Customer Reviews

Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is hands-down the best reference for structuring and executing a strategic planning process. The layout is pleasing to the eye and the content is logical and well thought out with many practical checklists and worksheets (many included on the disk). I use it as a reference in my consulting business and this book can be applied to for-profit companies too. Highly recommended.

To start the process of understanding strategic planning, you need to take some courses, speak to lots of people, try quite a few things out (many of which will be dead ends) and read quite a few books. The books need to be mulled over for quite some time, and from the morass of conflicting information, you pull out something useful.

Now, what books should you read? Clearly, I haven't read, nor am I ever likely to read them all, but, Strategic Planning for Non Profit Organizations is definitely one of them.

It is indeed a practical guide which serves everyone well in nonprofits and is eminently adaptable to Profit and Govenrnmental organisations.

The pages I went back to constantly included that containing the map of the strategic planning process (p11 1997 edition) and The Language of Planning table and explanations (P16-17). They represent an excellent summary after reading the book.

After my third read, when I had a greater appreciation of the context in which planning is done, I thought it might even be THE text that everyone looks for, but, alas, it crashed and burned at one crucial point which is why I only give it 4 stars. As with all books of this type it did the "hand-waving, hey presto trick" in attempting to join two critical components - core strategies and programs. One moment we get to core strategies - no problems (Step 4.3, p116-123). A few sections later we get to writing goals and objectives for programs (Step 4.6 p130-143). There should have been a more explicit section on how the programs relate to the strategies. The reason this can't be done is that any given program relates to more than one strategy and invariably, all books on strategy stick to the hierarchical model (not a network model). The assumption is always one of mutually exclusive categories because that makes things easier.

Now each of these sections, individually, have a wealth of useful information. It's the relationship between them that's the problem. The join was not only not smooth, it was not existent. Not to worry, other books which I have read have solved this problem only to create a different problem elsewhere - which is why you need to read a suite of books to get proper context.

Despite everything I have said, it really is a great book. I will certainly be using it time and time again into the future because of the wealth of insight it contains.

The problem with so many books that deal with this subject matter is that they talk a lot of great theory but fall short when it comes to bringing things down to earth. This book, however, succeeds on both accounts. It offers not only a concrete step-by-step format, but solid rationales for the "why" question. Templates for the various forms that can be used with your group are an extra plus. Highly recommended!

The authors of this book do a nice job of condensing the content of their book into a diagram at page 15 that they entitle: "The Strategic Planning Process." Then they explain the diagram chapter by chapter. The chapters are full of good information and lots of exhibits, worksheets, and real-life examples. Job well done! I recommend to anybody interested in preparing a business plan for a for-profit or a nonprofit to read this book. And I also recommend all strategic leaders (i.e. executive directors, board chairs, and CEOs) read this book. It should be helpful to them in performing their job duties.

The book basically points out the following series of questions and/or tasks a strategic leader much consider when doing his or her job:

1. What is the organization doing now?
2. What are its strengths?
3. What are its weaknesses?
4. Are we heading in the direction we want?
5. What must we change to get back on track?
6. Prepare a written plan for change.
7. Implement the plan for change.
8. Monitor the implementation.
9. Reevaluate the plan for change.

I would have liked the book better if the authors had more accurately described what a business plan is, and what it is used for. The authors seem to think that a business plan is something that a for-profit entity creates in order to get loans from lenders or capital from investors. While it is true this is one of the reasons for writing a business plan, the more important reason a plan is written is that it acts as a roadmap for the leader and management of the business to follow towards success. Most businesses that do not have a written business plan are doomed for failure. NPOs without a business plan will probably not be successful either.

Another shortcoming I found in the book was that the authors do not point out that NPOs need a "business plan" just as much as does a for-profit. NPOs also need a roadmap to follow. Whether the authors want to admit it or not, a business plan for an NPO is pretty much the same document as a business plan for an organization seeking profits. The difference between the two plans exists in the marketing section - and that is the only difference. NPOs need to market to their customers/clients and to philanthropists that have a connection and commitment to their cause, whereas for-profit businesses need only market to their customers/clients.

Any NPO should have a business plan starting on the day it comes into existence. The strategic planning process described in this book can be used to create that written business plan. Therefore, this book is for NPO founders. After the business plan exists and it is being used as a roadmap to success, then the effectiveness of the plan must be monitored regularly. When it appears the plan is not proving effective, then the strategic planning process described in this book should be used again to implement change to get the NPO back on track to success.

Strategic leadership is a critical role that any leader must play, and if he or she can't, then she has no business assuming a leadership role. A "leader" who does not know how to perform strategic leadership is merely a manager, not a leader. I think it is a sad state of affaires that so many executive directors and board chairs are clueless when it comes to strategic planning - thus they are just managers. The authors, by writing this book, have created a resource for wanta-be leaders to use to learn how to do an important and critical part of their job - lead strategically.

Step-by-step advice regarding setting up a nonprofit strategic plan, mission/vision, environment assessment, and more. Good case studies compliment the strategies. Nice sections on monitoring plans. Templates included on diskette very helpful.

I have reviewed most of the strategic planning books for nonprofit organizations, and this is the best I have seen--no contest. It avoids the simplistic "easy as pie" approach of other planning books, but is nonetheless clear, logical and easy to follow. It recommends methodologies for protracted planning processes and much more modest efforts. The worksheets are terrific and it's great having them on disk for easy duplication.

This is an excellent guide to developing a strategic plan, from conception to execution. While emphasizing the fact that the process is messy and nonlinear, this book enables one to take the first step, plan to plan, and decide how indepth the focus needs to be. There is appropriate emphasis on the need to develop mission and vision, and detailed worksheets for every question that may be relevant to your organization's situation. The diskette provides all the templates for putting it together. Highly recommended.

This book is a step by step guide with suggested modifications to fit the needs of any group. The worksheets, included on an accompanying CD, are very useful. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved in strategic planning for any organization - public, private or non-profit.

A great book that does what many non-profit management books don't -- talks about dollars and cents as well as need and impact. CD is underutilized (compared with, say, the CD included with "Non-Profit Kit for Dummies"), but the worksheet concept is good. Their "do either this OR this" might be confusing for novices. Not too far of a stretch to connect this with a "balanced scorecard" evaluation. CompassPoint's Dual Bottom-Line Matrix (p. 188), while complicated-sounding, actually should clarify decision-making for many non-profit managers.

This book is an invaluable tool in introducing practitioners to the nuts and bolts of strategic planning. Offering useful worksheets,techniques and even sample questions, Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations walks interested individuals and groups through the different stages of strategic planning step-by-step. This easy-to-read manual provides structure that enables even beginners to engage successfully in a planning process. While the accompanying CD is primitive from a technological perspective, it nonetheless allows planners to organize the strategic planning process in an orderly and logical fashion.