by Molly Penn<\/p>\n
Strategic Planning<\/a> is a term that gets used fairly frequently, but not always to refer to the same work.\u00a0 As an example, lately we’ve gotten requests for strategic plans ranging from budgets of $15,000 to $150,000.\u00a0 \u00a0This describes a completely different scope of work.\u00a0 Consulting is a time-driven business – we charge for our time, based on our levels of experience and expertise.\u00a0 Literally translated, this means that if your budget is $15,000 you are buying much less time than if your budget is $150,000.\u00a0 So how does this translate to different products and processes in the end?<\/p>\n What makes a plan strategic is that it takes into account what is happening in the larger context around the organization (see our other post on How to Research Your Market<\/a>).\u00a0 The pandemic and social justice movements are perfect examples of things that are happening societally that will exert influence on how organizations have to operate.\u00a0 Other examples might include the state of need in your community, to what degree there are other services available to serve that need, the level of competition for funding, etc.\u00a0 The way in which you gather this information can make a world of difference in how well informed your strategy is.\u00a0 So obviously, a lower budget affords less time to engage in gathering this kind of information.\u00a0 With a budget of $15,000, we facilitate a meeting with internal stakeholders and ask them what they see happening in the world that we’ll want to take into consideration.\u00a0 With a budget of $150,000, we document these trends and analyze them for our clients.<\/p>\n Another thing that makes a plan strategic is that it is based on the perspectives and needs of those you serve, and it takes into consideration what your funders and donors want from you, your place in your field, and conversations with your clients.\u00a0 At the more robust end of the budget, we speak to dozens of stakeholders, we run community focus groups (see our other post on How to Engage Your Stakeholders<\/a>).\u00a0 We convene Accountability Circles – groups of those you serve who tell you what they need most from your organization.\u00a0 We document the themes from these conversations so your internal stakeholder thinking is deeply informed by the voices and perspectives of your community.\u00a0 This is not just a budgetary calculation – the extent to which you devote time and attention to gathering the right data correlates to greater levels of trust from your community, and greater levels of confidence from your funders.<\/p>\n Once information on your environment is gathered and analyzed (another area where you are paying for expertise), the planning process is about convening a series of meetings with internal stakeholders (board and staff) to use that information to determine what the organization will prioritize in the years ahead (see our other post on How to Create Strong Strategic Plan Goals<\/a>).\u00a0 This phase involves expert facilitation to ensure the conversations are engaging, productive and inclusive of diverse points of view.\u00a0 We are trained in the Technology of Participation, which thinks about this in terms of the rational aim<\/strong><\/em> – what you need to achieve or decide in each meeting; and the experiential aim<\/strong> <\/em>– what you want people to get from the experience.\u00a0 \u00a0What this draws attention to is that planning actually has two distinct benefits to the organization that need to be acknowledged and considered simultaneously: the benefit of producing a plan that clarifies organizational direction and priorities in the years ahead; and the benefit of getting all the internal stakeholders aligned around this common sense of direction.\u00a0 While we’ve used the phrase “a series of meetings” to describe the bulk of the strategic planning process, this blog post<\/a> gives you a greater sense of all the steps involved (and there are many).<\/p>\n This is an area that some organizations want and others don’t.\u00a0 Does your organization need detailed implementation plans, or are you more comfortable managing to a strategic framework, but having the freedom to adapt your actions within that framework?\u00a0 Does your board need a detailed understanding of what the plans are going to cost?\u00a0 For some boards, they won’t take a plan seriously that does not have financial projections.\u00a0 For others, they are comfortable to manage the organizations budgeting and financials internally.\u00a0 These are things to clarify internally because if you need them included in the strategic plan consultancy, that adds to the cost.<\/p>\n If you are thinking of doing strategic planning, it’s useful to review the below benefits to see which ones might apply to your organization.\u00a0 The more that apply, the higher the value of the project is to your organization.<\/p>\nWhat Makes a Plan Strategic?<\/h2>\n
What Does It Take to Make A Plan?<\/h2>\n
Action Planning and Financials<\/h2>\n
Things to Consider in Budgeting for a Strategic Plan<\/h2>\n
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