Strategic Planning for Nonprofits: Navigate Change and Set Clear Priorities

In today’s rapidly shifting landscape—defined by technology, economic change, and evolving regulations—nonprofit leaders are under increasing pressure to adapt. The most effective way to meet this challenge? Strategic planning.

Why Strategic Planning Matters for Nonprofits

A well-crafted strategic plan helps move your organization from surviving to thriving. Without a clear roadmap, energizing staff, volunteers, and donors around a common goal becomes difficult.

Take it from Bradley Hurlburt, President & CEO of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties—he has seen firsthand the positive impact strategic planning can have on organizational direction and donor engagement.

Step One: Celebrate Past Successes

Nonprofit teams often focus too heavily on what went wrong—this is due to what psychologists call negativity bias. To counter this, begin your strategic planning process by celebrating wins.

Make space in your board or staff meetings to reflect on what has gone well over the past year. Recognizing accomplishments boosts morale and lays a positive foundation for planning the future.

Step Two: Ground Your Plan in the Past

Effective strategic planning for nonprofits involves reflection. Try this exercise with your board:

• List key accomplishments from the last three years
• Document lessons learned
• Discuss what these insights mean for your future plans

Longstanding board members and organizational leaders carry important institutional knowledge—be sure to acknowledge and honor that history.

Step Three: Envision the Future with Purpose

Creating a shared long-term vision is critical. Without it, annual strategic planning becomes guesswork.

A powerful vision aligns staff, donors, and volunteers toward a common goal. In fact, only 7% of employees fully understand their organization’s strategy and how their work contributes to it (Harvard Business Review).

What’s the ideal planning horizon?

We typically recommend a three-year strategic plan—long enough to set meaningful direction, but short enough to adapt to change.

Step Four: Activate Your Strategic Plan with Progress Indicators

Your strategic plan should function as a living document—one that informs decisions, tracks progress, and guides resource allocation.

Key benefits of using your plan as a performance tool:

• It functions as an organizational scorecard
• It identifies key opportunities and threats
• It aligns staff and volunteer leaders on measurable goals

If your plan lacks progress indicators, develop test goals now. These benchmarks help you measure movement toward strategic objectives and improve accountability.

Step Five: Evaluate and Prioritize Strategic Goals

Whether or not you already have a formal plan, strategic planning conversations provide an opportunity to build alignment around the year ahead.

Here’s how to approach these conversations by role:

For All Staff and Board Members:

• Ask if new ideas align with your long-term strategic plan
  
• Evaluate donor interest and resource needs
  
• Discuss whether new initiatives are mission-critical or optional

For Chief Development Officers:

• Partner with program and finance colleagues to assess feasibility
  
• Craft donor messaging that emphasizes community impact
  
• Learn from past campaigns to improve future engagement
  

For Board Chairs:

• Focus on long-term sustainability
  
• Ensure alignment between new initiatives and your organization’s mission
  
• Evaluate how success will be measured
  

For CEOs and Executive Directors:

• Reflect on what worked (or didn’t) in the past year
  
• Realign progress indicators where needed
  
• Focus your plan around one clear strategic priority to avoid confusion and create momentum
  

Set Your Strategic Compass for the Year Ahead

Whether you’re creating a new strategic plan or refreshing an existing one, the process is an opportunity to engage stakeholders, articulate vision, and strengthen organizational resilience.

Remember: strategic planning isn’t just a document—it’s a culture of intentionality and collaboration.

Closing Thoughts

On behalf of Alford Group, we wish you great success in your planning efforts. Thank you for your continued leadership in the nonprofit sector and your dedication to creating lasting change.

Need help launching your next strategic plan? Contact Alford Group to schedule a consultation.