Scott Rodin, Senior Consultant & Chief Strategy Officer
Over the years, I’ve asked hundreds of nonprofit leaders and boards for their opinions on strategic planning. The response has been varied to say the least. Some roll their eyes and recount failed attempts in the past that led only to frustration. Others shrug it off as a nice thing to do when there’s plenty of time to do it, but certainly not now. Some show frustration at writing and implementing plans that took more time and energy than the benefit they provided. Still others take a somewhat detached spiritual approach by saying something like, “We just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit; we don’t need a plan.” The minority who strongly advocate for a plan will admit that the one they have doesn’t really serve them the way they had hoped.
Overall, having a relevant, dynamic strategic plan guiding the organization’s daily decisions is like having an endowment big enough to live off its proceeds: it’s a nice idea, but very difficult to attain. Most leaders are left frustrated in their pursuit. The result of this way of thinking leaves the vast majority of Christian nonprofits struggling to be effective in a cultural context that is changing so rapidly that it overwhelms unfocused and reactionary attempts at leadership.
My contention is that Christian nonprofits can no longer afford to operate without a relevant and dynamic strategic plan. The times are too perilous and the environment is too chaotic not to have a plan that unites the organization around a common focus and leads it in the direction God intends it to go. The stakes are simply too high. Here are three reasons why strategic planning is no longer an option:
#1: Strategic Planning is a Must for Survival
Short-term thinking will put your organization at risk of survival. Try this exercise:
- Make a list of every force or factor that could significantly impact your organization’s survival over the next five years. (If you are honest, your list should contain 8 to 10 serious issues, likely more.)
- Next, for each one, answer, “How confident are you that this force or factor will absolutely never impact your organization?” Apply a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = “No confidence” and 10 = “Fully confident”). Again, an honest appraisal will turn up several items on your list that will fall into the three or below section of the scale, which signifies a high likelihood that they will impact you.
- Finally, of those that received a low level of certainty, what are you doing now to monitor, manage, or mitigate each one of those factors?
This exercise will demonstrate the real level of threat you face and how little you are doing to acknowledge it, prepare for it, and–to the greatest extent possible–mitigate against it. Strategic plans focus resources on the most critical items in the life of an organization that will enable it to flourish in pursuit of God‘s will. Part of that flourishing is understanding the forces that can wreck us. Without this recognition, we can mindlessly do our business and miss the signs all around us that we may indeed be in significant trouble. The times are too perilous for this laissez-faire approach to leadership.
#2: Strategic Planning is Good Stewardship
You cannot obediently steward your organization without knowing God‘s plan for it. Strategic planning carried out in the kingdom of God is a Spirit-led process of faith. Together, you seek to discern God’s will for your organization’s future and then build a solid plan to pursue it. Too many nonprofit leaders operate as “owner-leaders,” believing the organization belongs to them and it is up to their own skill, planning, and vision to move it forward. In God’s kingdom, however, everything belongs to Him. If our ministries and organizations truly belong to God, the most important question we can ask as leaders is, “What does God want us to do with His ministry?” By viewing our organizations through the lens of stewardship and our leadership as an act of absolute obedience, strategic planning cannot merely be an option. Instead, it lies at the very core of what it means to be faithful steward leaders.
#3: Your Donors Deserve Strategic Planning
Every financial partner in your ministry deserves the confidence that you’re leading with a clear, God-given vision. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we have no business asking someone to invest the resources God has entrusted to them unless we’ve first sought His direction for how those resources will be used. If we aren’t willing to invest the time, prayer, and discipline to discern God’s will—and to articulate a thoughtful plan to pursue it—what grounds do we have to ask others to invest in us? It’s not just unwise; it’s disingenuous to receive gifts from God’s people while leading a ministry unsure of where God is calling it to go.
These are just a few reasons why strategic planning can no longer be considered optional for nonprofit ministries and their boards. It must be a top priority—approached with prayer, grounded in wisdom, and carried out with intentionality.
I believe God is ready to entrust His resources to organizations actively seeking His will, listening for His direction, and courageously following wherever He leads, no matter the cost. We are living in uncharted territory—in our culture, in our institutions, and in the church. For faithful steward leaders, obedient boards, and generous financial partners, a clear, God-directed strategic plan is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity.
We’ve been privileged to help many organizations be more effective in their fundraising by learning and implementing relational fundraising principles in their work with donors. We also help organizations with strategic planning using our unique DISCERN© process. Want to talk?