STRATEGIC PLANNING: LIKE THE PAIN OF CHILDBIRTH

I know something about the pain of childbirth: 18 hours of labor, a C-section and twin boys. The gestation period for creating a strategic plan can take longer than bringing a person into the world! How often has your favorite organization forgotten to incorporate one of the key players in the delivery - the fundraising staff - from the beginning of the strategic planning process?

Plainly, a strategic plan is a vision of your organization's future and the road map to achieve that future. A good plan extends forward at least five years. Profound questions have to be asked and answered, goals and objectives and desired outcomes must be outlined, plus metrics for assessing progress, timelines and budgets must be developed.

Although the ultimate goal of the strategic planning process is to develop a plan and put it in motion, the value of the planning exercise often lies in the process itself. Integrating stakeholders into the process gives them an opportunity to learn more about the organization, to share perceptions of its strengths and weaknesses, and to discuss critical issues affecting, or likely to affect, the organization in the future. One of the most time-consuming parts of strategic planning is responding to issues of concern to various stakeholders. In any event, the process should be designed to generate decisions arrived at by consensus. Single-person planning, no matter how prescient or efficient, almost always eliminates the opportunity to distribute ownership of the plan — and, by extension, responsibility for the organization's future — among key stakeholders. A consensual approach, on the contrary, is likely to ensure that key stakeholders believe in the organization's vision of the future and are committed to supporting it.

Those who can affect the outcome must be involved actively in the discussions, analysis and evaluation, and planning and approval of the strategic plan. Fundraising professionals are to strategic plans as obstetricians are to pregnancies!