Strategic planning is often a struggle for non-profit and grassroots organizations, since so many of them operate in constant survival mode as they attempt to secure and sustain funding for programs and staffing in a continually uncertain sector.
This article focuses on a conversation with Tanika Hillocks, project and digital communications coordinator at a grassroots collective that supports Black mothers on their journeys through motherhood. Since 2021, Hillocks has contributed to advancing the collective’s mission of developing impactful programs that address mental health and food security.
During our conversation, we discussed the challenges and opportunities of strategic planning in the non-profit and grassroots sector. We talked about the importance of continuous strategic planning as part of a governance mandate that is based on an organization’s mission and values and includes feedback from key stakeholders, rather than something that is considered only in the event of a crisis. The conversation highlights the need for accountability, flexibility, and intentionality in the planning and implementation process. Strategic planning for our sector needs to happen, Hillocks says, but in a way that suits us beyond the corporate framework.
How important is strategic planning to the work of small or community-based non-profit and grassroots organizations? And where should it fit within organizational priorities?
Hillocks discusses her involvement as a core team member with the collective for the past three years, pointing out that while people’s passions are vibrant, there seems to have been a lot of confusion around exactly what they were doing and wanted to do with the organization.
“I can’t imagine and see how we can have much of an impact outward if we don’t necessarily know who we are inward,” she says. She explains how the collective’s strategic planning journey started shortly after she joined the organization, with a capacity-building workshop focused on understanding the why of the collective and what drives community leaders to do this work. After their first session, they decided to seek external support from strategic-planning consultants.
If you don’t have a strategic plan in place, you’re swayed by external factors.
Tanika Hillocks
This process has highlighted how important strategic planning is to building organizational foundations. “You’re able to decide what direction you want to go; whereas, if you don’t necessarily have a strategic plan in place, I feel like you’re swayed by external factors, such as grant applications and requirements,” she says. “People get excited by new grant applications, so you apply, and then you get the money but are restricted by the grant requirements.” Sometimes, these requirements cause organizations to shift away from their founding visions.
As the collective engaged in the strategic-planning process, they found that they would build their programming around grant requirements, rather than with a clear mission in mind, meaning that once the grant funding had been exhausted, the programming would fall apart and they would be left starting from scratch again. That’s why Hillocks thinks it’s so important to have a clear mission and vision for your organization: strategic planning can help to clarify those, she says, and ensure that long-term plans align with the organization’s aims.
Based on your experience, what made for successful implementation of strategic plans and what caused others to fail?
Our conversation revealed three major components of strategic plans: accountability, flexibility, and intentionality.
Non-profit and grassroots organizations arise from an autonomous desire to do something different, so it is even more important to build accountability into these structures to ensure that the organizational mission and vision are implemented effectively and consistently. If an organization promises to make a change, it has to be willing to do the work to make these changes happen. Many times, non-profits try to apply corporate standards to our space, but it doesn’t work. As Hillocks says, “It ends up feeling like you’re hammering a square into a circle hole, like it doesn’t quite fit. I think this is due to different conceptions of accountability. In the non-profit sector, it is important to be accountable for one’s self, as well as for each other, to ensure that we stay on the right path and stick to our word.” A non-profit doesn’t have the market to measure its success, and its clients are usually from vulnerable sectors, not active consumer advocates. Thus, we need to work toward a different standard of accountability and really follow through on dreams and plans. We also need to be self-starters. No one is here to direct us; we need to direct the strategic planning and implementation process as an organization.
It is impossible to have all the answers all the time, but we need to hold ourselves accountable to working on finding those answers together on a regular basis.
Second, Hillocks says that we need to recognize that strategic planning is flexible, not a final plan. As the collective’s consultant continually reminded them,“It’s a process.” In other words, we need to be open to change and continuous communications. When the collective reconnects every month or two, answers to the overarching questions may have changed or evolved. Hillocks says that “it is impossible to have all the answers all the time, but we need to hold ourselves accountable to working on finding those answers together on a regular basis.” Strategic planning is an evolving process that requires accountability to ensure that we are doing it regularly and following through on the plans made, not just having a document that means nothing in practice.
The third component is intentionality. Strategic planning happens in stages and phases, and rather than looking for a one-size-fits-all solution, it is important to be intentional in this process. Hillocks reminds us that even when things come crumbling down (often the time when organizations start to think about seeking outside help), there is a reason for this moment. “Instead of trying to avoid it or gloss over it, it is important to be in the moment and intentional about our growth process to turn a crisis into an opportunity,” she says. In other words, “be clear about where we are today and where we want to be tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or in the next five years, then work backwards to build in the steps to get from here to there. To do this well requires being able to stand still and understand what is actually happening, not what you wish was happening.” She reminds us to plan ahead so that this doesn’t happen again – or at least so you’re more prepared in the future.
When do you think strategic planning should happen?
Hillocks believes that strategic planning needs to happen when an organization is ready, but the sooner the better. Since non-profit and grassroots organizations tend to grow organically based on community needs, strategic planning is often part of only the original formation stage, even if it is something we should actively think about more.
Just by going through the crisis, it starts the process of thinking strategically.
When it is thought about beyond the formation stage, it often “comes up as a result of a crisis,” Hillocks says. Suddenly an organization has reached its capacity or is faced with a problem that the team has never seen before and they have no idea how to proceed, so they get stuck. They might then reach out for help in a panic, and conversations about strategic planning start to happen. It sometimes seems like an unavoidable part of the growth process of grassroots organizations, Hillocks says. “And, just by going through the crisis,” she says, “it starts the process of thinking strategically.”
Hillocks hopes that the strategic planning they are doing at the collective now becomes a regular part of organizational management and structure – not something that’s done only when they have challenges, but something that happens regularly as part of ensuring that the organization is doing what it set out to do and is doing what fits it. Strategic planning doesn’t mean hiring big-time corporate consultants; it can be a monthly coffee chat with staff focused on checking in and reevaluating where the organization is at.
Final thoughts
Strategic planning is something that non-profit and grassroots organizations often omit, and maybe that is just part of the nature of being that kind of organization. It often arises from a crisis, which may be OK. The key is to see this as an opportunity and build it into the organizational structure, moving forward in a way that suits that organization’s culture, mission, and vision. It starts with why, getting clear on that, and ensuring that you stay clear no matter where you are. Don’t get distracted by big, shiny grants.
Kayla Webber is one of five writing fellows working with The Philanthropist Journal. The fellowship is focused on the future of work and working and was made possible through funding and support from the Workforce Funder Collaborative.