Some say classic strategic planning is dead. But when did strategic thinking and acting become obsolete? In this workshop, we'll design a strategic plan for an independent school, using a model that engages stakeholders, employs the five elements of strategic thinking, and answers the four questions essential to any nonprofit strategic plan.
“Is Strategic Planning Dead? Long Live Strategy!” Date: Friday, February 11, 2022, 9am-12:00pm
Virtual program
“The Strategic Plan is Dead. Long Live Strategy”. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 1/10/2013, by Dana O’Donovan & Noah Flower.
Some say classic strategic planning is dead. But when did strategic thinking and acting become obsolete?
Some of the assumptions that no longer work are that the past was a good predictor of the future. The notion of one strategic direction has been challenged in favor of planning for different scenarios. As the authors say in the SSIR article, it’s necessary to have a strategy that is “adaptive and directive, that emphasizes learning and control, and that reclaims the value of strategic thinking for the world that now surrounds us.”
In this workshop, we’ll design the strategic planning process for a nonprofit organization, using the case of an independent school. Gayle will lead us through a planning model that engages stakeholders, employs the five elements of strategic thinking, and answers the four questions essential to any nonprofit strategic plan. Although we’ll be focusing on the school, several of the tools in this session will be useful for for-profit companies as well. We'll also discuss how this process aligns with or differs from for-profit strategic planning.
Presenter Bio Gayle L. Gifford, ACFRE is co-President of Cause & Effect Inc., a RI-based consulting firm that helps nonprofits build strategy and capacity to create a better world. With specialties in strategic and business planning, fund raising strategy and board development, Gayle has worked with nonprofits from the grassroots to international. Gayle has been teaching “Management of Cultural Institutions” in the Masters in Public Humanities program at Brown University for over 12 years. She is author of two books and a contributor to four others. Gayle is a member of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, the BFR and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She holds a M.S. in management from Antioch University and a B.A. from Clark University. Gayle serves on the board of the Providence Community Library and is an advisor for Social Enterprise Greenhouse. http://ceffect.com
