I serve on a charity board, and I consult to boards across Western Australia. Many of them tell me the same thing. They know they need a strategic plan, but nobody has the time to write a forty-page document. So the plan never gets written, or it gets written once and filed away.
Here is a better way. A charity strategic plan can run to five pages. If your team is small and your board is made up of volunteers, you can write it in a month. This is the charity strategic plan template I use with the organisations I work with.
Why plans fail
Most plans fail for three reasons.
- They are too long. Nobody reads fifty pages, so nobody follows them.
- One person writes them. The plan then belongs to that person, not to the board and the team.
- They are never looked at again. A plan that sits in a folder is not a plan. It is a record of one good afternoon.
Five pages fixes the first problem. Writing it together fixes the second. The last page fixes the third.
Page 1: Purpose
Start with the people you serve. Who are they? What changes for them because you exist? Write that down in plain words, in a few short lines.
Then write one sentence that says what the world looks like if you do your work well. That is your vision. If it takes two sentences, it is not ready yet.
Page 2: Where we are now
Be honest here. List three strengths and three weaknesses. Not ten of each. Three forces you to decide what matters.
Then add what the numbers say. How many people did you serve last year? Where did your money come from, and where did it go? How many volunteers and staff do you have, and how many are likely to stay? Use your own figures, even if they are rough. A small honest set of numbers beats a long polished one.
Page 3: Three priorities for three years
This is the hard page, and the most useful. Choose three priorities. Not ten.
A small charity can only do so much. If you list ten priorities, you have listed nothing. For each of the three, write one line on what success looks like by the end of year three. Everything else on your wish list goes into a "not yet" list, so it is not lost, but it is not in the way.
Page 4: Funding and people
Now make the plan real. Map your funding sources: grants, donations, fees, government contracts, church or community support. Note which ones are secure and which ones depend on a single decision by someone else.
Next, name the roles you need to deliver the three priorities. Who does what? Who is missing?
Then write the line most plans leave out: what we will stop doing. Every new priority costs time and money. If nothing stops, nothing new can start. This is often the page the board argues about most, and that is a good sign.
Page 5: Measures and rhythm
Choose five numbers. Only five. They should tell you whether the three priorities are moving. You might track people served, funding secured, volunteer hours, a satisfaction measure from the people you serve, and cash in the bank. Pick what fits your work.
Then set the rhythm. The board reviews the five numbers every quarter, as a standing agenda item. Once a year, hold a planning day to check the plan against what happened and adjust it. This rhythm is what keeps the plan alive.
A plan is also what funders ask for
Grant funders want to see that you know where you are going. Many ask for a plan, or ask questions that a plan answers: what are your priorities, how will you measure progress, how secure is your funding? A clear five-page plan answers all of that. It also helps your directors show they are steering the charity with care, which is part of what the ACNC expects of a board.
How to write it in a month
- Week one: hold a two-hour session with the board and key staff or volunteers. Cover pages 1 and 2.
- Week two: choose the three priorities together. One person drafts pages 3 and 4.
- Week three: circulate the draft and gather comments.
- Week four: write page 5, adopt the plan at a board meeting, and put the quarterly review in the diary.
One person may hold the pen, but the thinking is shared. That is the difference.
Where to start
If you are not sure where your charity stands right now, take the free five-minute quick check. It gives you a quick read on the areas a plan needs to cover.
If you would like to talk it through, I offer a free hour. We can look at your situation and work out the first step together. You can book it through the contact page.