Strategic Growth For Nonprofits: Planning For the Future

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Strategic growth for nonprofits is really about the kind of thought leadership that they engage in. In other words, it isn't so much about the strategic development plan that they draw up or what grants they seek, but more about what thought leadership will lead to. For example, if they know that their demographic profile and their local economy are not going to grow much in the next five years, it means that they aren't going to be able to just throw money at a charity and hope that they win hearts and minds, check out digital transformation for nonprofits. That is not strategic growth for nonprofits because their focus has been around fundraising and marketing. It would be like a well-known company trying to put out a full-page ad in a big metropolitan paper advertising that they are "the fastest growing company in your area."

Instead, they would do a bit of demographic research and find out what sorts of people they might be attracting to their events, what sorts of businesses they would network with, and what sorts of services they would provide. Once they have this information, then they can develop a strategic plan on how to leverage their demographics and the local economy to create the most impact with the limited resources they have. I have seen strategic plans that only have strategic elements and miss the opportunity to discuss service objectives and goals. This is a mistake because you need to make sure that people see the tangible results that you are trying to create.

That is where strategic thinking for nonprofits comes in. I think the most important thing you can do to think about the strategy you want to develop is to think about what types of activities are likely to generate revenue. It seems obvious, but often nonprofits go into large planning sessions without really identifying what revenues they will actually generate year after year. You may even be generating tons of revenue without really seeing much from it. As a result, they never have a clear plan for strategic growth.

The first part of a strategic growth for nonprofits is to think about what types of activities generate a good amount of revenue. In many cases, this is easy to do. For example, if you are a non-profit that is doing work on community development, you may think about ways to generate advertising or public awareness to promote your efforts. Other examples include public speaking, fundraising, and sponsorship sales. These are all activities that can generate significant amounts of revenue.

However, if you are not thinking strategically, you may not be able to see the strategic implications of your actions. This can lead to inattention to the details of the strategic plan you are developing. The second part of strategic growth for nonprofits is to think in terms of your ability to measure the results you want to see, also view nonprofit digital transformation. You will want to build metrics around your activities so that you can make sure that you are getting the returns that you are expecting.

As a planner, I encourage my clients to think through their strategic plans as part of their planning process. I think of it as an opportunity to start imagining the world that they would like to see, as well as the world that their clients might one day see. I think that this sort of broad and flexible thinking is fundamental to being a more effective manager. When you start planning your strategic growth for nonprofits, remember that you have plenty of time to create a comprehensive plan. Read more at https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/technology/technology-terms-and-concepts/technology