Introduction:
If you want to learn and understand the importance of strategic planning for your NGO and I strongly admit that you come to the right place to understand and gain knowledgeable ideas and learn something new for your future. I am sure, you will get the required information accordingly and as per your need and teach your colleagues about strategic planning for organization and Department.
The plan is a very important part of every life as well for organization and department, it took more value as per the organization’s needs and requirements. Someone has rightly said that without a plan, a goal is only a wish. In the context of your NGO also, it holds true. Despite having a mission, vision, and objectives, an organization might be going on a path to nowhere, as these are very broad statements, and do not provide a clear direction, or do not ‘steer’ the organization.
Having a clear and actionable plan takes a lot of churning of ideas and experiences sharing among all the key stakeholders, which will direct the board to have a strategic plan for the organization.
It can be said that there cannot be good governance without a strategic plan (as the link is attached with the statement for details information and articles). A good balance is required between the mission and vision with which the organization was formed and current challenges and the complex milieu where the organization is placed.
Here is how to form a strategic plan for your NGO and Department:
- Decide who will facilitate the discussions and who will participate in the meeting. Ensure all key stakeholders participate in the process, as that is the best way possible to devise a strategic plan and may suggest any new idea for intervention.
- The analysis must begin with an attempt towards understanding the internal environment and may give you a friendly atmosphere, which means identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the organization which can be internal accordingly. What are the core strengths, and core competencies of your NGO and organization? Why are donors rais funds for your NGO and organization? What makes your organization thrive in a competitive and complex environment? These are some of the questions to answer to better understand the internal strengths.
- Next comes the analysis of the external environment which can justify the external things. This involves studying what are the opportunities and threats that the external environment holds and finding out the best way to complete them. What are the pain points and critical issues in front of the NGO and organization?
- Prioritize: After listing these, there is a need to prioritize the things to be done. Now, as per priorities, you will need to write short-term plans in sync with the larger goals of the organization.
- The next step is to plan for any additional resources required, including financial resources; and then allocate these resources.
- Now after reaching the planning phase, financial planning is the most important and crucial step. Involve your finance team also for sound financial planning.
- For strategic planning and organization-wide implementation, the systems and processes for monitoring and evaluation must be put in place. Without knowing the progress or failures, one cannot learn, and hence monitoring and evaluation are very important.
- Now you can proceed and start the implementation of your strategic plan.
Some important things to keep in mind:
- The key to successful strategic planning is to involve everyone! Everyone means the board, the management, and all the key stakeholders. Remember that when everyone owns the process, the chances of success increase manifold.
- Reinforce the message: You will need to hold regular meetings and keep reinforcing the messages to implement the plan organization-wide successfully.
- Remember, this is certainly not an overnight process and will take a long time to succeed the way you have planned it. But even small steps count in a long journey. Take a small step, and the giant leap will follow!
Conclusion:
Strategic planning is the backbone of every NGO and organization which should apply before fundraising and developing of the financial proposals and technical proposal submission to the donor. I strongly suggest that every NGO should make strategic planning for 10 to 15 years of duration and make changes on yearly basis. A strategic plan is a very informative document for the organization and NGO which makes the direction of development clear and makes the program’s needs very easy.
NGOs need direction on the right path for this achievement and success, strategic plan help them to achieve their success easily and organize mechanism for the development of organizations.
COnclusion:
