How will your nonprofit make an impact one year from now? Or five years from now? Amid shifting priorities, resources, and community needs, how do you stay the course on your mission? The answers lie in strategic planning.

A nonprofit strategic plan is a roadmap that outlines how your organization will accomplish its long-term goals, typically encompassing the next three to five years. Whether you aim to build more lasting partnerships with major donors or provide more high-quality and accessible services to your community, your strategic plan should define the steps you’ll take to get there.

However, crafting a detailed and actionable plan requires an investment of time, thought, and effort. First, your nonprofit must determine if it’s ready for the process. Let’s walk through some questions you should ask before embarking on a strategic planning journey.

What is your goal for creating a strategic plan?

While your strategic plan will likely cover several areas of your mission and operations, it should still be focused enough to avoid overwhelming your team. By identifying what you hope to accomplish through strategic planning, you can better measure your progress and prevent slowdowns during the process.

There are several common reasons for creating a strategic plan, including:

• Reallocating resources. Nonprofits try to make as much of an impact as possible with their limited time and funding. Sometimes, this requires reallocating resources to areas that matter most, from staff training to grant seeking. Strategic planning provides an opportunity to pinpoint the most effective ways to use your resources going forward.
• Realigning teams. Every day, your staff and volunteers busy themselves with their individual responsibilities, responding proactively to community needs and carrying out your mission to the best of their abilities. With a strategic plan, you can prevent mission drift and keep everyone aligned on your organization’s most important priorities.
• Building on the momentum of a previous strategic plan. When your last strategic plan ends, it’s time to gather your leadership and board members again. Together, you’ll evaluate how well you’ve accomplished your nonprofit’s goals and set new ones for the years ahead.
• Adding a new program or strategy. As your nonprofit evolves and expands, you might want to launch additional programs or pursue new initiatives. A strategic plan provides a structured approach to incorporating these programs or strategies into your existing operations.
• Adapting to recent changes. Running a nonprofit is full of twists and turns. Whether you’re facing new regulations in the sector or staff turnover, strategic planning helps your organization adapt and take these changes in stride.

Once created, your strategic plan will act as a north star around which your other initiatives and activities will revolve, from capital campaigns to community partnerships, to keep your nonprofit on track toward its long-term goals.

What resources can you invest in the process?

Your nonprofit must be flexible with time and funding to continually adapt to shifts in giving and community needs. However, due to the intensive nature of strategic planning, it’s important to identify how much your organization can invest in the process upfront. Doing so ensures you make the most of your team’s planning efforts.

For example, consider your nonprofit’s available:

• Time. During strategic planning, you’ll need to gather key leadership, board, and staff members to share their thoughts, set goals, and make data-based decisions. Assess your organization's current workloads and upcoming deadlines to see whether your team will have enough space in their schedule to actively participate in the process. It can help to set a basic timeframe for your planning, such as four to six months.
• Data. A strategic plan is more than just a document comprised of your nonprofit’s predictions and wishes for the future. It should be rooted in concrete data related to your mission, community, programs, and partnerships. Take stock of the current information you have on hand and what data points you need to collect to inform your team’s decision-making.
• Finances. Note how much room your nonprofit has in its budget for costs associated with hiring external consultants or facilitators to support your planning process. Additionally, consider how much you can spend on data collection and analysis as needed.

Understanding how much your organization can commit to strategic planning allows you to determine potential challenges and opportunities in advance—ultimately helping you decide whether to proceed with the process or wait for a more suitable time.

Will you hire a consultant?

Whether your nonprofit is creating its first or fifth strategic plan, partnering with nonprofit consultants can streamline the process from start to finish. Depending on your organization’s needs, these experts can either take the lead and eventually draft the plan for you or coach your team through every step of the journey.

The main benefits of hiring a consultant for strategic planning include:

• A customized approach. Rather than following basic templates and models, strategic planning consultants have the expertise to tailor the process based on your nonprofit’s unique needs. They’ll develop an in-depth understanding of your mission and specific challenges to help you produce a focused and actionable plan for your organization.
• An outside perspective. Consultants bring an external, objective perspective to your nonprofit’s operations and priorities. They’ll ask questions and encourage critical thinking to uncover your organization’s true strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges, and other areas to focus on.
• Access to best practices. The top consultants have extensive experience in strategic planning for nonprofits. Since they dedicate themselves to keeping up with the latest nonprofit trends and proven strategic planning best practices, you can confidently rely on their guidance and recommendations throughout the process.

If your nonprofit is unable to invest in a consultant, look for other resources that will help your team build the skills and knowledge needed to carry out the process. For example, you could enroll in a self-directed online program or cohort-based workshops that guide you through creating a strategic plan.

How will you engage stakeholders?

To create a strategic plan that resonates with your community, you must gather their input during the planning process. Collect feedback from stakeholders such as donors, volunteers, staff, beneficiaries, and partners. Then, store all of this information in an online database, such as Charityproud, to get a 360-degree view of stakeholder input that your team can reference at any time.

Your nonprofit can engage its stakeholders and gather feedback through:

• Surveys and polls
• Focus groups
• Town hall meetings
• One-on-one interviews

For example, you might learn that your managers would like more training opportunities to improve their team-building and delegation skills and decide to make professional development one of your strategic priorities for the next few years. You might also decide to prioritize accessibility and inclusivity after hearing that beneficiaries would appreciate translation services when participating in your programs.

A strategic planning consultant can facilitate the stakeholder engagement process on your behalf, allowing you to gather more open and honest feedback.

A strategic plan can build clarity within your nonprofit, boost trust, and increase brand awareness when you share it with your community. By carefully preparing for and conducting strategic planning, you can maximize your efforts and help your team navigate the process with confidence.

As you implement your strategic plan, be sure to have data measurement and management procedures in place to evaluate and visualize your progress. Report regularly to your stakeholders to maintain transparency and keep them engaged in all the ways you’re furthering your mission.

Caitlin Patterson, Director of Consulting Services

Caitlin Patterson is a Metis woman with roots from the Highland Waters Region and Kawartha Lakes in Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Women’s studies with an emphasis on Indigenous women and a certificate in Non-profit Leadership for Impact from the University of Toronto. Caitlin has years of experience working with national organizations to create culturally relevant opportunities with Indigenous youth, leading program operations, brand development, and organizational growth.

As a consultant and inclusion specialist, Caitlin applies a culturally informed approach to strategic planning, facilitation and stakeholder engagement, organizational crisis/risk management, and strategic governance. Caitlin has completed projects that include cultural audits, diversity & inclusion consultations, equitable program development, diverse strategic visioning, with organizations such as Girl Guides of Canada, Association of Midwives Trust, York Catholic District School Board, Small Economy Works, and Ontario Camps Association.