A well-documented strategic plan can provide a roadmap to your nonprofit’s success. The process itself allows your board, staff and key stakeholders to outline your organization’s most important priorities, ensuring that everyone is aligned around your nonprofit’s mission, vision, values and most important priorities. The plan outlines your goals and objectives while providing a framework for implementing and achieving them.

Surprisingly, many organizations fail to create a strategic plan. What’s worse is that many nonprofits that create strong plans never effectively implement them.

There are many different philosophies surrounding how to create a strategic plan. Different consultants use different formats — some are more visual, some more text-based. While many organizations tackle a 5-year plan, a 3-year plan may be more reasonable and less susceptible to external threats.

The real challenge with strategic planning is to take the finished product and execute it. Nonprofits often begin strong, but the motivation and enthusiasm for implementing the plan are often overtaken by daily operational and program commitments.

As we know, in order to get the full value, you have to “live” the strategic plan. Here are four key strategies that will help you put your plan into practice:

  1. Create a thorough implementation plan.
  2. Always keep the plan visible.
  3. Assign someone who manages the process and implementation.
  4. Review the plan regularly and assess progress.

Read the full article about strategic advancements in a nonprofit by Victoria Burkhart at Forbes.