The Step Most Nonprofits Miss When Strategic Planning, and How You Can Get It Right

While nonprofits across the country develop strategic plans, many of them end up gathering dust on the shelf because they're missing a crucial follow-on step that comes after their strategic plan is complete: strategic alignment.

A good strategic plan is developed from the ground up. It considers the needs of the community, the perspectives of all the key stakeholders associated with a particular challenge, and the positioning of the organization, but it shouldn't be limited only to what the organization is good at today. Instead, it should help an organization see its full potential, catalyze the community of stakeholders to action, and set an aspirational vision for what's to come.

This inevitably means that a good strategic plan will tell an organization that it must change course, sometimes in small and other times in big ways, to create the impact it desires. This is where strategic alignment comes in.

Understanding Strategic Alignment

Strategic alignment is the process of adjusting an organization’s internal structure and resources to ensure they are in sync with the strategic plan.?

If you think about it, your organization today is headed north. But a good strategic plan likely charts a course to the north-east to create the impact needed. Strategic alignment is about setting your organization up to bridge the gap between its current direction and where it needs to go.

Strategic alignment involves...[CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...]