Daily Buzz: The Three P’s of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning. Do the words make you shudder? If so, you’re not alone.

“Perhaps scarred by a past planning effort, many nonprofit leaders and board members describe lengthy, laborious and ultimately ineffectual processes that failed to translate their organizational vision into reality,” Gregory Nielsen explains on the Bloomerang blog  (opens in a new tab). “But there is hope, and a path to a far more energizing and effective plan.”

And that plan starts with purpose. Why is your organization embarking on this planning initiative?

Consider the people putting the plan into action, too. Are they the right team members leading the charge? “A universal truth of board governance, and planning, is that the people in the room determine the questions that are asked,” Nielsen says.

Then, define the process. “Nonprofit leaders should evaluate the planning processes that have worked well with their team in the past and the type of process needed to confront the challenges of today,” he says. “Will your board and key staff team respond better to a full-day retreat or a series of shorter sessions? Will you need to revisit the mission, vision and values of the organization or do they still reflect the organization’s north star?”

Whatever the answers, a clear outline will pave the way for a successful strategy.

Get Creative With Payment Options

The last thing you want to do is make it harder for your members to pay their dues. Amy Hager offers us 4 tips to make dues collecting a little bit easier 💵 #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) https://t.co/jPddggU3ah  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/RDe2taFUJ1  (opens in a new tab)

— Sidecar (@sidecarglobal) August 23, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

Don’t turn members away by making it hard for them to pay dues  (opens in a new tab), says Amy Hager on Association Success.

“I used to be with the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia, and we dealt with smaller sized members and those who did not have large cash flows,” she says. “It was hard for some of them to come up with the money to a large sum for membership one time a year, so we decided it would just be easier for us to charge them every month. Once we broke up the model, if you paid the one large sum once a year, then you paid 10 percent less than those that were paying their membership dues monthly. In that way, we were able to kind of subsidize the extra charge for staff time and credit card charges.”

This arrangement might not be a fit for your organization, but consider it a lesson on knowing when to meet members halfway.

Other Links of Note

Program design should start with learner assessment  (opens in a new tab), according to the WBT Systems blog.

Refining your social media strategy? Forbes  (opens in a new tab)offers 10 best practices  (opens in a new tab).

Google is making Chrome more private—but advertisers can still track you  (opens in a new tab), according to Recode.

(HAKINMHAN/iStock/Getty Images Plus)