NONPROFIT ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMPlanning for Strategic Planning!
FOUR PHASES OF PLANNING:
Implement the plan and adapt it as needed
Engage in analysis that will form the core of planning process
Develop a planning approach that is appropriate to the situation
Environmental scan:Assess the situation/circumstances
KEY POINTS ON STRATEGIC PLANNING Planning must engage all stakeholders
(internal and external) in the program and be a product of the NPA program community:
Faculty Administration Community Advisors
Students Alumni Who else?
EXAMPLE LIST OF STAKEHOLDER GROUP WANTS AND INFLUENCES
Young, Dennis R. “Games Universities Play: An Analysis of the Institutional Contexts of Centers for Nonprofit Study” in O’Neill, Michael and Kathleen Fletcher, eds., Nonprofit Management Education: U.S. and World Perspectives, Praeger: Westport, CT, 1998, esp. pp.125-128 (available through OhioLink)
EXAMPLE LIST OF STAKEHOLDER GROUP WANTS AND INFLUENCES (CON’T)
Stakeholder Wants from Center Leverage
EXAMPLE LIST OF STAKEHOLDER GROUP WANTS AND INFLUENCES (CON’T)
Stakeholder Wants from Center Leverage
EXAMPLE LIST OF STAKEHOLDER GROUP WANTS AND INFLUENCES (CON’T)
Stakeholder Wants from Center Leverage
KEY POINTS ON STRATEGIC PLANNING (con’t) Planning is always in a state of development
– the process does not end once a plan is forged.
There is no one “best” process; the NPA program must draw from resources and produce a unique document.
It can help energize the program, seek out new opportunities and use existing resources more efficiently and effectively.
Planning can improve the program’s ability to fulfill its mission, sustain its values, and serve its stakeholders more effectively.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING
1. Building consensus for change
Acknowledge that participants must step out of their ‘usual’ roles.
Convince those involved that this is a necessary and desirable use of their time.
It is helpful to have a “champion” who will encourage participants to become engaged and communicate strategic planning efforts to stakeholders on a regular basis.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING (con’t)
2. Focus on institutional needs
Select good institutional citizens to serve on planning groups
Encourage broad and open participation – accept and address input from all levels of stakeholders. This promotes a sense of ownership of the plan and a willingness to accept the final product.
Legitimize the political aspects of planning
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING (con’t)
3. Ensure a good fit with campus culture Understand the academic culture as well as the
history and traditions of John Carroll. Strategic planning carries connotation of “top-
down” management, but it is important that the process reflect the values of academic culture
Encourage questions and dissent Reach final decisions with consensus
There is no generic plan that can be lifted and applied to this program. The plan must be tailored to the NPA program in order for it to be legitimate and useful.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING (con’t)
4. Promote effective faculty participation Faculty members are the programs most
powerful intellectual resource Faculty must have sense of ownership over
process Keep in mind the time restraints of this
stakeholder group – offer incentives? Assign planning functions to groups and the
converge as process matures.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING (con’t)
5. Secure effective leadership A critical variable in effective
planning! The leader is a catalyst,
a facilitator, moving others along to engage in process.
The leader does not provide answers and is not ultimately responsible for the plan – she/he may provide a loose framework for discussions.
The leader should provide and effective system for distributing responsibilities.
Harv
ey, B
ryan C
., "The Pe
rils of
Pla
nnin
g B
efo
re y
ou a
re R
eady" 1
99
8
IMPORTANCE OF PARTICIPATION IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
• Access to information about the process dramatically alters stakeholders’ view of the outcome
• Openness maximizes support and allows stakeholders to “prepare cognitively for change”
• Broad participation can slow process and make it less efficient, but exclusion from process leads to resistance to change.
A study on perceptions of a merger between two
nonprofits outlined the
importance of participation
of stakeholders
in the planning process:
Basin
ger, N
ancy
and Je
ssica Pe
terso
n, W
here
you
stand d
epends o
n w
here
you sit: p
articip
atio
n a
nd
reactio
ns to
change. N
onpro
fit M
anagem
ent &
Le
adersh
ip, v
ol. 1
9, n
o.2
, Win
ter 2
00
8.
THE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO PLANNING
Planning should be: Integrated
Reflect the connectedness of academic, financial and facilities planning factors. The NPA program’s plans effect other parts of the institution as a whole.
Strategic Planning must define program’s relationship to
environment and get input from a variety of sources.
Craft a plan that can be tested, challenged and refined.
Aligned Strategies, actions, outcomes
and performance measures are all linked.
CONNECTING STRATEGIC PLANNING AND ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING
Use small, cross-stakeholder workgroups to generate strategies.
Use environmental scanning to discover emerging issues and challenges that require strategy changes.
Generate a simple vision or what the program should look like in the future.
Be flexible and willing to modify, change and reject strategies.
Articulate the impact of strategies on stakeholders.
Norris, D
onald
M. a
nd N
ick L. Poulto
n
"A G
uid
e to
Pla
nnin
g fo
r Change",
Socie
ty fo
r Colle
ge a
nd U
niv
ersity
Pla
nnin
g
TOOLS FOR PLANNING(GET READY FOR ACRONYMS!)
Plan for Planning Mission of program Institutional and stakeholder values Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Internal and External Assessment Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
(SWOT, or SWOTC + Challenges) Then move on to: TOWS (Turning Opportunities and
Weaknesses into Strengths. Opportunities and strengths that can be leveraged Problems (threats/weaknesses) that can be
mitigated Constraints and vulnerabilities that can be overcome
Norris, D
onald
M. a
nd N
ick L. Poulto
n
"A G
uid
e to
Pla
nnin
g fo
r Change",
Socie
ty fo
r Colle
ge a
nd U
niv
ersity
Pla
nnin
g
TOOLS FOR PLANNING (CON’T)
Assess strategic issues and actions/develop strategies
Articulate vision of the program Tactical, operational, and budget planning Execute strategy/develop organizational
capacity/ lead and navigate change
COMMUNICATING THE PLAN
Storytelling as a way of communicating information about the program:
“When [an] organization ceases to be moved by its mission, when its mission becomes
cloudy or no longer acts as a beacon to help guide decision making, [it] may very well
disintegrate.”
“Stories may provide both the conceptual and practical guidance needed to achieve
strategic coherence in the actions of the individuals.”
Bla
ck, Janice
, Kim
Hin
richs a
nd Fra
nce
s Fabia
n, “Fra
ctals o
f Stra
tegic C
ohere
nce
in a
Succe
ssful N
onpro
fit O
rganiza
tion”
Nonpro
fit M
anagem
ent a
nd Le
adersh
ip, v
ol. 1
7, n
o.4
Sum
mer
20
07
STORYTELLING
Gather stories to put on the website, either text with photos or video.
Possible storytellers: Current students Alumni Faculty Organization leaders for whom NPA students
have done a project.
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE PLANNING PROCESS
Bry
son
, Joh
n M
. an
d F
arn
um
K. A
lsto
n. C
reatin
g a
nd
imp
lem
en
ting
you
r strate
gic p
lan
: a w
orkb
ook fo
r pu
blic a
nd
non
pro
fit o
rgan
izatio
ns
San
Fran
cisco: Jo
ssey-B
ass, 2
00
4
FURTHER READING Bryson, John M. Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit
Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement, 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004 JCU has1995 edition HD30.28 .B79 Limited preview of 2004 ed. On Google books
http://books.google.com/books?id=gJxu_4FVieMC&printsec=frontcover&cd=1&source=gbs_ViewAPI#v=onepage&q&f=false
2004 version available through OhioLink Bryson, John M. and Farnum K. Alston. Creating and
implementing your strategic plan: a workbook for public and nonprofit organizations San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004 limited preview on Google books
http://books.google.com/books?id=wJA1jzIAwb0C&printsec=frontcover&cd=1&source=gbs_ViewAPI#v=onepage&q&f=false
Available through OhioLink Kaufman, Roger…[et al.] Strategic planning for success :
aligning people, performance, and payoffs San Francisco Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer 2003. Available through OhioLink
FURTHER READING Daniel James Rowley, Herman D. Lujan, Michael
G. Dolence, Strategic change in colleges and universities: planning to survive and prosper, San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass, 1997 JCU has LB2341 .R69
Tromp, Sherrie A. and Ruben, Brent D., Strategic Planning in Higher Education: a guide for leaders. National Association of College and University Business Officers, 2004. Available for purchase at
http://www.nacubo.org/Products/Publications/Leadership/Strategic_Planning_in_Higher_Education_A_Guide_for_Leaders.html
Search for articles by: Roseanne Mirablla (Seton Hall University) Naomi Bailin Wish (Seton Hall University) David Renz (University of MO at Kansas City)