STRATEGIC PLANNING: A TEN-STEP GUIDE*
I. IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING
There is broad agreement among nonprofit leaders and experts that planning is a critical component of good management and governance. Planning helps assure that an organization remains relevant and responsive to the needs of its community, and contributes to organizational stability and growth. It provides a basis for monitoring progress, and for assessing results and impact. It facilitates new program development. It enables an organization to look into the future in an orderly and systematic way. From a governance perspective, it enables the Board to set policies and goals to guide the organization, and provides a clear focus to the Executive Director and staff for program implementation and agency management. Most organizations understand the need for annual program objectives and a program-focused work plan. Funders require them, and they provide a basis for setting priorities, organizing work, and assessing progress. A growing number of Hispanic communitybased organizations go beyond funder requirements to develop annual objectives and operating plans which also include a systematic plan for resource development, organizational development, and in some cases Board development. Most groups find it practical to define objectives for a 12-month period, and to design strategies and programs to meet them. Longer-range planning – planning beyond the next year or two – often seems more difficult and less rewarding. With the external environment changing so rapidly, Board members and senior staff ask, how can we expect to develop plans that will remain relevant? With so little control over external events, how can we hope to influence them in a way that benefits our community? In fact, planning is no less important in a changing environment; it may well be more important. Most Hispanic community-based