face difficult times together so this is an opportunity to build even stronger relationships. Your donors haven’t forgotten you and still care about your cause. 

Remember also that a relationship goes both ways and you need to be sure that you are there for your donors and understand where they are and how they feel. What are their current needs or concerns? Are they still able to support your organization? 

With donors who have capacity there could be opportunities for you to work together to brainstorm innovative new ways to serve your clients. Some donors may not have the capacity to be faced with more challenges so it would be important to focus on communicating about what you can do and solutions rather than problems. 

Remember, they know you need money. Let them know you need them. Each relationship is unique so be sensitive to what each donor is dealing with and continue to build these vital relationships during this time.

A Nonprofit’s Guide to Online Communication

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When you’re part of a nonprofit, the ability to communicate online with your donors, volunteers, staff members, and the general community is integral. More people than ever before are turning to social networking sites while sheltering-in-place. Below is a brief overview of the benefits and drawbacks as well as the tips and features of each of the three major social media platforms. Understanding these platforms will help you make an informed decision about how to use these tools to support you achieving your nonprofit’s goals. Email newsletters are another opportunity for online communication that we will explore. 

Facebook

Facebook has the largest number of active users worldwide which will allow you to reach a large range of audiences. The age of Facebook users also trends a little higher than other platforms so it is often where organizations are able to connect with donor audiences, which can fluctuate depending on your donor demographics. If your nonprofit serves clients or members through events or holds fundraising events, even virtual events, Facebook can be a useful tool. Users are able to live stream videos so followers can participate in events from the comfort of their home. Special event listings can be created to invite people and collect RSVPs.

Facebook also offers a very user-friendly and cost effective advertisement feature. It allows you to choose a goal (such as more engagement) and create your ideal audience for your ad. For as little as $1 a day, you can reach hundreds of Facebook users every day. It is important to note that the copy and visuals of your ad should be created in a thoughtful way to ensure it will resonate with your target audiences for the best results. 

To gain more organic engagement and interest, you can also create ongoing Facebook stories that will be available at the top of your followers’ pages for 24 hours. Creative content in stories is a way to keep your donors, volunteers and clients informed on what is happening in your organization and can help you stay top of mind. 

Instagram

Because Facebook owns Instagram, users are able to post to both of accounts simultaneously and any ads that run on Facebook can run on Instagram too. Instagram also has a similar ‘story’ feature to Facebook, though it has the additional functionality of creating ‘story highlights’ from stories you’ve posted in the past and make it even easier for people to find the information they need. Story highlights are linked to your profile and are often grouped under a similar theme, like FAQs, Wellness Tips, Member Stories, and any other themes that are relevant to your organization. Like Facebook, you can go ‘live’ on Instagram as well. 

A drawback of Instagram is that you cannot add links to your posts. The only place you can add a link to a website is in your bio. This can make it more challenging to advertise events (without a ticket link) and make posts about donating to your cause. 

Organizations who will most benefit from using Instagram are those who are focused heavily on reaching the millennial generation. It is important to note that to succeed in this platform, images shared must be engaging and high quality so it is important to evaluate your capacity for producing images before committing to using this platform.

Twitter 

While Twitter only has about ⅓ of the monthly active users as Instagram, tweeting is still a very quick and efficient way to get information out. It is easy to post and repost other tweets and its profile/bio feature looks similar to Instagram’s. 

The main benefit of Twitter is, while Facebook and Instagram allow you to add hashtags to your post, adding hashtags to a tweet allows it to be easily discovered by accounts that don’t follow you. This is the easiest way to gain more followers on Twitter and educate more people about your nonprofit’s goal. A quick tip for hashtags is to make them short and sweet and try to find popularly used ones if possible. 

Email Newsletters 

Before creating your email newsletter, it’s important to decide on your goal. Newsletters can highlight many things, including relevant articles, upcoming events, testimonials, links to resources, call for volunteers or donations, etc. You can create incentives on social media to encourage followers to sign up for your newsletter and make sure that the sign up feature is prominent on your website. 

If you have under 2,000 subscribers, using a website like MailChimp is free to create a newsletter template, link to your social media accounts and import your enewsletter mailing list. MailChimp also offers tools that will allow you to measure how many people are reading your newsletter and interacting with links to see what content is resonating with your audiences and which content could be adjusted. For more tips about how to make your newsletter stand out and some premade templates, visit this blog post. 

In using these different online channels, it is important to note that you must be able to create engaging content in order to build an engaged audience. The quality of content matters. Determine what messages and types of content will represent your nonprofit well. Keep the interest of your followers with a majority of engaging (fun, motivating cause strong feelings of affection or compassion, shareable and likeable), and the remaining about 16% of your posts should be practical tips and promotional for your organization. Free photos can be found on sites like Unsplash or Pexels. If you need to create a more custom designed image, free sites like Canva are a great resource. If you’re creating your organization’s first social media account, it is often recommended to start with Facebook and then expand to Instagram and/or Twitter depending on your specific goals. 

Now that we have explored outward facing communication channels, don’t miss out on our next workshop in our free Technology series focused on Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams. To register, visit our workshop page. 

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