Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last, Third Edition

Principal Components of an Effective Strategic Planning Process

Six major components are essential to effective strategic planning:

1. Values clarification

2. Situation analysis

3. Information gathering

4. Decision-making

5. Writing the plan

6. Implementing and monitoring the plan

Use these six components to design a strategic planning process that is relevant for your organization. Tailor the process to your organization by considering such things as: your organization’s age, size, and complexity; resources (staff, volunteers, consultants) available to devote to planning; and the internal and external environments.

Start with values, described in detail in Chapter 3. Values are critical to an effective strategic planning process, setting the foundation for the process and the ultimate results.

Remember, values are the standards that influence us as we make choices among alternative courses of action. Values are the manner by which we operate as an organization. Values guide our actions and judgments. When we state our values, others can decide if they wish to affiliate with us, living with us in the way we want to live.

The situation analysis, also called an environmental scan or SWOT analysis, examines where your organization is now. Look at your internal strengths and weaknesses (SW) and external opportunities and threats (OT). Strengths and weaknesses refer to those things that you can control, albeit with difficulty. Opportunities and threats transpire beyond your control, ...