HOW TO WRITE A
STRATEGIC PLAN
Sushma Raman
http://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/
Outline
Introductions / Overview
Strategic Planning: Why?
Strategic Planning: How, What, Who, When?
Overcoming Challenges and Pitfalls
Sample Strategic Plans
Q&A
About me
Adjunct Lecturer at HKS
Two decades’ experience in the nonprofit and
philanthropic sector, designing and leading large
global and national initiatives and organizations
Board experience on boards and advisory boards
www.sushmaraman.com
www.linkedin.com/in/sushmaraman
What is a strategic plan and why is it
needed?
A roadmap to launch and grow your organization
Process as important as product (perhaps more
important)
Aligns stakeholders around strategic priorities
Communicates your goals, strategies and programs
Engages, motivates, and retains external and
internal audiences (e.g., board, staff, donors, etc.)
Process, not just a Product
Analysis and
Assessment
Evaluation Strategy
and Development
Refinement
Strategy
Execution
Analysis and Assessment
Scanning the field:
Builds knowledge on trends, best practices, existing
initiatives, gaps, etc.
Builds buy-in through stakeholder engagement
Enables the organization to position itself in a larger
landscape
Clarifies the unique value-add of the organization or
initiative within a complex marketplace
Strategy Development
A process, not simply a product
Dynamic, not static
Engages board, staff, funders, clients, community
Helps organization align mission, programs,
capacity
Key Components
Executive Summary
Mission and Vision
Environmental Analysis / SWOT
Goals, Priorities and Strategies
Additional components: financial plan, evaluation,
staffing / operational plan
Mission, Vision, Values
Mission Statement: your purpose
Harvard Kennedy School:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/pdf/HKS_Facts_Cur
rent.pdf
Ford Foundation:
http://www.fordfoundation.org/about-us/mission
Open Society Foundation:
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/mission-
values
Environmental Analysis
Reviewing literature
Identifying and analyzing similar organizations
working on the issue or in the same geographic
region
Interviewing experts in your field and related fields
PEST: political, economic, social, technological
factors that affect your organization’s mission and
approach
SWOT: your organization’s strengths and
weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats
Goals, Priorities and Strategies
Outlines the goals, priorities, and strategies to meet
the mission
3 -4 overarching goals aligned with mission
Priorities, activities, objectives, strategies are in
more depth, have more specificity – each goal
could have a few different objectives / strategies
associated with it
Need to find balance between aspirational and
forward looking versus specific and tangible
Other components
Financials (how do your financials align with your
aspirations?)
Staffing
Evaluation (what will success look like?)
One page summary / Key highlights / dashboard
to track progress
Executive Summary
Can be the most important part of the document –
may be the only portion read by external
stakeholders
Should succinctly convey the future direction,
priorities and impact
Write this last!
Overcoming Challenges and Pitfalls
Challenge of consensus over clarity
Challenge of who provides input versus who decides
Preparing a long, ambitious, 5 year plan that sits on
a shelf
Finding a balance between process and a final
product
Communicating and executing the plan
Lack of alignment between mission, action, and
finances
Examples of strategic plans
http://foundationcenter.org/about/FoundationCent
er2020.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/22
3997.pdf
http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/
files/POL%2050_002_2010%20Public%20ISP.pdf
Q&A
