Ability

Do you know how to accomplish your vision? Your strategic plan is your general plan for how to reach your goals. It can be a plan as short as two years, five years, or long-term, for 10 years or even more. It will help you focus your time and energy, define how you will succeed, in what context, and what means you must employ.  

• Strategic planning is essential for civil society organizations to effectively plan, navigate challenges, and achieve their goals. It provides a roadmap for success, aligns stakeholders, and helps make informed decisions. Most Strategic Plans are done for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 years. The Nonprofit Founders Club has developed a step-by-step guide how to engage in strategic planning:

• Theory of Change is a powerful tool for clarifying how you intend to  create and measure change. It’s a foundational strategic process for any  organization that hopes to make a measurable impact on the world.  Whether you work at a new organization that is just defining its  approach or at an established organization trying to improve its  programs, Theory of Change can help your team to make better decisions,  communicate your approach more clearly, and measure the impact that you  are creating. This course by the Philanthropy University is for senior-level leaders and board members who are  ready to improve their organization’s strategy by helping to facilitate a  Theory of Change process.

• Developing a theory of change model involves making explicit collective assumptions about how a change will unfold. This work can help leaders of a social change effort clearly articulate their objectives, discuss equity considerations, define roles of decision-making authority and enable useful measurement and learning. This step-by-step guide developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation accompanies you to develop your own, and very individual theory of change:

Establishing clear and actionable goals and objectives is essential for your organization to effectively fulfill its mission and realize its vision. These goals serve as a roadmap, guiding your efforts and resource allocation toward meaningful impact. To create strong goals, it’s important to use the SMART framework, which ensures that each goal is

Specific: Clearly defined and focused on a particular outcome.

Measurable: Quantifiable so progress can be tracked and evaluated.

Achievable: Realistic and attainable given your organization’s resources and constraints.

Relevant: Aligned with your non-profit’s core purpose and priorities.

Time-bound: Set within a reasonable and clear timeframe for completion.

Through setting SMART goals, you are ensuring that you will prioritise initiatives effectively, maintain accountability, and accelerate progress toward making a lasting difference for the cause you serve.

Goals should be supported by both short-term and long-term objectives. Short-term objectives are immediate and attainable within a year—for example, launching a new program, boosting volunteer recruitment, or reaching a specific number of schools within the next six months. In contrast, long-term objectives extend over several years and reflect your organisation’s broader, overarching ambitions. These might include expanding services into new geographic regions, forming partnerships with other organisations, or accomplishing major milestones related to your mission, such as reducing the local homeless population by a set percentage within five years.

Explain what sets your programmes apart from others. This could include:

• Innovative approaches or methodologies you employ
• Specialized expertise your team brings
• Unique partnerships with other organizations, experts, or stakeholders
• Culturally tailored services or cutting-edge technology use

• Conduct thorough needs assessments (as seen in previous steps) through surveys, interviews, community meetings, or data analysis to identify gaps and challenges your community faces. Use this information to design programs that address these specific needs, providing targeted solutions rather than generic services. Demonstrating this connection helps justify your programs’ relevance and effectiveness.

For each programme or service, create detailed descriptions that include:

Purpose: What is the programme’s goal?

Target Audience: Who will benefit from this programme? Consider demographics, geography, or other relevant factors. 

Delivery Methods: Will the programme be delivered in-person, online, through workshops, consultations, or a hybrid approach?

Expected Outcomes/Impact: Define measurable objectives and the positive changes you anticipate, such as increased knowledge, improved well-being, or community empowerment.

• Write down what you want to do
• Identify staff, volunteers, funding, and materials needed to implement the activity. 
• Establish clear milestones and deadlines.
• Establish processes to track progress, gather feedback, and measure the impact against your expected outcomes. 
• Adjust when you see it is needed.

• From the very beginning, write down what you want to do, and when, keep track of the implementation of your activities (what you have done, but also how many people you have reached/how many people benefitted from your interventions), and what you have achieved
• At the end of each year, evaluate what you have done, what worked best, what didn’t, what did you achieve and whether you came closer to your goal. Build your next activity plan on the basis of the results of this evaluation.