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Strategic + Operational Planning
Strategic planning is a cyclical process that defines a nonprofit’s overall direction, and the activities and strategies to be employed in fulfilling its mission. Operational planning is a process that details measurable objectives, specific activities and budget. Nonprofits lay the groundwork for mission sustainability when they have a clear vision and goals for the future, include input from constituents, and form specific strategies for reaching these goals.
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Alliance for Nonprofit Management
Organization/Agency
Nonprofit management support organization providing consultant/service provider database, event calendar, job board, resource center, and FAQ.
Assessing Community Needs Toolkit
Community Toolbox
Guide/Tool
Extensive toolkit on assessing community need and developing collaboration.
Beyond Financial Oversight: Expanding the Board’s Role in the Pursuit of Sustainability
Nonprofit Quarterly
Article/Blog
This article examines the role of the board of directors in establishing organizational sustainability.
Building A Strategic Framework: Mission, Vision, and Values
Article/Blog
A clear mission and vision is the foundation for any nonprofit's work. These resources define the difference between mission, vision and values statements and provide suggestions for developing clear guiding principles for your organization's work.
Business Planning
Article/Blog, Guide/Tool, Sample/Template
The business planning process takes into account the nonprofit’s mission and vision, the role of the board, and external environmental factors, such as the climate for fundraising. These resources provide a great overview of business planning for nonprofits, including business plan outlines, sample business plans, and resources on how to define or transform your nonprofit's business model.
- Business Planning for Nonprofits: What It Is and Why It Matters (The Bridgespan Group)
- Business Planning for Nonprofits, including a template and samples (National Council of Nonprofits)
- Nonprofit Business Plan Development: From Mission, Vision and Values to Implementation
- Business Planning Tools for Nonprofits (SCORE)
- Business Planning (Free Management Library)
- Transforming Business Models Primer Video (Propel Nonprofits)
- Transforming Nonprofit Business Models (Propel Nonprofits Fund)
- Social Enterprise Business Plan (Propel Nonprofits)
- Community Influences: Understanding Nonprofit Markets (Spectrum Nonprofit Services)
- Webinar Series: Understanding Nonprofit Business Models (NonprofitQuarterly)
Business Resource Guide
Maine Department of Economic and Community Development
Guide/Tool, Organization/Agency
The mission of Maine’s Office of Business Development is to encourage business growth and
retention in Maine. They offer a variety of guides and support to help business people understand the resources available including, Tax Increment Financing, Community Block Grants, and multiple tax credit programs.
retention in Maine. They offer a variety of guides and support to help business people understand the resources available including, Tax Increment Financing, Community Block Grants, and multiple tax credit programs.
Change Management
TCC Group
Article/Blog
The following resources provide tips, tools, and case studies to help organizations navigate change, including effectively communicated about change with staff and stakeholders.
Community Toolbox
Organization/Agency
Planning and management support organization providing in-depth instruction, examples, checklists, and various resources on over 250 topics.
Creative Ways to Solicit Youth Input
Public Profit
Guide/Tool
This guide provides step-by-step instructions to implement a variety of youth input activities.
Dashboards
Article/Blog, Sample/Template, Video/Tutorial
A dashboard is a tool for visualizing data. Some dashboards show performance over time while others provide a snapshot of a particular aspect of a business. An effective dashboard illustrates rather than tells the audience about areas that need attention or action. There are diverse applications of and approaches to dashboards, and the following articles provide helpful tips and samples.
- Dashboards for Nonprofits (National Council of Nonprofits)
- A Nonprofit Dashboard and Signal Light for Boards (Blue Avocado)
- Beyond Dashboards: Business Intelligence Tools for Program Analysis and Reporting (Idealware)
- Show Me Your Dashboard (Beth Kanter)
- Models and Components of a Great Nonprofit Dashboard (NonprofitQuarterly)
- Dashboards Might Just Be Nonprofits New Best Friend (TechSoup)
- Free Recorded Webinar: How Dashboards Can Help Your Nonprofit Achieve Its Goals (Nonprofit Quarterly)
Disaster Planning, Emergency Preparedness & Business Continuity
Article/Blog, Guide/Tool
The following articles and guides can help nonprofits prepare for emergency situations and disruptions in service by developing business continuity plans and practices.
- Is Your Nonprofit Disaster Ready? (LaPiana Consulting Group)
- Disaster Planning, Emergency Preparedness & Business Continuity (Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York)
- Disaster Planning and Recovery for Nonprofits, Charities, and Libraries (TechSoup)
- Crisis Management Essentials (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)
- The Future is Now: Preparing for the Unknown Crisis (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)
- Business Continuity Plan Template (Risk Alternatives)
- Business Impact Analysis Worksheet (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)
Staff Recommended
Dissolving a Maine Nonprofit
MANP
Some nonprofits must make the painful decision to close their doors. MANP provides the following resources and recommendations to help Maine nonprofits navigate the decision to dissolve and the dissolution process.
Effective Project Management: 3 Critical Activities
NTEN
Article/Blog
Some simple suggestions for anyone embarking on planning and managing a project for the first time.
Financial Leadership
Nonprofit Assistance Fund
Guide/Tool
There is a world of difference between financial management and financial leadership, and refocusing your approach from fiscal management to fiscal sustainability gets you there. Outlined in this guide are such essential steps as: transforming your annual budget analysis; deciding whether or not income diversification is the way to go; achieving a robust reserve; and equipping your board for effective financial governance.
Financial Strategy Tools
Article/Blog, Guide/Tool
This article presents a method to profile an organization’s financial makeup, and to create a comparison to a panel of similarly situated organizations. The Nonprofit Cohort Analysis Tool (NCAT) helps nonprofit staff and board members to visualize trends in their organization’s revenue streams and expenditures; identify candidates for revenue growth or expenditure savings; and gain an understanding of placement among peer organizations.
Finding and Managing Consultants and Vendors
Guide/Tool
The following resources will help you find and manage consultants and vendors, whether for a defined project, or ongoing support. If you need a referral for support on fundraising, strategic planning, legal issues, accounting issues, meeting facilitation, technology, or any other outside support, start here. (Many of the consultants and vendors in MANP's Yellow Pages offer nonprofit rates.)
- Browse the MANP Yellow Pages.
- How to Find, Hire and Collaborate with Technology Consultants (Idealware)
- Working with Professional Fundraising Consultants and Grantmakers (National Council of Nonprofits)
- How to work effectively with an outside consultant (Candid)
- So You Want to Hire an Equity Consultant
Getting Started with Data-Driven Decision Making
Idealware
A free workbook that will help you identify what you want to measure and why, what metrics to use, how to communicate the results throughout your organization, and how to use data to plan.
How to Do Planning
Free Management Library
Guide/Tool
A compilation of resources, tips and templates to support planning.
Maine Data Scan
Data Innovation Project
Research/Report
The Data Scan is a repository of accessible, free, reputable, and relevant data sources from around the State of Maine to help nonprofit organizations find data to inform their program planning, strategic planning and grant writing.
Nonprofit Earned Income Strategies: Where to Start
Social Enterprise Associates
Guide/Tool
This guide outlines a process for assessing whether earned income is an appropriate strategy for your nonprofit and how to get started.
Nonprofit Good Practice Guide
Organization/Agency
Resources and information on good practices in all areas of nonprofit management, including a section on volunteerism.
Organizational Lifecycle Assessment
Article/Blog, Guide/Tool
Every organization experiences lifecycle passages and changes. Nonprofit leaders who are aware of their organization’s development stage are positioned to be more strategic about planning for its future. Use these tools to assess your organization's leadership – the chief executive and board of directors – and identify what stage of development your organization is experiencing.
Pricing Guide: A Resource For Community-Based Organizations to Value and Price Services
SCAN Foundation
Guide/Tool
With increased pressure for nonprofits to diversify funding sources, many are exploring earned income strategies. This guide was developed to help organizations understanding different pricing models and set the prices and rates on their products and services.
Scenario Planning
How do you plan for multiple possible futures? The following articles offer tools for "What if" planning.
Starboard Leadership Consulting Blog
Article/Blog
Maine-based Starboard Leadership Consulting's blog features topics related to board governance and recruitment, leadership development and transition, and strategic planning.
Strategic Analysis
Free Management Library
Guide/Tool
Information and resources regarding environmental scans and identifying SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).
Strategic Leadership: What a Nonprofit Leader Really Needs to Know About IT
Article/Blog
An interesting article outlining the skills a leader needs to manage technology planning, and how they are comparable to the way other types of projects are managed. The article also includes aspects to consider and pitfalls to avoid when doing technology planning.
Strategic Planning
Article/Blog, Guide/Tool, Research/Report, Sample/Template
A compilation of tips, tools, articles and links to help your organization develop an effective strategic plan, set measurable goals, and track your progress.
- All About Strategic Planning (Free Management Library)
- Strategic Planning for Nonprofits (National Council of Nonprofits)
- Yes, You Really Need One - Why Strategic Planning Matters and How to do it Better (Blue Avocado)
- Nonprofit Strategy Development Resources (LaPiana Consulting)
- Strategic Planning and Evaluation: Tools for Realizing Results (SSIR)
- The Strategic Plan is Dead. Long Live Strategy (SSIR)
- Using Your Strategic Plan (Guidestar)
- Strategy Needs a Plan (SSIR)
- Living Into Your Strategic Plan: Tools and Templates (Bridgespan Group)
- Linking Challenge to Opportunity to Strategy (Philanthropy News Digest)
- Insights & Reflections from BoardSource’s Strategic Planning Efforts
- See also MANP's curated collection on Business Planning
Strategy Screen
Article/Blog, Sample/Template
A strategy screen is a tool for decision-making that outlines criteria your organization will consider when choosing or evaluating a new program, project or partnership through the lens of your overall strategic plan or priorities. Having such a tool in place in advance is extremely useful in helping your nonprofit be nimble and adaptable to emerging opportunities and needs while still staying true to your purpose and avoiding mission creep.
Staff Recommended
Succession Planning
Guide/Tool, Sample/Template, Video/Tutorial
To ensure organizational stability, nonprofit leaders and boards should actively discuss and prepare for how to manage the planned or unplanned departure of an executive director and/or other key leadership, including developing leadership capacity and putting an emergency succession plan in place.
- Avoid Transition Trauma with a Succession Plan (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)
- Building Leaderful Organizations (CompassPoint)
- Executive Succession Planning Best Practices (BoardSource)
- Succession Planning for Nonprofits (National Council of Nonprofits)
- Succession Planning for Nonprofits of All Sizes (Blue Avocado)
- Building Leadership Capacity: Reframing the Succession Challenge (The Bridgespan Group)
- Risk Management Webinar: Succession Planning (NRMC Webinar Vault)
- Nonprofit Executive Succession-Planning Toolkit (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City)
- Stepping Up, Staying Engaged: Succession Planning and Executive Transition for Nonprofit Boards of Directors (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
- A Succession Readiness Checklist (CompassPoint)
- The Importance of Linking Leadership Succession, Strategy and Governance (Nonprofit Quarterly)
- A Practical (and Possibly Provocative) Approach to Leadership Transitions (Nonprofit Quarterly)
- Succession Planning for God's Gift (NonprofitQuarterly)
- Succession Planning for [NOT] the CEO (Nonprofit Risk Management Center)
The 6 Ds of Needs Assessments
Community Solutions
Guide/Tool
A simple overview of the key questions to address during a community needs assessment.
The Bubble Sheet – A Flexible Action Planning Tool
Wholeonomy
Guide/Tool
A simple action planning framework, with key questions to prompt groups through the process.
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