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in npos there's no share price or profit right um it's not really a the purpose of the organization now measurement methods common in the corporate environment are both unusable and sometimes even inappropriate so this is why strategic planning is such a vital part of governing managing and monitoring an npo's performance however hi wrenches McIver here program advisor with AMC and po Solutions today on the Strategic nonprofit I've invited our CEO and founder Tom Abbott hey Tom it's great to be here Trista let's do this I'm pumped about today's topic excellent me too so we're going to be talking about strategic planning so what are some common strategic planning definitions well that's a really great uh starting point right so uh you know before describing how an NPO should actually complete this vital exercise of strategic planning it's probably good for us to set out some basic definitions like what exactly is it what are we talking about well overall strategic planning is the leadership function of articulating why an organization exists setting strategic goals that will enable the organization to move towards fulfilling its reasons for existence that will identify measurable results for meeting those strategic goals and identifying who's responsible for meeting the Strategic goals so there's a few other terms that we hear a lot mission statement vision statement value statement so let me just you know quickly Define those things so a mission statement is a clear concise inspiring statement that states what the organization is what type of organization it is and what it does for whom and where so that's your mission now a vision is a concise picture of an ideal desired future for the organization and a value statement is a statement of how the organization should act to reach its vision now there's a couple of other terms that we hear a lot strategic goals versus objectives well strategic goals would be what is to be accomplished long term to achieve the mission and objectives would be specifically how those strategic goals are to be reached the shorter term targets that will move the organization measurably towards meeting its longer term strategic goals so Trista that just kind of gives us a overall definitions of some common terms around strategic planning Tom thank you for that and why is why is strategic planning so important well one of the most significant differences between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations is in how each of these uh measures organizational achievement right so in the corporate world the organization stakeholders often measure success by looking at the profit generated for publicly traded companies the measurement of success is frequently tied to the share price of the firm's stock and while many would point to Serious flaws with both of these methods of measuring performance they both continue to be used widely in the corporate world however in npos there's no share price or profit right um it's not really a the purpose of the organization now measurement methods common in the corporate environment are both unusable and sometimes even inappropriate so this is why strategic planning is such a vital part of governing managing and monitoring an npo's performance that's why it's this is why we do it we've got to know how are we doing so that's great about the how now the why why um you know yeah sorry the how it's always a strategic plan created okay so the question is how is the Strategic plan created well whatever method you use to complete your Strat plan um that can vary there's so many different books and ideas out there around how you can create the plan however whatever method you use to complete this plan the roles of the board and the staff are generally constant so you want to be looking at you know what should the board be doing and what should the CEO and the staff be doing that's kind of your your starting point when you're looking at creating your strategic plan perfect so could you tell us what is the role of the board then sure so the role of the board is is five-fold uh number one is they got to make the time available for a planning session like that's the first thing you should be doing as a board is actually just make some time schedule it in your calendar that we're going to meet either face to face preferably or virtually for a planning session that's number one number two the board has to Define and formally approve the mission statement so that's what happens at that meeting approve the the mission like what's our purpose why are we here then third is to Define and formally approve the Strategic goals so how are you know what what do we want to achieve and number four as time permits at the planning meeting you want to be providing input to the staff regarding the npo's shorter term objectives that will support the longer term strategic goals and Fifth and finally approving the Strategic plan developed by the staff and presented to the board so it's it's a lengthy process but basically you know the Board needs to Define and approve the mission the Strategic goals if they can some of those shorter term objectives provide that input to the staff the staff will then prepare a plan and then present it to the board for approval got it got it got it thank you so what's the role of the CEO and the senior staff then got it all right so that's so we talked about what the Board needs to do so what does what does the CEO and some senior staff need to do well there's also five things they need to look at number one they have to handle all of the logistics of the planning meeting so they're responsible for organizing and planning making sure that it runs smoothly number two they've got to complete any advanced research work required for the planning meetings including obtaining membership input whether it's surveys focus groups or just online searches so they've got to come prepared with information do their research to make this session as fruitful as possible number three they should be joining as full participants in the discussion of mission and strategic goals at the meeting now when I say they should be joining again this is the CEO and Senior staff it's key employees within the organization not all staff but your senior staff and certainly your CEO they should be joining as full participants in discussions of the mission and the Strategic goals number four the role of the CEO and the senior staff would be to Define objectives and programs necessary to support the mission and strategic goals they're the ones who have boots on the ground so they need to have a a huge say and actually need to Define what are the objectives and the programs necessary to actually support the mission and the Strategic goals laid out by the board and then finally the CEO and Senior staff are responsible for drafting a strategic plan document for the review and approval of the board of the directors great thank you for that clarification so what is the um what's achieved through this planning process well yeah so Trisha that's a great question people often say all right Tom so why do we do it or what do we what do we get after going through a strat plan like how do we know if it's been successful right well a successful and comprehensive strategic planning process will among other outcomes it will reaffirm the mission of the NPO so why are we here are we on the right track like are we aligned uh establish strategic goals that are consistent with the mission will also identify major objectives that will support the Strategic goals number four is to identify well who is responsible for the completion of those strategic goals and objectives so what are we here for what do we want to do who's going to do it who's responsible um uh we number five we need to establish timelines for the accomplishment of the Strategic goals and objectives so what do we want to do who's going to do it and when do we need to have it done by and then six and this is where a lot of organizations struggle establish a monitoring system for overseeing the work on the Strategic goals and we can talk about monitoring organizational performance in another podcast but these are the six things reaffirm the mission of the NPO establish strategic goals identify major objectives that support those goals identify who's responsible for completing those establish timelines for the accomplishment of those goals and objectives and six establish a monitoring system for overseeing the work on the Strategic goals that's a very very concise list I love it thank you so is there anything that the event an organization can do first okay I would say that the the end of the strategic planning work by the board of directors does not mean the end of the work for the board however it does Mark a shift in the board's role from one vital function to another from responsibility for setting the Strategic direction of the organization to responsibility for monitoring the performance of the organization excellent thank you so I'm coming on the podcast today again Tom hey great to be here love sharing stuff about all things NPO governance I will see you next you next time okay