Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide for Dynamic Times, 3rd Edition

Chapter 10Step 10: Using Your Plan Successfully

Congratulations! You have completed your strategic plan. Your long-term direction is clear, and ideally two important things have been accomplished. First, because various stakeholders have been engaged in the process in many ways, there is a high level of commitment to major decisions within the stakeholder communities. Second, thanks to the work of the committee, various authors, and reviewers, the written document presents your direction and priorities in organized and compelling language.

Now is the time to make sure that your strategic plan is closely synched and translated into the processes of annual budgeting and annual program and departmental planning. Ensuring that your team is ready to go is the other critical step in this juncture.

Although the process of planning has energized and focused the organization members, the full value of the planning effort will only be realized through its implementation. Barriers to implementation come in many guises and include failure to translate strategies into operational plans, resistance to change, lack of specificity, losing focus, and failure to adapt to external developments.

Step 10 has four substeps focusing on (1) managing change, (2) developing annual implementation plans and budgets, (3) drafting an overall dashboard to track progress, and (4) developing ongoing monitoring ...