In the nonprofit sector, we hear a lot more about planning than we do about strategy.
We map out goals. We build timelines. We align budgets and programs. This work is important because it keeps everything moving. It is often focused on financial stability too, and we don’t have enough of that in the sector! A lot of what we do and call strategic planning is really just planning. There is no strategy involved.
Roger Martin, Professor Emeritus at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, says that planning helps you “stay in the game” while strategy helps you “win” the game.
What’s the difference?
Planning is organizing what you already know. It clarifies steps, roles, and responsibilities. Done well, it can improve coordination across teams, and efficiencies in the organization.
Strategy is different. Strategy is making choices based on your own strengths and community needs, while acknowledging you don’t have all the answers yet.
When you are focused on strategy, you work through tensions. You are often asking questions like:
- Where should we really focus?
- What are we best at?
- What are we willing to say no to?
- What might we try even if we can’t prove it will work yet?
Strategy is hard, and it’s about tough choices. Leaders, both staff and board, should be asking questions like:
- Do we invest in stronger talent, even if it stretches us financially?
- Do we expand who we serve—or get more focused?
- Are we holding onto programs because they’re funded…or because they’re core?
- What needs to change inside our organization to actually do this well?
Strategy makes you really clear on what you are going to say yes to, and what you are going to say no to. Then, it’s a commitment to build the organization in a way that your “yeses” have the most success.
What is similar (between planning and strategy)?
Both strategy and planning should focus on clear logic. You are mapping out the what, the how, and the who. You are asking questions like: what do we want to accomplish, how will we do it, and what skills and processes do we need to make it work?
Strategy, however, goes deeper, and it should start before planning. Strategy considers questions like:
- Based on what we are doing well, how might we deepen our impact?
- Where in the community are our services needed most?
- How can we replicate what is working well?
- What do we need to stop doing?
We must choose both
You still must deliver on funded programs. You still have commitments to your community. You can’t pivot all programming overnight, but COVID taught us we do have to pivot quickly.
Everything around us is changing—funding, needs, expectations. Hold steady where you are strong and where you must because of funding. But make sure you ask: where should we be making some smart bets? And I use the word “bet” because they are bold decisions that you are free to learn from and adapt as you learn more.
A tool that helps: the Strategy Screen
One of the ways we support this at Heightened Development is by helping organizations create their own unique strategy screen. We write about this more here. A strategy screen is a group of questions that leaders in the organization choose to answer with daily decisions, so that their choices align with their strategy. In the video below, Karen Riordan, CEO of Together SC, talks about how they utilize their unique strategy screen daily.
P.S. Planning keeps your organization running. Strategy helps it evolve. Nonprofit leaders need both. If you’re feeling like something needs to shift, even if you can’t fully prove it yet, you are probably thinking strategically. If your goal is evolution to even greater impact, stay on that path!