Resources

Free DIY Strategic Planning Resources

Want to lead strategic planning on your own? There are great free resources online that can help.

Strategic Planning Manual

This is a great do-it-yourself planning manual (in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic) from CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world.

Action Planning Manual

Also from CIVICUS, in English, French, and Spanish, is this more detailed day-to-day planning resource.

Strategic Planning: A Toolkit for Small NGOs

Intrac, a research and consultancy organization that supports international and community nongovernmental organizations, has come up with this great toolkit for DIY strategic planning.

Strategic Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide for your Nonprofit Organization

Brighter Strategies, a planning consultancy, has produced this useful short step-by-step overview of the process.

Articles ... coming soon

Have you been frustrated by strategic planning? Me, too. I have been the victim (and instigator!) of strategic planning processes that took a very long time, led to infinite rounds of wordsmithing, used up thousands of sticky notes, and ended up not helping us doing our work any more successfully. I'd love to write more about those experiences -- mine and other people's -- with an eye to improving the practice for all of us. Topics include:

Why (most) people hate strategic planning
Great! You’ve done a great strategic plan. You can now throw it away
Fashions and passions: Too many models for strategic planning
Square peg: Why strategic planning (usually) doesn’t fit nonprofit organizations
Why most strategic planning is only wishful thinking

Watch this space!