Do you spend most of your day putting out fires? Is your staff all on the same page? Do you want your nonprofit to move forward and grow? Then you need to make or update your strategic plan. A good strategic plan pinpoints where your nonprofit is now, sets goals for where you want to go, and outline how to get you there. More than a document sitting in your computer, a well-written strategic plan gives you direction, unites your organization, and gets your nonprofit to where you want it to be. So, how do you get started with strategic planning?
How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat gives you a step-by-step blueprint for running a productive strategic planning retreat that gives you results. Find out how to overcome the objections, “We did that three or four years ago, and nothing changed” or “We’re too busy putting out fires to waste time planning.” Learn who needs to be involved in the planning. Find out how to structure an effective plan. See how you to implement your plan so that your agency moves ahead.
How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat will help you:
- Best prepare to plan so that you get the most out of the strategic planning experience
- Identify the key stakeholders who should be involved in your retreat
- Structure the retreat so that it is productive and leads to real change
- Structure the plan so that it gets implemented
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll be sure to get there. Have a destination. Create a strategic plan. The first step in planning a retreat. In this book, we dive into the mechanics of planning that retreat(s).
Chapter One: A Word About Strategic Planning
Chapter Two: Planning to Plan
Chapter Three: Who Should Attend the Planning Retreat?
Chapter Four: Where and When Should You Hold the Retreat?
Chapter Five: Setting the Agenda
Chapter Six: Who Facilitates the Retreat?
Chapter Seven: Confirming or Establishing Mission, Vision, and Values
Chapter Eight: Setting Goals
Chapter Nine: Brainstorming
Chapter Ten: After the Retreat
Chapter Eleven: Bringing It All Together
How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat is written for busy nonprofit executive directors and board members who want to run a successful strategic planning retreat. As a Nonprofit Quick Guide™, you can read it in one sitting or grab a few chapters over lunch. More importantly, it gives you practical advice that you can easily implement.
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE, is one of approximately one hundred professionals worldwide to hold the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive designation. Linda is the author of ten nonfiction books and a contributing author, coeditor, and coauthor of seventeen others. She has also written six books in the fiction realm. Linda has more than thirty years in the development field. She worked for a university and a museum before starting her own consulting firm. In her twenty-eight years as a philanthropic consultant, Linda has managed capital campaigns that have raised more than $50 million, helped hundreds of nonprofit organizations achieve their development goals, and trained more than fifty thousand development professionals in most of the fifty states of the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Egypt, and Bermuda. She served on the Association of Fundraising Philanthropy (AFP) Foundation for Philanthropy board and the Professional Advancement Division for AFP. She is a past president of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Sierra (Nevada) AFP chapters. She received the Outstanding Fundraiser of the Year award from the Eastern Pennsylvania, Las Vegas, and Sierra (Nevada) chapters of AFP, was honored with the Barbara Marion Award for Outstanding Service to AFP, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Las Vegas AFP chapter. Linda is a graduate of Alvernia University with majors in banking and finance as well as theology/philosophy and a minor in communications. As a graduate of AFP's Faculty Training Academy, she is a Master Teacher.
Joanne Oppelt, MHA, principal of Joanne Oppelt Consulting, LLC, is a seasoned rainmaker with a distinguished track record of success. During her twenty-five-plus years working in the nonprofit arena, she built or rebuilt successful fundraising departments at every stop, helping her organizations grow capacity and more effectively fulfill their missions. She has held positions from grant writer to executive director at the nonprofits Community Access Unlimited, Caring Contact: A Listening Community, Family to Family Network of New Jersey, Christian Healthcare Center, March of Dimes Central New Jersey, Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey, and Maternal and Family Health Services. Her extensive background in a variety of work roles and organizations enables her to understand the realities and challenges nonprofit practitioners face-both internally and externally. Her success at every stop positions her to help any nonprofit, whether through her books or consulting practice, turn around its struggling fundraising operations. Joanne is the author of four books and coauthor of twelve others. She has taught at Kean University as an Adjunct Professor in its graduate program. She is also a highly sought-after speaker and presenter. Joanne holds a master's degree in health administration from Wilkes University, where she graduated with distinction. Her bachelor's degree is in education, with a minor in psychology.
