Strategic planning, when done effectively, is a resource-intensive investment in your organization’s future. For that reason, it makes sense to conduct an assessment of your organization’s readiness to engage in strategic planning before you even start. The following checklist will help you gauge your organization’s readiness – with a particular emphasis on the board – to begin strategic planning. 

This tool will help you to identify what conditions are optimal for strategic planning in order to help your organization get the most out of its resources and the best results.This is not a substitute for careful analysis of the conditions under which strategic planning should take place. 

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* 1. The board focuses more on governance than on operations. They realize operations are the executive director’s domain.

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* 2. The board sees opportunities not just obstacles.

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* 3. The organization is not currently facing a financial or other crisis that would make planning difficult or impossible.

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* 4. The board and staff are willing to challenge the status quo.

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* 5. The board understands and is engaged with oversight of the finances of the organization.

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* 6. The board has a resource development committee of some kind and is, for the most part, engaged with the fundraising efforts of the organization.

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* 7. The board usually reaches decisions by consensus.

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* 8. The board has a record of holding itself and the staff accountable for performance.

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* 9. The board understands and is focused on the mission of the organization.

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* 10. Board members regularly and respectfully express differences of opinion.

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* 11. The board trusts the executive director and other staff members.

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* 12. Leadership team members have high-trust relationships with each other.

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* 13. The board perceives the executive director and other staff members as knowledgeable about current trends related to the organization’s work.

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* 14. The board and staff currently use a strategic plan to make organizational decisions, including allocation decisions.

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* 15. The board, staff, and other key stakeholders do a good job of letting the executive director know what they need and want. The board understands and is focused on the mission of the organization.

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* 16. The board and staff are open to reallocating resources as necessary to support the achievement of new priorities identified in a planning process. 

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* 17. Thank you for taking the time to take our assessment. We look forward to talking with you soon about your results to this survey and discovering your strategic planning needs!

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