1. Develop a draft planning process and get board to agree to it.
2. Using your draft planning process, develop a planning budget of both time and cash.
3. Get key board and staff willing to commit to see the process through.

 

Phase II - The Strategic Plan

(a day, a retreat, or time set aside especially and only for strategic planning)

Key Question: Who are we?

4. Review the vision and Mission. (refer to the Strategic Planning Definitions)
5. Agree on a planning process.

Key Question: Where are we now?

6. Identify and discuss the environmental conditions in which you will be operating (refer to SWOT Analysis)
7. Maintain a constant vigil over the changing demographics and other community variables that can and should affect your program service delivery.
8. Be sensitive to changing community needs and evaluate how well your programs and services are working to meet those needs.
9. Take stock of your resources, both human and financial, and project the level of increase or decrease you expect in the future.

Key Question: Where do we want to go?

10. Develop preliminary goals and prioritize them. (refer to Further Considerations in the SWOT Analysis)
11. Appoint a Planning Committee.
12. Gather data.
13. Seek outside opinion from stakeholders.

Key Question: How do we get there? (Refer to the Strategic Planning Checklist)

14. Goals, Objectives and Action Steps
    • Develop Goals, Objectives and Action Steps (refer to Strategic Planning Definitions)
    • By setting goals and objectives, the organization selects from numerous options the path it will follow to achieve its mission.
    • Identification and discussion of strategic issues from the community should drive the development of relevant, market-responsive goals.
    • Setting Goals and Objectives is a several-step process of creation, validation, revision and approval.
    • There must be human, financial and time resources to make it a success.
    • Long range goals must include a financial plan and budget.
15. Final Draft and Adoption of Plan (refer to Strategic Plan Format)
16. Implementation of Strategic Plan

 

Phase III - Evaluation

Key Question: How are we doing?

17. Evaluation

• Evaluation is the key to keeping a plan vital
• Evaluation happens at a number of intervals: weekly financial reviews, monthly operational assessments, quarterly in-depth reviews, and yearly plan evaluations.
• Full-blown strategic planning usually takes place every three to five years.
• A three-to-five year plan should have a "rolling base." At the close of each year, the progress is evaluated, that year is retired from the plan, and a new final year is added.
• A plan should be structured enough to keep the organization focused, yet elastic enough to accommodate a new idea or an emergent community need.
• An organization's power to remain relevant in the community's perception is related to its capacity to evaluate both its plan and the community's need for services.

1. Do you have a strategic plan? Is it current? How do you use it?
2. If you do not have a strategic plan, what are the barriers or obstacles to creating one?
3. Who should participate in the planning process?
4. How would your association benefit internally from the planning process?
5. How would your association benefit externally from the planning process?
6. Does your current plan reflect an understanding of the needs of the community for your programs and services?
7. What are the internal obstacles that might stand in the way of creating and implementing a strategic plan?
8. Why should your Board participate in the strategic planning process?
9. Do you have a clearly stated vision? Can concrete goals be drawn from it?
10. Do you long range plans and your budget projections support each other?
11. What implications for development and fund-raising are inherent in your evolving plan?
12. What steps must you take to make sure your plan stays action-oriented?
13. What evaluation process is appropriate for your YWCA?
14. Who should you involve in the evaluation and how frequently should it take place?

Strategic Plan: A working document that discusses the organization's mission:

• the environment - what it will look like in the next 3-5 years
• the goals and objectives to realize the mission over that period
• not a work plan, but should enable staff to use it on a monthly basis

Vision: An out-of-the-box, vivid mental picture of what an organization aspires to - the realization of a mission achieved. Vision is keyed to the association's dreams for itself.

Mission: What an organization wants to work towards. A mission is keyed to the association's dreams for the community it serves. A clear mission helps you focus your efforts on what you do best.

Goal: A statement of a desired long-term outcome that defines the accomplishment of the mission. Goals descend from and are validated by the mission. Goals are general.

Objective: A specific statement that supports the goal. It must have a deadline, be realistic, be quantifiable and have an assigned responsible person/committee or organization. There can be many objectives to implement a goal. Objectives are SMART:

Action Steps: Support the implementation of an objective. They must be quantified and must be assigned to specific persons - with timelines, deadlines and costs attached. They are usually carried out by:

Questions for consideration:

Further considerations:

Getting new information spawns new, up-to-date perspectives and generates enthusiasm for planning. Consider assigning a planning sub-committee or a marketing consultant to collect any useful information about trends.

Fogg (1994) notes that issues and goals usually come from strengths to be bolstered, weaknesses to be corrected, opportunities to be capitalized upon, and threats to be avoided.

Issues that are too narrow do not warrant planning and issues that are too broad will bog you down.

Deal with issues that you can do something about.

Issues should be articulated so that anyone can understand them.

Do not ignore current major issues in the interests of pursuing more creative and forward looking goals.