SWOT Analysis and Strategic Planning
Throughout my career, I have been involved in multiple strategic planning sessions, however, in 2020, I was honored to lead my organization through the process and found that it took 8 months to fully execute from day 1 planning to board adoption. Depending on the organization, this is also the first steps needed if you are building out a Rapid Panning Process (RPP), creating a Gantt Chart for major project build out, or for forecasting a Multi-Year Financial Proforma.
Following are 5 steps that make the process less intimidating:
Investigate your Primary and Secondary Market footprint. Understanding your audiences/community will inform your strategies once you have established your focus areas.
Investigate WHO your audiences think you are and WHAT you do. Create a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Survey that is sent out to Board, Staff, friends and volunteers, as well as patrons.
Build your Strategic Planning Task Force. This should be a mix of Board, Staff, and Community Members.
Use data from your SWOT to name your 4 Focus areas and answer the question “Why is is this critical” for each.
For each focus area, outline core strategies that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely
After outcomes and assumed impact are defined, its important to remember that this is a living document that should not be shut away in a drawer, but revisited once goals are accomplished. That is why I am a huge fan of Real-Time Strategic Planning. “Real-Time Strategic Planning” is a fluid, organic process that helps nonprofits identify, understand, and act on challenges and opportunities as they arise — today, not in six months when the “new plan” is done.
