May 31, 2026
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.”
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius.
The importance of long-term planning
We live in an age of continuous insecurity, change, and political and economic volatility. Nonprofits are facing many challenges, including high employee turnover and burnout, the high cost of doing business, increasing demand for services, changing giving trends, and no opportunity to stand still, evaluate, and plan for the future.
Day-to-day needs are so pressing that strategic planning is often treated as an exercise to appease government funders, major donors, board members, and creditors, with implementation falling short due to limited capacity and resources.
It shouldn’t be that way.
Nonprofits are vital to our social fabric. Having the time, resources and capacity to invest in evaluating their services and plans is crucial to becoming innovative, resilient and sustainable for years to come. Once an organization has a clear picture of where they are, what they have accomplished, what needs to change, they will be able to create a multi-year roadmap that supports sustainability and growth.
Where to begin?
Consider answering the following questions to start evaluating your services and programs:
- What does the data tell us about our strengths and weaknesses?
- What do the beneficiaries tell us about the services and programs we run?
- What are the gaps in terms of capacity?
- What do we need to provide better services and programs?
- Is this service/ program still relevant to the communities we serve?
- Are there any changes needed to increase impact?
Once you have your impact analysis, you can start reimagining the future of your organization, one service/ program at a time. Consider:
- What will the service/program look like in year 1, 2, 3, etc.?
- What resources (human, technology, materials, marketing, processes, etc.) are needed to grow or alter the focus, if applicable?
- What will the service budget look like in year 1, 2, 3, etc. if we proceed with the changes.
Make sure your plan
- includes clear descriptions of all services and programs, both new and recurring, along with SMART goals for each one;
- identifies priorities, establishes year-over-year comparable KPIs for every service and program, and outlines implementation timelines with key milestones;
- includes multi-year expenses for each service and program;
- identifies ways to receive and incorporate feedback in real time to make changes;
- allows for experimentation, innovation and new partnerships.
With this information in place, your fundraising, marketing, and revenue-generation teams will be better equipped to build the right pipelines, research relevant grants, collaborate with the right organizations, strengthen promotional messaging, and raise the funds needed to support your work.