How to start strategic planning

You might be wondering: what’s the first step to planning?

If you read our previous post, you know more about what strategic planning is and why it matters.

You may be asking this question, which we get asked a lot: “If our organization wants to do strategic planning, what’s our first step?”

Are you ready for strategic planning?

Before you start planning, you need to determine whether now is the time to do strategic planning. It may be that your organization needs to focus on financial stability or programmatic stability first, before you are ready to do planning. Check out this article to assess your readiness for strategic planning.

The first step to strategic planning

Whether you are working with a consultant or leading the process internally, The Ross Collective recommends starting with three simple questions:

1. How much time do we have to work on strategic planning? 

2. How much money do we have to work on strategic planning? 

3. What do we need to figure out that would strengthen our work?

It’s important to find a focus for your strategic planning work in order for it to be effective. One way to determine this is to create a focus question, which will keep your planning on track.

The focus question takes a “Mad Lib” like form:

“How can _________(Org X) do _____(one area of focus and attention) and ______(second area of focus and attention) in order to _____(the ultimate goal of our work)?”

Here are some sample focus questions:

• How can East Oakland Collective strengthen operations and focus priorities in order to expand its ability to support resiliency and equitable access for East Oakland residents?

• How can ElderCare Nonprofit clarify questions around facilities and build board and staff investment in future plans in order to remain sustainable and serve elderly people at a high level? 

• How can Human Services Organization scale our offerings and build a sustainable funding model in order to serve twice as many clients in the next three years?

A focus question gives the strategic planning process some boundaries. Those who haven’t done planning before may feel that you need to figure everything out in one go. You don’t! But you do need to spend some time reflecting on the areas that strategic planning will encompass.

The three examples given above are written in order of size of planning process, from smallest to largest. A narrower focus question, like the East Oakland Collective example, will take less planning time; a broader focus question, like the ElderCare Nonprofit example, will take more planning time.

Want to learn more about our leadership of strategic planning? Reach out for a consult here.

Try this

If you’re considering strategic planning, spend some time determining how much time and money you have to work on strategic planning, and draft a focus question to see whether there is agreement about areas of planning.

Learn more about nonprofit strategic planning:

1. How to hire a strategic planning consultant that is an excellent fit

2. Who needs a seat at the table in planning?

3. Planning Questions: Who are we in the context of our community and environment?

4. Planning Questions: What do we do best and feel pulled towards?

5. Planning Questions: Given the questions above, what will we do now?