A nonprofit organization undertakes planning for the following reasons:
- To build a structure that guides its activities in pursuit of its mission
- To allocate organizational resources in the most effective ways
- To create a framework against which the organization’s performance can be evaluated
- To adapt to changes in the external environment
- To reach agreement among board, staff, and supporters on desirable goals for the organization and well-considered ways to meet those goals
The act of planning has value apart from the written document that’s ultimately created. That’s because, in theory, the planning group comes to a shared understanding of the organization’s mission, and the decision-making process ensures that everyone understands what needs to be done and agrees that it’s worth doing.