Increasing the Impact of Your Strategic Planning Efforts

THE TRAINING NEED:

Do you, your staff, and your Board of Directors have a clear picture of where your organization is, where it should be going, and how to get there? Strategic Planning is a process that helps to answer these questions. And in today's unstable, ever-changing environment, strategic planning is a MUST for nonprofits. While strategic planning may incorporate elements of other approaches to planning, it differs in an important way: Conventional planning uses past experience and various projections to estimate future needs and directions. Strategic planning, however, asks, "What should we be doing?" Strategic planning does not attempt to predict the future as much as cause the future to happen in a specified way. As a result, strategic planning can help nonprofits identify and act upon new opportunities for organizational growth.

The session is a practical and usable introduction to the key concepts and techniques of strategic planning and how to apply them to your organization. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of what nonprofits can gain from strategic planning. It is geared to the executive staff and board members who must act as a team in this planning process. A major theme of the session will be board involvement in the planning process. The session will feature extensive handouts including planning forms, worksheets, and examples of strategic planning documents.

WORKSHOP TOPICS:

• The nature and role of strategic planning and how to apply the concepts and practices to nonprofit organizations
• Making sure that your strategic planning is really "strategic"
• Techniques for plan formulation, implementation, and assessment
• Preparing your organization for planning
• When, where, why, and how your board and staff should be involved

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

For persons seeking an introduction to strategic planning as well as an understanding of different approaches to strategic planning in nonprofit agencies. The session will be especially useful for executive directors, staff, and board members wishing to add new life to their strategic planning efforts.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." Edmund Burke  View Past Quotes

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© 2008 Creative Information Systems 

Revised: November 17, 2008