As I work with nonprofits, I encounter confusion on the difference between strategy and planning, especially when it comes to growing revenue. This post explores both, explains their differences, and provides examples of each.
A nonprofit strategy identifies different routes to the future you want. It explains how you will win enough resources and enough supporters to create exemplary mission results. A good strategy provides overall direction. You use it long-term. You can condense strategy into a few well-chosen words to convey its essence.
Nonprofit planning works best when used with a strategy. Planning gets specific. The planning timeframe can be for ten minutes or three years. It’s always finite. Plans can be simple: Go to the store and buy milk. They can be complicated: Take one step per day for 365 days to plan the gala. Using the strategies above, the examples below illustrate how strategy and planning enhance each other.
You can have a strategy without a plan and a plan without a strategy. When linked, a strategy, such as we want to go north during the heat of the summer, and a plan that includes hotel reservations and a tank full of gas, allow you to reach your destination efficiently and effectively. To grow your nonprofit’s income, create a strategy that will set your way to winning; then make your plans to get there.
Want to know more nonprofit planning and strategy. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, I’d love to help you identify what your nonprofit needs next and partner with you so you can get it ASAP. -Karen
Before founding her firm, Karen Eber Davis developed the Sarasota County Community Development Block Grant Program. Under her leadership, this infant program received the National Association of Counties National Affordable Housing Award for the Down Payment Assistance Program. To date, the program helped over 1,800 families realize their dreams of homeownership. She also worked with the City of Ft. Lauderdale and the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, where she developed the division’s first audit program. In an earlier position at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Tampa, she organized senior, youth, and children groups plus family activities. Her youth staffing work with the Florida Synod of the Lutheran Church in America supported youth ministries in 120 congregations in Florida.
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