Are you on the board of directors of a not-for-profit organization and have participated in strategic planning, but left the process feeling uncertain about the current state of your organization?
Are you an executive director of a not-for-profit organization who has led strategic planning sessions for your organization but walked away from the process, unsure of how to prioritize the current needs or if there are any underlying issues?
Do you feel you have a good handle on the programmatic and fundraising needs of your organization, but are less confident that you have the right systems and technology in place?
Strategic planning allows an organization to revisit its mission, vision, and values, setting the stage for long-term planning and the future of the organization. However, when strategic planning is completed without an assessment, it may be based on assumptions or outdated information.
So, if you find yourself thinking about the above questions or would like to gain more information and confidence around the current state of your organization, you should consider conducting an organizational assessment before initiating strategic planning.
An organizational assessment is an in-depth review of the current state of the organization, focusing on its people, processes and technology currently in place. An assessment helps to answer the following questions:
- Do we have the right organizational structure in place for where our organization is today?
- Do we have the proper systems in place (such as accounting and customer management) to support our organization?
- Do we have adequate policies & procedures in place, and are we following them?
- Are we protected against technological threats?
- Do we have the right staffing at the right levels to support our organization?
- Are our people, processes and technology ready for future growth, and can these accommodate where the organization is headed?
Without answering the above questions, an organization lacks a solid starting point for strategic planning and can create a plan that may be impossible to implement. With an organizational assessment, you are provided with a clear picture of the organization’s current functioning, including its strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas for growth and opportunity.
An organizational assessment provides an informed baseline that can be used as the organization embarks on strategic planning. The assessment engages key stakeholders through interviews, thereby encouraging buy-in. Through interviews and a review of organizational documentation and reporting, it helps uncover any underlying issues or potential blind spots.
Additionally, assessments can uncover key priorities that need attention, help identify the resources necessary to address those priorities, propose solutions about how those resources would be allocated, and reveal data-informed results about the current state of your organization.
The assessment results can be used on their own to strengthen your organization’s infrastructure or as a complement to your strategic plan. As a complement to your strategic plan, the assessment can help inform your long-term goals and ensure those goals are reasonable and based on the reality of your organization.
Since a strategic plan typically spans three to five years, it is important to ground it in reality so that the organization is not brought off track and so it can identify achievable goals to meet actual needs.
Consider organizational assessments and strategic planning as two complementary parts of organizational health, well-being and growth.
Ready to Move Forward With Confidence?
Connect with a CBIZ not-for-profit professional to learn how an organizational assessment can strengthen your strategic planning process.
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