How is a Strategic Plan different from a Business Plan?
A Strategic Plan is primarily used for implementing and managing the strategic direction of an existing organization. It often revisits mission, vision, and value statements. A Business Plan is used to start a business, obtain funding, or direct operations. The two plans often cover different time frames as well.
When is the best time to launch a Strategic Planning initiative?
If you don’t have a Strategic Plan currently in place, the answer is “now!” Having said that, organizations often launch strategic planning initiatives when they are facing a change in executive leadership. Some do it to help them identify the perfect candidate. Others do it soon after they have a new executive in place so […]
Scenario Planning as a Organizational Tool
There seems to be a lot of advice about what to do when life throws you a curveball. And for someone like me, who is a planner, the unknown – and subsequent uncertainty of what the next month or year holds – can be unsettling. While vaccination is certainly providing hope to overcoming the pandemic, […]
Reimagine Your Nonprofit to Survive the Crisis by Steve Zimmerman (Harvard Business Review)
Much has been written about how nonprofits need to adapt in order to survive the pandemic and thrive in the “new normal” that will follow. This piece provides a succinct and cogent argument for an approach that focuses on four key dynamics: a nonprofit’s impact, people, finances, and community. We will probably integrate this approach […]
How often should an organization update its Strategic Plan?
Current strategic planning methodology is designed to help organizations view themselves in new and creative ways, and position themselves for continued growth and development. The focus is on creating a process that helps an organization deal effectively with change – whether in the form of opportunity or threat – while staying true to its mission […]
How can Strategic Planning help my organization/destination – especially now?
Strategic planning allows an organization to identify, prioritize, and focus on what’s important. It also helps engage audiences that are critical to success and sustainability. A well-designed and customized planning process can foster input from both internal and external stakeholders to help chart the organization’s (or destination’s) future, articulate strengths, identify issues and define solutions. […]
Clinch River Valley Initiative (Virginia): Strategic Plan
Approaching its second decade of service, the Clinch River Valley Initiative (CRVI) stood at a crossroads. This pioneering economic development enterprise had launched numerous successful programs to help transform the economy of Southwest Virginia from its reliance on the former coalfields of Southwest Virginia. However, CRVI’s original funding was about to expire and it lacked […]
The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real Time Strategic Planning in a Rapid-Response World (Second Edition 2018), by David LaPiana (Turner Publishing)
As described by the author, Real Time Strategic Planning “challenged traditional thinking about how social sector organizations form strategy and presented the Real-Time Strategic Planning methodology as one better suited to an increasingly dynamic and fast-changing world… unbound from the artificial constraints of the traditional three-to-five year strategic plan.” Hargrove consultants have received training in […]
The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning
Strategic planning refers to the choices an organization makes about how best to fulfill its mission and realize its vision. To be successful, an organization must have a powerful mission, a clear vision for the future it seeks to create, sound values and effective programs. In order to be sustainable, every organization – no matter […]