Non Profits and Successful Strategic Planning

Strategic planning for Non Profits can be a bit of a challenge. Because of their nature, Non Profits tend to require large numbers of volunteers as well as serve specific communities or groups of individuals. Over time, these groups can shift due to demographic changes and other socio economic influences. An organization that at one time was flourishing and seemed to be growing substantially could be destitute in a few years.

Obviously, these challenges are not confined to the realm of Non Profits. All that someone needs to do is to look at the long list of companies that were deemed to be too big to fail but somehow managed to achieve this feat. However, unlike these giants of yesteryear that no longer exist, Non Profits have neither the size or the scale to be able to withstand change of the magnitude that leveled these companies. They could quickly be wiped out with a fluctuation that would have caused some of these former titans some slight discomfort during their heyday.

What Non Profits need to do with their Strategic Planning is to be keenly in tune with the needs of the community that they serve. Additionally, what current trends might be developing that could have a substantial impact in a negative capacity? For example, if your Non Profit seeks to serve an under privileged community, an organization that is planning to come in and build a large facility offering blue collar work to many could be a huge help, while a developer deciding to come in and build a series of apartments aimed at the wealthy could result in gentrification that will push many of the people you serve out of their homes due to the rising cost of living.

In short, challenges that affect your community could look substantially different to your organization than to others. These considerations need to be a part of your strategic planning. However, this is not to say that other trends (such as people moving to your area as well as the economic climate both regionally and nationally) will also need to factor substantially into your strategic planning.

Age is a big component here, especially as the overall population of the United States (and world in general) gets older. Many countries are facing an inverted pyramid with populations. With fewer young people and more elderly to care for, your Non Profit might have needs and issues that look substantially different than they did in the past. Getting a sense of where things are going is a must.

Keep in mind that everything that we have discussed so far needs to translate into trends, both short and long term. This is because Strategic Planning needs to focus on the long term. These trends will happen over time, meaning that over time your organization can expect to see certain things play out in a set way. You need to determine what the most effective way of preparing for these things will look like.

With all of this information, now is the time to add in the approaches discussed in previous newsletters.If your Non Profit has just been founded, then take all of these considerations into account while planning along the lines laid out in the Startup Newsletter. If your Non Profit is preparing to grow and expand its reach in meeting the needs of the community, then plan to refer to the scaling newsletter. Of course, if your Non Profit is undergoing growing pains that is a direct result of the changes that you are witnessing, then plan on referring to the Growing Pains Article that was published last week.

The big difference, then, is that due to the way that Non Profits operate and the communities that they serve, the challenges that you will find yourself facing will look substantially different than any other company. These focal points deserve special attention moving forward. Make sure that you study them thoroughly as well. An obvious challenge to be found here is that Non Profits do lack the resources that For Profits do, so it might be a little harder to undertake rigorous study. However you need to do it,make every effort to be successful, since misses could result in a lot of pain down the road for your organization.