Embrace Agility in Nonprofit Strategic Planning for 2025

Work in the nonprofit sector lately has felt a bit like riding a Tilt-a-Whirl that periodically grinds to a halt and then hurtles backwards at an alarming rate. The ride also has a wonky wheel, and someone keeps throwing foreign objects onto the track.

It would be understandable if your reaction was to put your head down and try to wait things out. But the people the independent sector serves can’t survive without us. They can’t wait while we keep our heads down in self-preservation mode.

The best thing nonprofits can do in uncertain times is to be as strategic and nimble as possible. Yes, it is possible to be both strategic and nimble. Strategic plans do not have to be created in the historical three- to five-year format. Organizations can evolve strategic planning to be a tool that helps them stay on top of what’s happening now while still planning for various eventualities. 

Be Less Traditional and More Adaptive

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some nonprofits began to shorten their strategic planning to span 12- to 24-month cycles. They recognized that when there are unpredictable, pervasive global influences on both need for services and ability to operate, that static long-term planning isn’t the best tool for survival. 

Agile strategic planning is an adaptive, iterative approach to strategic planning that includes a vision and objectives but is more flexible about how to achieve them. Agile strategic planning borrows principles from agile software development, allowing for “frequent reviews and adjustments, encouraging organizations to adapt their strategy in real-time based on internal or external changes, feedback and results,” according to CIOpages.com.

Like with any strategic plan, some type of metrics (like key performance indicators, and objectives and key results) should be used to determine position to goal, and regular check-ins on progress should occur. Yearly check-ins on strategic plans are never enough. Progress and activity-alignment sessions should happen at least quarterly. When using agile strategic planning, strategic activity reconciliation will likely happen even more frequently to enable the organization to adapt to change quickly.

Engage in Scenario Planning

Unpredictability is a hallmark of the current climate in the nonprofit sector. But that doesn’t mean we are powerless to plan. If there are threats to your organization’s funding, plan out some different scenarios and outcomes. For example:

• If we lose X amount of funding for X program, we will work to gain equal funding from X source.
• If we are unable to continue delivery of a specific ancillary service, we’ll suspend that service for a period of X months to focus all our resources on our core service, then reassess regularly.

Keep in mind, when plotting out various scenarios, that funders will need to remain in the loop and, in some cases, consulted if changes need to be made to a program their funds support. 

Scenario planning can also help your organization mitigate potential risk. If you’ve considered various eventualities, you can then make a plan for how the organization would act to avoid any identified pitfalls.

Be Change Ready

Shorter strategic planning cycles can help an organization pivot more easily. For example, if your organization was considering a capital campaign, but then unexpectedly lost 60% of its total budget because of changes in governmental funding, it is likely that you’ll need to focus efforts on securing funding for delivery of your core mission operations. The capital campaign may need to wait. 

It isn’t just the plan that needs to be change ready, it is also your people. Now is the time to begin building a culture within your staff, board and other stakeholders that expects, adapts to and maybe even embraces change.

Just because something feels unpredictable doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to get a handle on the possibilities. There still needs to be a vision. It still requires a thought-out strategy to get there. But it also means we must be iterative, flexible, willing agents of change.

Author’s Note: Nothing contained in this article should be considered legal advice.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.