Welcome to the blog for David Beacom Strategies. In this space, we’ll provide advice and suggestions for making your content count.
For most nonprofit professionals, strategic planning is a bit of a black box. And many of us, as a result, don’t do terribly well at the task. So we’re usually a lot better off with a little preparation and advance thought. Hence the following list of questions–not all of which will apply to every organization, and the sum total of which can be enhanced by additions custom to your situation.
That said, I hope you’ll quickly see the merits of asking every participant in an upcoming planning session to arrive having already considered questions like these.
Organizational Health
- What are your association’s greatest strengths?
- Which of your programs, products, or services appear to be most popular?
- Which, if any, are consistently profitable?
- If you have activities that are consistently unprofitable or in sharp decline, what is your thinking about steps that might need to be taken?
- What other internal weaknesses or outside threats do you worry might not be receiving the attention they deserve?
- What would you say are your group’s greatest challenges?
- Do staff and/or volunteers generally exhibit a positive, collegial respect for one another?
- Please describe the group’s decision-making process. Given that process, do you feel that your group usually has sufficient information to make the wisest choices?
- Are there any broad areas where you feel your group is missing obvious or promising opportunities?
Member Sentiment
- What do members like best about your group? Least?
- What would most members identify as their most pressing professional challenge?
- Would your staff or volunteer leadership answer that question quite differently, or in much the same way?
- What sources do you and your professional colleagues most often consult for help with these challenges?
- Looking at your broader professional environment, what are the most positive or helpful trends you have observed in recent years? The most worrisome?
- If you have asked lapsed members why they failed to renew, what are the most common reasons given?
- Are there new kinds or classes of membership you have thought about offering? If so, what holds you back?
Competitive Environment
- Who or what are your strongest competitors? (it’s OK to answer “The Internet” or other broader cultural or technological forces.)
- What would you say are your organization’s greatest competitive advantages?
- What steps, if any, have you already taken to play to your group’s competitive advantages? Can you cite instances where the organization has failed to put its best foot forward?
- Could you name an organization—in any field—whose success you wish your group would emulate? If so, how might you make that happen—even on a modest scale?