The benefits are what every organization dreams about. A strategic plan will produce sustainability. The symptoms or key elements of sustainability are strong community support, donor passion, motivated employees and volunteers, an effective board, active and committed referral sources, and clients referring others.
Is it reasonable to expect that from a strategic plan?
What does it take to have strong community support? One must have a goal that inspires the community. Eliminating hunger is one example. However, there must be a plan behind that.
Passing out sacks of food is unlikely to inspire support. Passing out food feeds people but it fails to eliminate hunger.
It is important to truly solve a problem if one wants dependable support from the community. This is especially true during tough economic times.
People feel they have limited resources to give to charity. They need to know that their gift is going to eliminate a problem.
The current economic environment has created skepticism. The banks received money from the government. People expected the money to solve a problem. The number of bank loans is below the expected level. People feel the government failed to ensure the effective use of the money.
The consumer is carrying that disappointment into other aspects of their lives. Charitable giving is one of the areas. They are starting to ask, “Who is solving the problem?” The question in 2008 was, “Who is working on the problem?”
In 2008, it was okay to be working on the problem. It was okay to be passing out sacks of food so that people could look for a job if they wanted to. However, like the government money it fails to ensure that the recipient will look for a job.
Trusting the banks to make loans seems to be the same mistake as trusting the unemployed to look for a job. It is the donor’s privilege to decide if the two problems are identical. Do you have time this year to argue with your donors and community?
The strategic plan must be robust enough to deliver on the mission. There are two options. One is to change the mission. It still needs to solve an important problem but maybe a smaller more manageable one. The other option is to create a robust strategic plan that delivers on the promise of the mission.
Many nonprofits are laying off workers. Some are closing their door. Both are suffering from a lack of support. If you want to avoid that fate, create a strategic plan that actually solves a problem important to your community.
Does your strategic plan promise a solution or just support a need? What changes do you need to make to become a problem solver?
