“April showers bring May flowers.” Growing up as a Florida girl this is a saying that I have heard often. Because we knew every year, April would be filled with rain, then comes May with the beautiful flowers.
As a nonprofit organization, we must prepare ahead of time, for both the season of showers and the blooming seasons. We all dislike the feeling of constantly being in a state of urgency, therefore planning can help us avoid this feeling. One of my favorite quotes is by Benjamin Franklin; it’s a quote that our team hears me quote often as I stress that point of us planning for the unplanned, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
Having a Strategic Plan in place can help your organization identify long-term strategies to accomplish your organization’s missions. As a part of this process, your organization can identify its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis) by exploring internal and external factors that impact your nonprofit. A great way to ensure your Strategic Plan does not remain on a shelf is to develop a Strategic Work Plan using the goals identified in your Strategic Plan to map out your organization’s activities for the year. Having these in place will help:
- Provide a sense of direction
- Position your organization to be proactive instead of reactive
- Support your organizations in becoming sustainable
- Prioritize the organization’s goals
- Develop measurable objectives
Let’s get planning! The Nonprofit Enthusiast team is here to help you weather the nonprofit storm schedule your FREE 15-minute consultation today: https://bit.ly/3ji4eSP
