• Reallocate resources. Many activities require significant funding, time, and energy from your staff and volunteers, such as running programs or performing digital outreach. Strategic planning allows your nonprofit to determine how to better allocate limited finances and other resources to most effectively meet your goals.
• Realign teams. As you strive to make a difference in the lives of those you serve, it can be easy for your nonprofit to engage in initiatives that stray away from your original mission. By developing a strategic plan, you can avoid mission drift and realign your teams on the activities that matter most to fulfilling your purpose.
• Build on the momentum of a previous strategic plan. Typically, your strategic plan will provide a roadmap for achieving your long-term goals over the next three to five years. At the end of this time period, it’s important to review your organization’s performance and craft a new plan that reflects your updated priorities.
• Add a new program or strategy. Whether your nonprofit is planning to start a new program to meet a rising need in your community or implement a new strategy for stewarding donors, devising a strategic plan situates your project in the context of your overall goals. This way, you can be confident that your program or strategy will contribute to your success as a whole.
• Adapt to changes. A strategic plan can keep your nonprofit steady amid major changes. For instance, you might be adjusting to new technology to support your operations or facing shifts in reporting regulations. Strategic planning allows you to minimize disruptions and further your goals even as situations change.

Determine one or more goals for your strategic plan to guide your creation process. By establishing why you’re developing a strategic plan and identifying what you hope to get out of it, your nonprofit can make the most of the resources you invest in the process.

2. Engage a variety of nonprofit stakeholders.

Your nonprofit must stay tapped into the needs and priorities of everyone in your community to ensure that your strategic plan aligns with their best interests. To do so, organize opportunities for engaging key stakeholders and collecting their input. To ensure that you’re factoring all relevant perspectives into your planning process, consider reaching out to these main types of stakeholders:

• Beneficiaries. These individuals directly benefit from your nonprofit’s programs and activities. Therefore, it’s critical to connect with beneficiaries during strategic planning to stay updated on how you can best address their needs. Ask them about their experiences with your organization and whether there are any improvements you can make to deepen your impact on their lives.
• Staff. Your staff members have first-hand experience with your day-to-day impact. Make them feel recognized and heard by using their feedback to inform your strategic plan. For example, you could survey them about your nonprofit’s culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) performance, and areas of your operations that could benefit from more attention or resources.
• Donors. Your nonprofit relies on the steady generosity of donors to continue running programs and helping beneficiaries. Engaging them during your strategic planning process can build trust, steward their support to higher levels, and demonstrate that you value their involvement in your long-term success. Ask them to share how well they think you’re fulfilling your mission, what initiatives they’re most interested in, and more.
• Volunteers. These individuals are passionate members of your community who regularly devote their time, skills, and energy toward your success. Since they have a more outside perspective of your nonprofit, they may be able to provide new insights related to how you can improve your programs and better serve your beneficiaries.

Use the information you gather to determine or reinforce the strategic directions you’ll focus on in your plan. For instance, you might commit to investing in management training to boost team cohesion at your nonprofit or plan on improving the accessibility of your programs.

3. Review your mission, vision, and values last.

Your nonprofit’s mission, vision, and values lie at the heart of your programs, donor relationships, outreach content, and everyday activities. They provide the foundation for your organization’s identity and branding, so supporters and other community members can understand your purpose and what you stand for.

While it may seem logical to consider your mission, vision, and values at the beginning of your strategic planning journey, trying to nail down these statements upfront can cause a loss in momentum and motivation for the rest of your plan. Instead, you can gain the most clarity and alignment by reviewing them at the end. Once you’ve examined your past performance, engaged your stakeholders, and identified what’s most important to your community, you can take a more refreshed and informed approach to re-examine your mission, vision, and values.

From there, you can build a set of branding guidelines that keep staff and volunteers on the same page about how to represent your nonprofit. NXUnite’s nonprofit branding guide recommends including specific messaging resources such as tone examples or specific phrases to present a consistent identity in all of your organization’s communications.

4. Consider partnering with a strategic planning consultant.

While strategic planning is essential to your nonprofit’s success and sustainability, it can be an intensive process for everyone involved. To make the most of your journey, consider partnering with a nonprofit consultant for support. These experts can enhance your results by:

• Providing an unbiased view. A consultant can bring a fresh, external perspective to your nonprofit’s operations, performance, and goals. Because of this, they can ask questions that promote deeper reflection from your leadership team.
• Creating a custom-built strategic planning approach. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to putting together a strategic plan. A consultant can leverage their experience to design a strategic planning process that fits your specific needs and preferences.
• Assisting with stakeholder engagement. A consultant can conduct more effective surveys, interviews, and town hall meetings with your stakeholders. Since they’re a neutral third party, they’ll be able to encourage more authentic conversations to inform your strategic planning.

When researching potential consultants, look for those with extensive experience helping nonprofits with their strategic plans. They’ll be able to leverage tried-and-true best practices alongside a pre-existing understanding of your sector’s unique priorities and challenges.

About the Authors

Valentina Kibedi

Community development and partnership building have been at the heart of Valentina’s career. For over ten years, Valentina has been building a range of experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors.

Valentina has a passion for supporting mission-driven organizations to develop customized, actionable strategies, and transform their cultures. At Laridae, Valentina leads a range of strategy, facilitation, and planning projects, and provides training and coaching to non-profit professionals across Canada.

Through strategic facilitation, stakeholder engagement, management and leadership training, and coaching, Valentina helps leaders implement change that lasts, and supports them to develop resilient teams and organizations.

Valentina holds a degree in Criminology from York University and has volunteered for a variety of non-profits across Ontario.

Danielle Rocheleau

The foundation of Danielle’s professional experience, career, and passion has been rooted in community development.

Prior to consulting, she held executive roles with the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster (GPIC) and Peterborough & Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED). While in those roles, she facilitated international partnerships in agricultural and environmental research at Trent University with the aim of driving commercialization and a local innovation economy, as well as managed the business advisory centre (BAC) offering guidance to small businesses. As a result of her work with GPIC, Danielle worked diligently with partners which resulted in $35 million invested in research locally, a number of international partnerships in Japan and across Europe, the beginnings of research centres in biomaterials and small ruminants, and over 100 new jobs.

Danielle has an educational background in Mass Communications from Laurentian University and Public Relations from Cambrian College. She recently completed her Chartered Director (C.Dir.) program at McMaster University. Bilingual, Danielle is originally from Timmins.

Caitlin Patterson



Caitlin Patterson is a Metis woman with roots from the Highland Waters Region and Kawartha Lakes in Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Women’s studies with an emphasis on Indigenous women and a certificate in Non-profit Leadership for Impact from the University of Toronto. Caitlin has years of experience working with national organizations to create culturally relevant opportunities with Indigenous youth, leading program operations, brand development, and organizational growth.

As a consultant and inclusion specialist, Caitlin applies a culturally informed approach to strategic planning, facilitation and stakeholder engagement, organizational crisis/risk management, and strategic governance. Caitlin has completed projects that include cultural audits, diversity & inclusion consultations, equitable program development, diverse strategic visioning, with organizations such as Girl Guides of Canada, Association of Midwives Trust, York Catholic District School Board, Small Economy Works, and Ontario Camps Association.