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An article “Strategic planning in nonprofits: An analysis and case study application” by A.S. Lake (2011) reveals the information about a particular non-profit organization. This organization is an art center founded by a university campus in California. The main goal of the strategic planning in this case was to increase the student traffic from student and campus community. The given summary describes the main points of the article, the case background, the purposes of strategic planning in the particular center, and its results.
The Main Points of the Article
The article reveals the essence of strategic planning and analyzes a particular case of its implementation. According to Lake (2011), there are four main reasons why the purposes of an organization willing to adopt a strategic plan should be stated clearly. First, the absence of a clear purpose may lead to the difficulties in fulfilling the mission of the organization, because there is a lack of clarity about the mission itself (Lake, 2011). Making decisions that are connected to a vague mission can lead to the spreading of the organization’s resources, which can lead to a failure. Second, a too broad purpose can cause problems during prioritizing process. Third, the lack of a clear purpose can make the stakeholders conflict with each other upon the issue of the strategies that should be implemented and the reason of the organization’s existence. Fourth, without a clear purpose, an organization would struggle to define whether it is necessary to alter the mission. Thus, strategic planning is seemed by the author as a tool that allows to set clear objectives and to build effective leadership within the organization.
According to the article, strategic planning includes such points as defining the organization’s weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities; defining the mission; clarifying the organization’s values and vision; and drafting strategic issues. A strategic plan is seemed as a picture of an organization when it has accomplished the tactics outlined in the plan. Such plan allows an organization to align the levels of its operation and to coordinate the efforts of the people involved in the processes.
Viability of Strategic Planning in the Non-Profit Sector
Statistics concerning the US non-profit organizations is also revealed in the article. According to the data provided, the number of the non-profits had been experiencing a substantial growth at the analyzed period (from 1995 until 2011, when the article was issued). Despite the increase in number, new challenges occur in the field. The organizations are forced to function in the shifting environment where the strategic plans lack of their value. Besides, they are pressured to increase earned revenue by expanding the customer base. The author comes to a conclusion that for non-profit organizations the strategic planning is less precise than for for-profit ones. However, earlier strategic planning seemed as a “managerial fad”, but then it has proved its effectiveness (Lake, 2011). Nevertheless, the implementation of a strategic plan might need a greater effort and financial support than many non-profit organizations have. Besides, the lack of a strong leader can become an obstacle for such implementation.
The PAC Case
Shortly after the foundation of the PAC center, there were no strong leaders in the organization. A hired consultant advised to develop a strategic plan to foster the center’s development. However, without the strong leadership the plan began to fail, but later the situation changed to the better. At the first stage of the plan, the PAC was supposed to identify and engage partners. The center has succeeded to engage some students and members of campus community in the development of the center. Among the partners there were municipality partners, art patrons, PAC employees, and campus supporters. However, students and campus supporters were kept out of discussion at the next stages. The exclusion of important stakeholders led the PAC’s strategic plan to a failure. The PAC depended financially on the campus and its’ administrator’s decisions. As long as the stakeholders were excluded from the process, a chance for buy-in was very little.
Summing up, the organizations goals were not actually clear, so, perhaps, without the strategic planning they could have not been achieved. Despite the fact that usually a strategic plan involves such objectives as achieving financial stability, it seems that such goal was not clearly set in the PAC’s case. In terms of data collection, however, the plan was excellent, since participants organized surveys and interviews and gathered marketplace and economic studies. However, the engagement process was not collaborative at all, despite the effective data collection campaign (Lake, 2011).
Assessment of the Success of the Strategic Planning
Assessment of the strategic planning initiative can be done by a number of tools. These tools include surveys, benchmarking, assessment, and focus groups. The data should be collected and analyzed carefully. The assessment is carried out according to the milestones that are chosen according to the business plan. The milestones should be measurable and quantifiable, which would allow to assess the success of the plan. The metrics can include financial data, safety, and efficiency of the organization. The lack of clear goals, strong leadership, accountability, follow up, and resources can lead to the failure of the strategic plan.
Reference
Lake, A. S. (2011). Strategic planning in nonprofits: an analysis and case study application. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(5), 222.
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