Town of Banff

Strategic Planning

We can help your non-profit organization develop short and long- term goals and then identify the best approach to achieve those goals. Community Development staff can also assist you in assessing and evaluating your existing programs.

Strategic Plan- What Is It?

A strategic plan is a process through which an organization agrees on and builds commitment among key stakeholders to set priorities that are essential to its mission and are responsive to the environment. It is a tool that serves the purpose of helping an organization do a better job because a plan focuses the energy, resources and time of everyone in the organization.

Common Strategic Planning Pitfalls

• Relying on poor or no information
• Ignoring what the planning process reveals
• Being unrealistic about your ability to plan
• Planning for planning sake- strategic planning becomes a substitute for action
• Copy and pasting from other organizations- your organization is unique
• Not having your house in order first- ensure readiness to undertake the strategic planning process

Strategic Planning Readiness

Jumping into planning because you assume you are ready will likely fail somewhere mid-plan or derail the whole process.
You can avoid this by honestly answering the following questions. These are the key areas to assess for planning readiness; if you answer yes to most or all of these, your organization is most likely ready to proceed.

• There is commitment, support, and involvement from top leadership, especially the executive director and board president, for the process.
• The organization has been in existence for at least 2 years.
• There is commitment to clarifying roles and expectations for all participants in the planning process, including clarity as to who will have input into the plan and who will be decision makers.
• There is a willingness to gather information regarding the organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; the effectiveness of current programs; needs in the community, both current and future.
• The right mix of individuals are on the planning committee- strategic thinkers and actionaries (individuals who are in a position to see things through to completion), as well as big-picture (conceptual) thinkers and detail-oriented (perceptual) thinkers.
• There is a willingness to be inclusive and encourage broad participation, so that people feel ownership of and are energized by the process
• The organization has the “financial capacity” and ability to commit resources to complete the planning process and implement the plan. (e.g. staff and board time, dollars spent on research)
• There is no serious conflict between key players within the organization (although a healthy dose of disagreement and perhaps some heated discussions can be expected during a strategic planning process.)
• There are no high-impact decisions, such as mergers or management changes to be made in the next six months.

How We Can Help

If you determine you are ready to undertake a strategic planning process the Community Development staff can:

• Assist with the development of a process to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of your organization both internally and externally.
• Assist with the development of a process to assess community needs and effectiveness of existing programs.
• Facilitate strategic planning sessions including the development of Mission and Vision statements.
• Provide you with resources to support your strategic planning process, including a library of useful books and articles.