Strategic Planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations)
© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC, experts in strategic planning.
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and
Facilitation.
Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program.
There are a variety of perspectives, models and approaches used in strategic planning. The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the organization's leadership, culture of the organization, complexity of the organization's environment, size of the organization, expertise of planners, etc. For example, there are a variety of strategic planning models, including goals-based, issues-based, organic, scenario (some would assert that scenario planning is more a technique than model), etc. Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus on the organization's mission (and vision and/or values), goals to work toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning (who will do what and by when). Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing the organization, strategies to address those issues, and action plans. Organic strategic planning might start by articulating the organization's vision and values and then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values. Some planners prefer a particular approach to planning, eg, appreciative inquiry. Some plans are scoped to one year, many to three years, and some to five to ten years into the future. Some plans include only top-level information and no action plans. Some plans are five to eight pages long, while others can be considerably longer.
Quite often, an organization's strategic planners already know much of what will go into a strategic plan (this is true for business planning, too). However, development of the strategic plan greatly helps to clarify the organization's plans and ensure that key leaders are all "on the same script". Far more important than the strategic plan document, is the strategic planning process itself.
NOTE: Much of the following information is in regard to goals-based strategic planning, probably the most common form of strategic planning.
NOTE: For a more recent breakthrough on strategic planning, see the topic Appreciative Inquiry.
Sections of This Topic Include:
Gaining Understanding of Strategic Planning
Recommended Approach to Understanding
Strategic Planning
Benefits of Strategic Planning
When Should Strategic Planning Be
Done?
Various Overviews (basics, key terms,
special topics, samples, various models, skills to have, etc.)
Conducting Strategic Planning
Preparation for Strategic Planning
- - - Guidelines to Keep Perspective
During Planning
- - - Need Consultant or Facilitator
to Help You With Planning?
- - - Who Should Be Involved in
Planning?
- - - How Many Planning Meetings Will
We Need?
- - - How Do We Ensure Implementation
of Our New Plan?
Strategic Analysis (environmental scan
and SWOT analysis)
- - - Environmental Scan (taking a wide
look around)
- - - Looking at Organization's Strength's,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)
- - - Organizational Assessments (methods
to make measurements in the organization)
Setting Strategic Direction (purpose,
values, vision, top-level goals and methods/strategies)
- - - Strategizing (strategic goals and
methods/strategies to achieve the goals)
- - - Developing/Updating Mission Statement
(the purpose of the organization)
- - - Developing/Updating Vision Statement
(depiction of future state of organization and customers)
- - - Developing/Updating Values Statement
(overall priorities in how organization operates)
Action Planning (annual plans, objectives,
responsibilities and timelines, etc.)
Writing and Communicating the Plan
Monitoring, Evaluating and Deviating
from the Plan
General Resources
Gaining Understanding of Strategic Planning
Learning Strategic Planning
First, a Point About For-Profit and Nonprofit Strategic Planning
Major differences in how organizations carry out the various steps and associated activities in the strategic planning process are more a matter of the size of the organization -- than its for-profit/nonprofit status. Small nonprofits and small for-profits tend to conduct somewhat similar planning activities that are different from those conducted in large organizations. On the other hand, large nonprofits and large for-profits tend to conduct somewhat similar planning activities that are different from those conducted in small organizations. (The focus of the planning activities is often different between for-profits and nonprofits. Nonprofits tend to focus more on matters of board development, fundraising and volunteer management. For-profits tend to focus more on activities to maximize profit.)
Also, in addition to the size of the organization, differences in how organizations carry out the planning activities are more a matter of the nature of the participants in the organization -- than its for-profit/nonprofit status. For example, detail-oriented people may prefer a linear, top-down, general-to-specific approach to planning. On the other hand, rather artistic and highly reflective people may favor of a highly divergent and "organic" approach to planning.
Therefore, the reader is encouraged to review a variety of the materials linked from this page, whether he or she is from a nonprofit or for-profit organization. Items below are marked as "nonprofit" in case the reader still prefers to focus on information presented in the context of nonprofit planning.
Recommended Approach for the Reader to Learn Strategic Planning
The reader should first read Guidelines for Successful Planning. This document provides a very basic overview of the general planning process -- a process that is the basis for almost any form of planning (strategic planning, business planning, project planning, etc.). It also suggests a basic framework and set of guidelines to ensure success in any form of planning.
Next, read Basic Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know). This document provides a basic overview of the major activities and key terms in strategic planning.
Then the reader should return to polish their understanding of strategic planning by reviewing the materials referenced by the links below.
Benefits of Strategic Planning
Strategic planning serves a variety of purposes in organization,
including to:
1. Clearly define the purpose of the organization and to establish
realistic goals and objectives consistent with that mission in
a defined time frame within the organizations capacity for
implementation.
2. Communicate those goals and objectives to the organizations
constituents.
3. Develop a sense of ownership of the plan.
4. Ensure the most effective use is made of the organizations
resources by focusing the resources on the key priorities.
5. Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish
a mechanism for informed change when needed.
6. Bring together of everyones best and most reasoned efforts
have important value in building a consensus about where an organization
is going.
Other reasons include that strategic planning:
7. Provides clearer focus of organization, producing more efficiency
and effectiveness
8. Bridges staff and board of directors (in the case of corporations)
9. Builds strong teams in the board and the staff (in the case
of corporations)
10. Provides the glue that keeps the board together (in the case
of corporations)
11.Produces great satisfaction among planners around a common
vision
12. Increases productivity from increased efficiency and effectiveness
13. Solves major problems
When Should Strategic Planning Be Done?
The scheduling for the strategic planning process depends on
the nature and needs of the organization and the its immediate
external environment. For example, planning should be carried
out frequently in an organization whose products and services
are in an industry that is changing rapidly . In this situation,
planning might be carried out once or even twice a year and done
in a very comprehensive and detailed fashion (that is, with attention
to mission, vision, values, environmental scan, issues, goals,
strategies, objectives, responsibilities, time lines, budgets,
etc). On the other hand, if the organization has been around for
many years and is in a fairly stable marketplace, then planning
might be carried out once a year and only certain parts of the
planning process, for example, action planning (objectives, responsibilities,
time lines, budgets, etc) are updated each year. Consider the
following guidelines:
1. Strategic planning should be done when an organization is just
getting started. (The strategic plan is usually part of an overall
business plan, along with a marketing plan, financial plan and
operational/management plan.)
2. Strategic planning should also be done in preparation for a
new major venture, for example, developing a new department, division,
major new product or line of products, etc.
3. Strategic planning should also be conducted at least once a
year in order to be ready for the coming fiscal year (the financial
management of an organization is usually based on a year-to-year,
or fiscal year, basis). In this case, strategic planning should
be conducted in time to identify the organizational goals to be
achieved at least over the coming fiscal year, resources needed
to achieve those goals, and funded needed to obtain the resources.
These funds are included in budget planning for the coming fiscal
year. However, not all phases of strategic planning need be fully
completed each year. The full strategic planning process should
be conducted at least once every three years. As noted above,
these activities should be conducted every year if the organization
is experiencing tremendous change.
4. Each year, action plans should be updated.
5. Note that, during implementation of the plan, the progress
of the implementation should be reviewed at least on a quarterly
basis by the board. Again, the frequency of review depends on
the extent of the rate of change in and around the organization.
Various Overviews of Strategic Planning (basics, models, skills to have)
NOTE: Although there are separate sections listed below for many of the major activities in strategic planning (for example, the sections "Developing a Mission", "Developing a Vision", etc.), this section "Various Overviews of Strategic Planning" also includes information about those activities as well.
General Overviews
Basic
Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know))
Strategic Planning: A Ten-Step Guide
What
is Strategic Planning? (presented in the context of a nonprofit)
Strategic
Planning Tools (touches on various phases of planning)
Planning for Change and Technology (includes excellent overview
of aspects of planning)
Alliance
for Nonprofit Management provides a comprehensive overview
of strategic planning in the context of nonprofits. (At this Website,
go to the section "Answers" and then select the topic
"Strategic Planning" from the menu next to the "Open
Sesame" button.)
National Endowment for the Arts presents extensive
tools and in the typical order of the planning process. Presents
planning in the context of a nonprofit.
Why Traditional Strategic Planning Isn't Strategic
Decentralized Organization Structures Empower and Energize
Change Checkpoints and Improvement Milestones
Change Management Can Lead to Rigidity and Resistance to Change
12 Reasons Why Planning is More Critical in Challenging Times
Basic Overview of Variety of Planning Models
Basic Overview of Various Models
One Example of a Basic, Overall Approach
Part One - What Are We Doing?
Part Two - Reaching Your Goals
Part Three - Do I Have The Right Team?
Special Topics
Organizational Change and Strategic Planning
Vision
and Strategic Plans-- Who Needs Them
How to audit your business strategy - (.pdf format)
Samples of Plans
Strategic plans come in a wide variety of formats, depending
on the nature and needs of the organization.
sample
plan
sample plans
sample
strategic plan worksheet
Useful Skills to Have When Strategic Planning
It's best to have a team of planners conduct strategic planning.
Therefore, it's important to have skills in developing and facilitating
groups.
Committees
(for example, may have committees do environmental scan, get input
from others)Conflict
Management in Groups
Conflict Management (this topic provides basics in managing conflict
in groups)]
Consultants
(you may want to use a consultant to help you plan and carry out
strategic planning)
Creative
Thinking (very important when setting goals and how they will
be reached)
Innovation
(very important when designing strategies, or methods to reach
goals)
Decision Making
Facilitating
in Face-to-Face Groups
Facilitating
Online Groups (virtual communities)
Focus
Groups (get input from internal & external customers to identify
issues, goals, methods)
Group-Based
Problem Solving and Decision Making
Meeting
Management
Problem
Solving
Time
Management
Valuing
Diversity (it's best to get a wide variety of perspectives when
planning)
Preparation for Strategic Planning
Guidelines to Keep Perspective During Planning
Many managers spend most of their time "fighting fires"
in the workplace. -- their time is spent realizing and reacting
to problems. For these managers -- and probably for many of us
-- it can be very difficult to stand back and take a hard look
at what we want to accomplish and how we want to accomplish it.
We're too buy doing what we think is making progress. However,
one of the major differences between new and experienced managers
is the skill to see the broad perspective, to take the long view
on what we want to do and how we're going to do it. One of the
best ways to develop this skill is through ongoing experience
in strategic planning. The following guidelines may help you to
get the most out of your strategic planning experience.
1. The real benefit of the strategic planning process is the process,
not the plan document.
2. There is no "perfect" plan. There's doing your best
at strategic thinking and implementation, and learning from what
you're doing to enhance what you're doing the next time around.
3. The strategic planning process is usually not an "aha!"
experience. It's like the management process itself -- it's a
series of small moves that together keep the organization doing
things right as it heads in the right direction.
4. In planning, things usually aren't as bad as you fear nor as
good as you'd like.
5. Start simple, but start!
Need Consultant or Facilitator to Help You With Planning?
You may want to consider using a facilitator from outside of
your organization if:
1. Your organization has not conducted strategic planning before.
2. For a variety of reasons, previous strategic planning was not
deemed to be successful.
3. There appears to be a wide range of ideas and/or concerns among
organization members about strategic planning and current organizational
issues to be addressed in the plan.
4. There is no one in the organization whom members feel has sufficient
facilitation skills.
5. No one in the organization feels committed to facilitating
strategic planning for the organization.
6. Leaders believe that an inside facilitator will either inhibit
participation from others or will not have the opportunity to
fully participate in planning themselves.
7. Leaders want an objective voice, i.e., someone who is not likely
to have strong predispositions about the organization's strategic
issues and ideas.
(Also see Consultants (using).)
Who Should Be Involved in Planning?
Strategic planning should be conducted by a planning team.
Consider the following guidelines when developing the team.
(Note that reference to boards of directors is in regard to organizations
that are corporations.)
1. The chief executive and board chair should be included in the
planning group, and should drive development and implementation
of the plan.
2. Establish clear guidelines for membership, for example, those
directly involved in planning, those who will provide key information
to the process, those who will review the plan document, those
who will authorize the document, etc.
3. A primary responsibility of a board of directors is strategic
planning to effectively lead the organization. Therefore, insist
that the board be strongly involved in planning, often including
assigning a planning committee (often, the same as the executive
committee).
4. Ask if the board membership is representative of the organizations
clientele and community, and if they are not, the organization
may want to involve more representation in planning. If the board
chair or chief executive balks at including more of the board
members in planning, then the chief executive and/or board chair
needs to seriously consider how serious the organization is about
strategic planning!
5. Always include in the group, at least one person who ultimately
has authority to make strategic decisions, for example, to select
which goals will be achieved and how.
6. Ensure that as many stakeholders as possible are involved in
the planning process.
7. Involve at least those who are responsible for composing and
implementing the plan.
8. Involve someone to administrate the process, including arranging
meetings, helping to record key information, helping with flipcharts,
monitoring status of prework, etc.
9. Consider having the above administrator record the major steps
in the planning process to help the organization conduct its own
planning when the plan is next updated.
Note the following considerations:
10. Different types of members may be needed more at different
times in the planning process, for example, strong board involvement
in determining the organizations strategic direction (mission,
vision, and values), and then more staff involvement in determining
the organizations strategic analysis to determine its current
issues and goals, and then primarily the staff to determine the
strategies needed to address the issues and meet the goals.
11. In general, where there's any doubt about whether a certain
someone should be involved in planning, it's best to involve them.
It's worse to exclude someone useful then it is to have one or
two extra people in planning -- this is true in particular with
organizations where board members often do not have extensive
expertise about the organization and its products or services.
12. Therefore, an organization may be better off to involve board
and staff planners as much as possible in all phases of planning.
Mixing the board and staff during planning helps board members
understand the day-to-day issues of the organization, and helps
the staff to understand the top-level issues of the organization.
How Many Planning Meetings Will We Need?
Number and Duration of Planning Meetings
1. New planners usually want to know how many meetings will
be needed and what is needed for each meeting, i.e., they want
a procedure for strategic planning. The number of meetings depends
on whether the organization has done planning before, how many
strategic issues and goals the organization faces, whether the
culture of the organization prefers short or long meetings, and
how much time the organization is willing to commit to strategic
planning.
2. Attempt to complete strategic planning in at most two to three
months, or momentum will be lost and the planning effort may fall
apart.
Scheduling of Meetings
1. Have each meeting at most two to three weeks apart when
planning. It's too easy to lose momentum otherwise.
2. The most important factor in accomplishing complete attendance
to planning meetings is evidence of strong support from executives.
Therefore, ensure that executives a) issue clear direction that
they strongly support and value the strategic planning process,
and b) are visibly involved in the planning process.
An Example Planning Process and Design of Meetings
One example of a brief planning process is the following which
includes four planning meetings and develops a top-level strategic
plan which is later translated into a yearly operating plan by
the staff:
1. Planning starts with a half-day or all-day board retreat and
includes introductions by the board chair and/or chief executive,
their explanations of the organization's benefits from strategic
planning and the organization's commitment to the planning process,
the facilitator's overview of the planning process, and the board
chairs and/or chief executives explanation of who will be
involved in the planning process. In the retreat, the organization
may then begin the next step in planning, whether this be visiting
their mission, vision, values, etc. or identifying current issues
and goals to which strategies will need to be developed. (Goals
are often reworded issues.) Planners are asked to think about
strategies before the next meeting.
2. The next meeting focuses on finalizing strategies to deal with
each issue. Before the next meeting, a subcommittee is charged
to draft the planning document, which includes updated mission,
vision, and values, and also finalized strategic issues, goals,
strategies. This document is distributed before the next meeting.
3. In the next meeting, planners exchange feedback about the content
and format of the planning document. Feedback is incorporated
in the document and it is distributed before the next meeting.
4. The next meeting does not require entire attention to the plan,
e.g., the document is authorized by the board during a regular
board meeting.
5. Note that in the above example, various subcommittees might
be charged to gather additional information and distribute it
before the next planning meeting.
6 Note, too, that the staff may take this document and establish
a yearly operating plan which details what strategies will be
implemented over the next year, who will do them, and by when.
7. No matter how serious organizations are about strategic planning,
they usually have strong concerns about being able to find time
to attend frequent meetings. This concern can be addressed by
ensuring meetings are well managed, having short meetings as needed
rather than having fewer but longer meetings, and having realistic
expectations from the planning project.
How Do We Ensure Implementation of Our New Plan?
A frequent complaint about the strategic planning process is that it produces a document that ends up collecting dust on a shelf -- the organization ignores the precious information depicted in the document.
The following guidelines will help ensure that the plan is
implemented.
(Note that reference to boards of directors is in regard to organizations
that are corporations.
1. When conducting the planning process, involve the people who
will be responsible for implementing the plan. Use a cross-functional
team (representatives from each of the major organizations
products or service) to ensure the plan is realistic and collaborative.
2. Ensure the plan is realistic. Continue asking planning participants
Is this realistic? Can you really do this?
3. Organize the overall strategic plan into smaller action plans,
often including an action plan (or work plan) for each committee
on the board.
4. In the overall planning document, specify who is doing what
and by when (action plans are often referenced in the implementation
section of the overall strategic plan). Some organizations may
elect to include the action plans in a separate document from
the strategic plan, which would include only the mission, vision,
values, key issues and goals, and strategies. This approach carries
some risk that the board will lose focus on the action plans.
5. In an implementation section in the plan, specify and clarify
the plans implementation roles and responsibilities. Be
sure to detail particularly the first 90 days of the implementation
of the plan. Build in regular reviews of status of the implementation
of the plan.
6. Translate the strategic plans actions into job descriptions
and personnel performance reviews.
7. Communicate the role of follow-ups to the plan. If people know
the action plans will be regularly reviewed, implementers tend
to do their jobs before theyre checked on.
8. Be sure to document and distribute the plan, including inviting
review input from all.
9. Be sure that one internal person has ultimate responsibility
that the plan is enacted in a timely fashion.
10. The chief executives support of the plan is a major
driver to the plans implementation. Integrate the plans
goals and objectives into the chief executives performance
reviews.
11. Place huge emphasis on feedback to the boards executive
committee from the planning participants.
Consider all or some of the following to ensure the plan is
implemented.
12. Have designated rotating checkers to verify, e.g.,
every quarter, if each implementer completed their assigned tasks.
13. Have pairs of people be responsible for tasks. Have each partner
commit to helping the other to finish the others tasks on
time.
CONDUCTING STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic Analysis (Environmental Scan and SWOT)
A frequent complaint about strategic plans is that they are merely "to-do" lists of what to accomplish over the next few years. Or, others complain that strategic planning never seems to come in handy when the organization is faced with having to make a difficult, major decision. Or, other complain that strategic planning really doesn't help the organization face the future. These complaints arise because organizations fail to conduct a thorough strategic analysis as part of their strategic planning process. Instead, planners decide to plan only from what they know now. This makes the planning process much less strategic and a lot more guesswork. Strategic analysis is the heart of the strategic planning process and should not be ignored.
(Note that some planners prefer to identify/update the mission, vision and values statements before conducting the strategic analysis. Others prefer to identify/update these items after the strategic analysis. In this library, these items are addressed as part of the next major section "Setting Strategic Direction".)
Environmental Scan (taking a wide look around)
Basics
Taking
Stock (very basic overview of environmental scanning)
Stakeholder Consultations
Look Out! Environmental Scanning for Associations
Various Views on Future
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis)
Note that this activity can be helped a lot if you've already been following good practices of organizational performance management. For more information, see Organizational Performance.
Basics
SWOT:
Strategic Planning Process Worksheet
Basics
of Identifying Strategic Issues and Goals
Example
Example of a SWOT analysis another example
another example
another example
Various Organizational Assessments
The following assessments might be useful in helping you to
take a wide look at your organization.
Organizational
Assessments for For-profits
Organizational
Assessments for Nonprofits
Identifying Strategic Directions
Note that many writers discuss the identification of strategic goals concurrent to the identification of the associated methods, or strategies, to achieve those goals. Consequently, materials referenced from section often address both goals and strategies.
Strategizing (Goals and Methods/Strategies to Achieve Goals)
(Note that skills in Creative
Thinking and Innovation
are very important when strategizing, or setting overall organizational
goals and how they will be reached.)
Basics
of Strategizing (during strategic planning)
select
Strategic Planning from the pulldown menu
Strategy
Is ...
Strategy: Definitions and Meaning
Three
Forms of Strategy
Setting
Goals and Objectives
The
Goals Grid -- A Tool for Clarifying Goals & Objectives
Strategizing
How to Develop a Training Strategy
Also consider these topics:
Organizational
Change and Development
generally
about aligning goals throughout organization
Management-by-Objectives
(specifics about aligning goals throughout organization)
Project
Management (thorough planning and tracking to achieve goals)
Developing/Updating a Mission Statement
Basics
in Developing a Mission Statement
Pillars of Planning Mission, Vision and Values
Mission / Vision Exercise
What
should our mission statement say?(presented in context of
nonprofits)
Suggestion: Use your browser to do a search for "mission
statements". This likely will result in numerous links to
a wide variety of organization's mission statements that you can
review as samples of mission statements.
Developing/Updating a Vision Statement
Creating an Organization's Vision
Basics
in Developing a Vision Statement
Strategic Visioning Process
Creating
a Vision
Building
a Visionary Organization is a Do-It-Yourself Project
Suggestion: Use your browser to do a search for "vision
statements". This likely will result in numerous links to
a wide variety of organization's vision statements that you can
review as samples of vision statements.
Developing/Updating a Values Statement
Basics
in Developing a Values Statement
Suggestion: Use your browser to do a search for "values
statements". This likely will result in numerous links to
a wide variety of organization's values statements that you can
review as samples of values statements.
Action Planning (objectives, responsibilities, timelines)
Strategic planning can be exhilarating when coming up with
new visions and missions and values, talking about long-standing
issues in the workplace and coming up with new and exciting opportunities.
But without careful action planning -- and diligently ensuring
actions are carried out -- the plan ends up collecting dust on
a shelf. See
Basics
of Action Planning (as part of strategic planning)
The
Goals Grid -- A Tool for Clarifying Goals & Objectives
Also see:
Setting
Employee Goals
Management-by-Objectives
(specifics about aligning goals throughout org.)
Project
Management (thorough planning and tracking to reach goals)
Writing and Communicating the Plan
I've you've followed the guidelines, so far, throughout this
Library topic, then writing your plan will be fairly straightforward.
A frequent mistake at this point is not communicating the plan
to enough people, including external stakeholders. The following
link will be useful to you now.
Basics
of Writing and Communicating Your Plan
Monitoring, Evaluating and Deviating from the Plan
As stated several times throughout this library topics (and in materials linked
from it), too many strategic plans end up collecting dust on a shelf. Monitoring
and evaluating the planning activities and status of implementation of the plan
is -- for many organizations -- as important as identifying strategic issues
and goals. One advantage of monitoring and evaluation is to ensure that the
organization is following the direction established during strategic planning.
That advantage is obvious. However, another major advantage is that the management
can learn a great deal about the organization and how to manage it by continuing
to monitor and evaluate the planning activities and the status of the implementation
of the plan. Note that plans are guidelines. They aren't rules. It's OK to deviate
from a plan. But planners should understand the reason for the deviations and
update the plan to reflect the new direction.
Basics
of Monitoring and Evaluating and Deviating from the Strategic Plan
One Way to Make Sure Plans Actually Are Implemented
It's one thing to develop a plan. It's another to actually implement the plan.
Far too many plans sit untouched on shelves. A low-cost, straightforward approach
to share ongoing support and accountabilities to implement a plan is to use
peer coaching groups. That approach is brought to you by Authenticity Consulting,
LLC -- the same company that brings you this Free Management Library.
Using Peer
Coaching Groups(sm) to Ensure Accountability and Action
General Resources
Strategic Planning: numerous articles organized in order of planning
process
10-Day Strategic Plan
Venture Philanthropy Partners extensive manual (nonprofits
How to Ensure Your Strategic Plan Becomes a Valued Tool

For the Category of Strategic Planning:
Related Library Topics
Recommended Books
For-Profit Specific
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.
Nonprofit-Specific
Field
Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Step-by-step guidelines to customize and facilitate planners to implement the best strategic planning process to suit the particular nature and needs of their nonprofit. This is one of the few books, if any, that explains how to actually facilitate planning. Includes many online forms that can be downloaded and used by planners. Many materials in this Library's topic about strategic planning are adapted from this book.
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.
Also See
Planning and Project Management -- Recommended Books










