How Short-Term Strategies Jumpstart Nonprofit Recovery

Over the past two years, strategic planning trends have been on a rollercoaster ride. Nonprofit leaders started 2020 with shiny new plans and high hopes for the next five years but were walloped by COVID reality. Subsequently, the next two years left many wondering whether there was anything of value in their former goals.

In 2019, I wrote a piece entitled, The Question to Ask Before Writing a Strategic Plan, highlighting the importance of understanding what type of plan you need before beginning the strategic planning process. Now, more than ever, nonprofit leaders need to carefully consider what is relevant.

For instance, one of the foundational steps in outlining your goals is to understand the internal and external environments in which your organization operates. But let me ask you this…how can you predict the future off of data from a changing and volatile environment? You can’t!

So, what’s the solution? Should we throw strategic processes to the wind and hope for the best? Not at all! We need to use short-term strategies to jumpstart recovery. Don’t waste your organization’s time and money trying to lay out the next five years when you are still unsure whether or not to host an in-person gala this fall. Instead, develop goals for the next year that help your organization address the critical moment Covid-19 provided for you. 

Spark Group can help! 

Nonprofit leaders are unsure how to dig out of the pandemic mess. So we created a new program called Forward Through Uncertainty. It is a one-day strategy workshop that creates order out of chaos. It helps overwhelmed nonprofit leaders answer the question, “What is the best path forward to increase our sustainability?” If you’re interested in learning more, visit our website.

Whether you work with us or not, use strategy to your advantage. Take a day out of your busy schedules and work out actionable steps for the next year that will set your organization up for success. Short-term plans don’t mean that you don’t have long-term visions for your community. They simply indicate that you realize your environment is too unpredictable and don’t want to guess when it comes to your mission and resources.

Happy planning!

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