Addressing Gaps in Nonprofit Strategic Planning

I was reviewing a strategic plan. Beautiful document. Impressive graphics. Detailed implementation timeline. One problem: it was just telling them to do more of what they were already doing. No rethinking. No refinement. No clarity on what would actually move the needle. Just a prettier way of saying, “Keep doing everything.” Strategic plans get built in all kinds of ways — sometimes by the executive director, sometimes by a consultant. But the mistake is when they simply reflect what staff and board already believe should be done. That’s how we end up with long to-do lists — disconnected from real community needs and the leverage points that drive real change. If you're a nonprofit leader, here’s the truth: Your strategic plan could be different. It could be grounded in the most important community needs. It could challenge you to stop doing things that don’t make sense. It could focus your team and resources on the few things that will change everything. When we don’t focus on leverage points, we waste resources, burn out staff, and fall short for the people we’re here to serve. Here’s the process we use: 1. Start with people, not just statistics. Don’t just gather data — gather voices. Sit with the people most affected. Hear what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing. 2. Define the key leverage points for change. Ask why this problem exists. What are the root causes? Where can pressure on the system actually shift the outcome? 3. Gather ideas from the community on how to address those leverage points. Don’t just diagnose — co-design solutions. The people closest to the problem often know what will actually work. 4. Examine your current programs. Which ones address the real leverage points? Which ones don’t? Be honest. It’s okay to let some things go. 5. Develop strategies that live in your zone of genius. You can’t solve everything. But you can do your part powerfully when strategy aligns with your strengths. 6. Break the 5-year vision into annual goals, quarterly rocks, and assigned actions. Don’t skimp on implementation. Getting this right takes a step-by-step plan with real resources and person-hours. And to do it well, the ED can’t carry it all alone. This is how we helped Santa Clara County redesign its jail reentry strategy — leading to an 11% reduction in recidivism among our target population during the first years of implementation. It’s also the process we used with Cradle Cincinnati, strengthening the work they’re doing to eliminate infant mortality by clarifying the key leverage points for change and further developing community-rooted strategies to address them. Because real transformation doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing what matters most, and doing it well. Is your plan a to-do list, or a roadmap to real transformation?

🚨 The “Big Beautiful Bill” is now law. And while the headlines have already moved on, the fallout for nonprofits, public services, and the people we show up for every day is just beginning. 📉 More need. �� Less funding. 🧱 And organizations already stretched thin will be asked to do even more—with less. This bill is not what communities asked for. It’s not what the nonprofit sector needed. But now that it’s here, the question becomes: what do we do next? If you’re leading a nonprofit, this isn’t a moment for panic—but it is a moment for clear-headed action. Because here’s what we’re walking into: ⚠️ Federal grants are now at risk or gone. Programs may shrink or disappear. Some will come with new strings attached—or compliance traps that weren’t there before. 📉 Discretionary budgets are getting cut. Areas like housing, food access, health, and education will feel the squeeze. 📈 The needs around you will rise. And your community will still turn to you for help, whether or not the funding follows. So what does that mean for your next steps? 🔍 1. Understand Your Exposure Figure out which of your current programs or partners rely on federal dollars—directly or indirectly. Don’t assume someone else is already tracking it. Get the facts. 💡 2. Map What’s Still Available What public funds are still flowing? What state, city, or philanthropic sources can you turn to instead? Don’t wait for the next RFP to drop—start building relationships now. 📊 3. Get Clear on Your Core Work Which programs must continue? Which ones deliver the most impact for the resources you have? Which are overextended, and which are truly sustainable? 🗣️ 4. Rethink Your Messaging Now is the time to be clear, not flashy. Tell the story of your work in a way that grounds people in what’s changing—and what you’re doing to meet the moment. 🧭 5. Build the Plan—One Step at a Time You don’t need a 50-page strategy deck. You need a list of what’s at risk, what you’re prioritizing, who needs to be consulted, and what support you’ll need to stay steady. Talk to your board. Talk to your team. Get on the same page, then move forward together. And how we respond—calmly, clearly, collectively—will determine what’s possible. #Nonprofits #Grants #Tax #TaxBill #Government #Communications

Summer is the start of strategic planning season for many nonprofits, but too often, that planning process is anything but strategic. Here are 5 important things to get right so your next planning process is strategic, effective, and meaningful. 1 >> Plan for Less Many strategic plans read like an extensive wish-list rather than a succinct perspective on the organization's most important priorities, investments, and intentions. This translates into organizations planning to use 100% (or more) of their staff and resource capacity, ignoring important realities - like ongoing high turnover rates, onboarding timelines, and the fact that other important things will come up. Plan for less capacity - let's say 65-80% - and leave room to adapt to what comes next. 2 >> Make Tradeoffs Good strategy involves making clear, consistent choices about what you will and won't do to reach your goals. That means making tradeoffs. When you try to do everything at once, it's hard to know which parts actually worked - and it reduces understanding of how to create meaningful impact for the folks you serve. 3 >> Align Your Plan and Budget Your strategy needs to inform your budget, full stop. If your budgeting process is run separately from your strategy development process, then your budget will win out every time and your strategic plan will become yet another expensive bookend. 4 >> Make it Make Sense Your strategic plan is not a "one-size-fits-all audiences" document. Your staff, community, volunteers, donors, and other stakeholders all need to understand your strategy, but trying to make a single planning document speak to everybody reduces clarity and engagement. Instead, create a cohesive strategic narrative that can be adapted to different audiences and enhanced with the right kinds of data, marketing materials, operating details, and communications approaches for each audience. 5 >> Spend Time to Explore & Determine What You Really Need Often, nonprofit executives come to LaFemina & Co. seeking one thing (e.g., a strategic plan) when they actually need something else. Many other consultants we know have the same experience. Before you jump into a new strategic planning process, spend time having conversations with experts and consultants you trust about what's most needed right now at your organization. You may be surprised by solutions that are a better investment for your current needs. This list is far from comprehensive, but it represents some often-missed essentials for creating effective strategy. Have you seen these items impact strategy development in your work? Share your experiences in the comments. #nonprofit #strategy #leadership #management #ChangeLeadership --- I'm Veronica - I advise CEOs and Department Heads at established nonprofit on creating strategic clarity and learning to lead change well. On LinkedIn, I write about practical approaches to improving the ways we think, plan, and work.

You just launched a new 5-year strategic plan for your nonprofit that outlines your plans to scale your programs and reach more people. But you haven’t given anyone on your staff a raise in 5 years. And you have no idea how you’re going to raise the money to reach your new strategic objectives. You handed the strategic plan to your development team and told them to “shop it around to funders.” You presented the finalized plan to your programs team without their input. Meanwhile, everyone on the team is wondering who is going to do the work required to scale. Here’s the thing: A strategic plan without the money and staffing to back it up isn’t in any way strategic. If you want funders, staff, and board members to take it seriously, your strategic plan needs: ✅ A realistic revenue strategy that’s more than “we’ll just raise more money.” ✅ Clear staffing priorities with growth tied to actual capacity. ✅ Board accountability to support the growth, not just set goals. Without these, you’re setting up your team to burn out and your strategic plan to collect dust. If we want to scale our organizations and programs successfully and sustainably, we need to invest in the people who make them possible. And that starts with understanding actual capacity and building a plan from there.

In moments of financial instability, most nonprofit boards default to a familiar set of questions: How bad is it? How long can we last? What’s the worst-case scenario? Those questions certainly matter, but they’re no longer enough because they keep boards in a reactive position, monitoring risk instead of shaping the future. If boards only ask leaders to cut costs and keep everything running, they reinforce the very systems and structures that created fragility in the first place. During this current time of nonprofit crisis and instability, boards need to be asking a different set of questions: 1. If we had to rebuild this organization today, what would we keep, and what wouldn’t we recreate? This is one of the most powerful strategic questions a board can ask. It forces clarity about what's mission-critical versus what exists because “we’ve always done it this way.” 2. What assumptions are we making about future funding that may no longer be true? Are we still budgeting as if grants will renew, donors will rebound, or new revenue will materialize on a hopeful timeline? What parts of our plan depend on things we do not control? 3. Which costs are truly fixed, and which are design choices? We often treat staffing models, office space, program structures, and management layers as immovable when, in reality, many of these are historical decisions, not structural necessities. 4. What decisions are we postponing because they’re uncomfortable? Delayed choices don’t disappear; they just become more painful and more constrained later. Boards should be naming the hard tradeoffs early, when leaders still have room to act thoughtfully. 5. Do we have real scenarios, or just a single optimistic (or doomsday) plan? Boards should be asking for multiple financial and staffing scenarios tied to concrete triggers such as cash thresholds, grant risk, donor concentration, revenue volatility, staff attrition, etc. 6. Are we protecting impact or protecting structure? It’s easy to defend existing teams, roles, or programs because they’re familiar. The harder question is whether those structures are still the best way to deliver outcomes for the communities we serve. 7. Are we giving nonprofit leaders real permission and support to redesign? If boards only focus on short-term stability, they unintentionally discourage the deeper systems work that creates long-term sustainability. There’s a difference between encouraging innovation and actually enabling it. Boards can help by creating space for leaders to step out of crisis mode, bringing in external perspectives, and explicitly supporting challenges to inherited structures and “sacred” programs. Redesign requires imagination and governance now means helping leaders see beyond what currently exists.   Nonprofits need active board governance in this moment: surfacing risk early, challenging inherited assumptions, and supporting leaders in making proactive, values-aligned tradeoffs.

Bridging the gap between strategy formulation and execution is a challenge many organisations face. To effectively translate strategic plans into actionable results, consider the following steps: ☑ Articulate Clear Objectives ↳ Define specific, measurable goals that align with your overarching strategy. ↳ Ensure all team members understand these objectives and their roles in achieving them. ☑ Foster Open Communication ↳ Encourage transparency across all levels of the organization. ↳ Regularly share progress updates and solicit feedback to identify potential obstacles early. ☑ Align Resources with Priorities ↳ Allocate necessary resources—time, budget, personnel—to strategic initiatives. ↳ Regularly assess and adjust allocations to respond to changing needs. ☑ Monitor Progress and Adapt ↳ Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to track advancement toward goals. ↳ Be prepared to pivot strategies based on performance data and external factors. By diligently applying these practices, organizations can enhance their ability to execute strategies effectively, leading to sustained success. Ps. If you like content like this, please follow me 🙏

I watched a fascinating discussion on the state of nonprofit technology, in which The Chronicle of Philanthropy shared findings from new, exclusive research on how nonprofits use technology today. I’ve shared the recording in the first comment. Key challenges facing the sector: 1. Chronic underinvestment in technology Most nonprofits spend well under 3% of their budgets on technology, far below the private sector, even though nearly 90% of leaders say tech is essential to fundraising and operations. This gap leaves many organizations with outdated systems and a limited ability to automate workflows or modernize donor engagement. 2. Resource constraints (money and people) Budget limitations remain the biggest barrier to adopting new tools, followed by limited staff time, lack of IT support, and steep learning curves. As a result, many nonprofits still rely on manual processes that drain capacity and slow growth. 3. Inequities in adoption Organizations with the resources to invest in technology are innovating faster, while smaller nonprofits risk falling further behind. This widening “tech gap” has real consequences for donor engagement, operational efficiency, and service delivery. 4. Leadership and governance gaps Technology strategy is often missing from board-level conversations, and only a minority of nonprofits have formal tech strategies or policies. This limits long-term planning and reinforces the perception of technology as a lower priority. What can the sector do? 1. Reframe technology as mission infrastructure Technology should not be viewed as overhead. It is core to sustainability. Even modest investments in automation, such as donor segmentation, drip campaigns, or automated reporting, can free up staff time and improve outcomes. 2. Advocate for better funder support There is growing momentum for funders to help by providing unrestricted funding for technology and streamlining reporting requirements. Shifts in funder practices could unlock significant progress across the sector. 3. Start with small wins that build momentum Not every organization needs a large-scale tech overhaul. Practical steps such as using AI for volunteer onboarding, automating thank-you emails, or implementing simple dashboards can quickly demonstrate value and build confidence among staff and boards.