There are four key questions that must be addressed as a nonprofit organization begins the strategic planning process.

  1. The Vision question — What are we going to look like in 3 to 5 years?
  2. The Mission question — Why do we exist today?
  3. The Values question — What defines and drives our culture?
  4. The Focus question — What should we be focusing at to get to our future?

The Vision question is all about defining the future of the organization. The role of leadership — governance in partnership with organizational leadership — is to define the future. Without this picture, the strategic plan will not have a point of arrival.

The Mission question focuses on the role and purpose of the organization today. Mission statements should be compelling. Mission statements should be describe the scope of the organization. Mission statements should be short enough so that all stakeholders can say it in one single breath.

The Values question is about the cultural fabric of the nonprofit organization. Every organization has a culture that is shaped by the staff, volunteers and governance. What values describe that culture? Do those values also drive the culture? If the culture needs to change, what values need to be adopted to drive and lead that change?

The Focus question gets to the heart of strategic planning. In order to get from hear to your preferred future as described in the Vision statement, what do you need to do? Since most nonprofit organizations do not have the resources to do everything, Governance and organization leaders will need to  identify the three to five critical areas that need strategic focus for the length of the strategic plan. When those areas are identified, strategic goals and initiatives can be developed to provide the guidance on how to operationalize the Strategic Plan.

All great strategic plans begin with these four questions. In answering these four questions you are developing a framework for your strategic plan. Once this framework is developed, the next step in the strategic plan design process is the plan content. That next step will be the subject of another governance partnership post.

If you begin your strategic planning development process with these 4 questions, you are ensuring that your strategic plan will be relevant to your organization. Your new strategic plan will serve as a strategic road map for governance and organizational leaders.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
By on March 3, 2010   /   Governance, Leadership, Organization, Strategy  
Tags: , , , ,