Rethinking the Strategic Plan in Uncertain Times
When nonprofit organizations draft strategic plans, the expectation is stability. A three-to-five-year vision is meant to guide priorities, operations, and growth. But what happens when the world changes faster than the paper it’s written on?
In a recent episode of the Nonprofit MBA Podcast, Stephen Halasnik of Financing Solutions sat down with Marie Palacios, Lead Consultant at Funding for Good, to discuss a subject that’s rapidly gaining urgency: how nonprofits can adapt their strategic plans in a changing reality.
“In today’s environment, you have to hold strategy loosely,” said Palacios. “Because the reality you planned for may not be the one you’re living in next quarter.”
Summary
From a Blueprint to a Living Document
The term “nonprofit strategic plan” may conjure images of a massive binder gathering dust. But Palacios insists a strategic plan should function as a living document — one that evolves with shifting realities, staff turnover, funding changes, or global events.
“Think of it more like a GPS system than a paper map,” she said. “If there’s traffic, you reroute. Your destination might stay the same, but how you get there will change.”
This idea of strategic agility — planning for flexibility — has gained popularity among both startup nonprofits and seasoned institutions navigating post-pandemic realities, inflation, and shifting donor expectations.
The Mistake of Planning in a Vacuum
One of the most common missteps nonprofit leaders make? Creating strategic plans in isolation from those doing the work.
According to Palacios, boards and executive directors often draft lofty goals without truly engaging frontline staff or stakeholders.
“It’s not enough to just check a box,” she emphasized. “Strategic planning done right involves listening deeply across your organization.”
That means surveying team members, partners, and even beneficiaries to ask not just what’s working, but what’s missing.
Building Buy-In From the Ground Up
Another reason to involve staff in planning: buy-in leads to execution.
“If your team isn’t part of crafting the plan, they won’t be invested in achieving it,” Palacios said.
She recommends a layered approach — strategic planning that includes board vision, executive leadership direction, and ground-level insight from staff. This not only helps reality-check the feasibility of goals, but it also fosters ownership.
“Your plan should not be a surprise to your staff when it’s published,” she said. “They should be saying, ‘That’s what we’ve been working on already.’”
The Sweet Spot: Three Years or Bust?
There’s an ongoing debate in the nonprofit world: what’s the ideal planning window? While some leaders want five-year visions, Palacios advises against anything that long-term without built-in flexibility.
“Three years is our sweet spot,” she said. “It’s long enough to think big and short enough to pivot.”
That doesn’t mean the plan gets locked away until 2028. Instead, Funding for Good encourages quarterly or biannual reviews to keep strategy aligned with reality.
Halasnik agreed: “Too often, leaders put so much work into a plan and then treat it like scripture. But good strategy evolves.”
Strategic Planning Is Not Fundraising Planning
Many nonprofits blur the lines between strategic plans and development strategies. Palacios is quick to correct that misconception.
“A fundraising plan is a tool that supports your strategic goals, not the other way around,” she said. “First, ask what you want to achieve. Then ask how you’ll fund it.”
She encourages leaders to be cautious about chasing dollars that don’t align with core mission objectives.
“If a grant opportunity requires you to shift your mission, it’s not strategic — it’s reactive,” Palacios warned.
Strategic Planning for Small Nonprofits
A major concern for smaller nonprofits — especially those with fewer than ten staff — is that strategic planning sounds like a luxury.
But Palacios argues it’s actually more critical for lean organizations.
“With limited staff and resources, you can’t afford to work off assumptions,” she said. “A clear, shared vision helps everyone stay aligned.”
She suggests that small nonprofits begin with core questions: What are we trying to achieve? Who are we serving? What resources do we really have?
Even without a full-time strategic consultant, leaders can facilitate effective planning with simple tools: internal surveys, SWOT analysis, and facilitated discussions.
Funding Follows Clarity
Strategic planning doesn’t just help with operations — it also helps with funding.
According to both Palacios and Halasnik, funders are increasingly looking for clear, coherent visions from the nonprofits they support.
“If you can’t tell a potential donor where you’re going, why should they get on the bus with you?” said Halasnik.
Palacios added: “We’ve seen clients double or triple their funding simply because they could articulate their purpose and priorities.”
Navigating a Crisis With Strategy
The value of adaptive planning became starkly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, when nonprofits had to make difficult choices quickly — from shutting down programs to launching virtual alternatives.
Organizations with clear but flexible strategic plans were better able to weather the storm.
“We had clients who used their strategic plan as a crisis-response tool,” Palacios said. “They could immediately see which programs were core, which were expendable, and where to focus resources.”
She emphasized that an effective plan should include risk management scenarios and define thresholds for action.
Data-Driven Decision Making
One of the pillars of modern strategic planning is using data to guide direction. But for many nonprofits, data remains elusive or underutilized.
Palacios encourages leaders to start simple: measure what you can, and use what you measure.
“You don’t need a fancy dashboard,” she said. “Track participation, engagement, and outcomes, then ask: what is this telling us about our impact?”
She also recommends leveraging free or low-cost tools — from Google Sheets to CRM systems — to gather insight.
Avoiding Strategic Paralysis
Sometimes strategic plans stall not because they’re wrong, but because leaders become paralyzed by uncertainty.
To that, Palacios offers a simple mantra: imperfect action beats perfect inaction.
“You don’t have to get everything right to move forward,” she said. “You just have to keep adapting.”
Halasnik echoed that sentiment. “Nonprofit leaders have to be brave. The mission is too important for analysis paralysis.”
Final Advice for Nonprofit Leaders
As the conversation drew to a close, both Palacios and Halasnik reflected on the evolving role of strategic leadership.
Palacios’s advice: Don’t treat your strategic plan as a destination — treat it as a map that updates with the terrain.
And Halasnik added, “The best nonprofit leaders I know are the ones who can balance vision with reality. Who can say, ‘Here’s where we’re going, and here’s how we’ll adjust if we hit traffic.’”
Why Strategic Planning Still Matters
Despite the pace of change in the nonprofit world, strategic planning remains one of the most powerful tools in a leader’s toolkit. It fosters clarity, builds trust, secures funding, and — when done right — makes organizations resilient.
But the key, as Palacios reminds us, is adaptability.
“The world is going to change,” she said. “Your plan should be ready for that.”
About the Experts
Marie Palacios is Lead Consultant at Funding for Good, where she guides nonprofits through strategic planning, board development, and capacity building. With two decades of experience, she’s helped organizations of all sizes clarify their missions and expand their impact.
Stephen Halasnik is Managing Partner at Financing Solutions, a leading provider of nonprofit credit lines. He hosts the Nonprofit MBA Podcast, where he interviews experts on the challenges and opportunities facing the nonprofit sector today.
