The Board Member's Guide to Strategic Planning: A Practical Approach to Strengthening Nonprofit Organizations

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Fisher Howe's enthusiasm, insight, and ability to clearly articulate the whats and hows of effective strategic planning provides the reader with the tools to strenghten governance and manage effectively, which leads to results.
--Lawrence W. Reger, president, National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property

Howe's practical, no-nonsense approach demystifies the often intimidating planning process, showing why it is essential and providing detailed instructions for successful execution. Presenting illustrative examples and straightforward action steps, Howe guides board members through each critical step, from preparing and conducting the planning to production of strategic and operational plans. A quick, compact guide for busy nonprofit board members by a veteran board member and sought-after consultant to non-profits.

The Board Member's Guide to Strategic Planning: A Practical Approach to Strengthening Nonprofit Organizations Review

Ready or not, nonprofits throughout North America -- indeed, much of the world -- are heading into the Great Unknown of the 21st Century.� The difference between prosperity and stagnation could well turn on whether the governing boards of these nonprofit organizations grasp the ship's wheel and steer the right course.� �I am speaking, of course, of the process whereby board members establish a sound strategic plan to guide the organization. Fisher Howe has just written The Board Member's Guide to Strategic Planning, a book for board members who take their role seriously enough to start the process of developing, or updating, their organization's strategic plan.� As a practical, down-to-earth road map for board members, nonprofit managers and staff who work with their organization's governing board would do well to provide this guide to board members at the next board meeting.� �According to Mr. Howe, who also wrote The Board Member's Guide to Fund Raising (1991) and Welcome to the Board (1995), "(i)t may be time for strategic planning when conditions change; when internal or external circumstances bring into question the organization's mission; when programs are dropped or new dimensions are added; when the organization joins other organizations; when funders, such as foundations, corporations, United Ways, and regular annual supporters, show signs of lagging interest; when board members begin to raise doubts about the effectiveness of programs or personnel; when the old strategic plan begins to look a little stale; when in the passage of time, new board members and perhaps key staff have come on board; and when new involvement and a fresh outlook are needed." �The book will equip board members to conduct strategic planning sessions - with or without paid consultants.� Such sessions, says the author, have as their central purpose, "aside from stimulating the organization to think strategically, . . . to confirm or modify the organization's mission - its basic purpose and values - and to agree on a vision of what the organization wants to be and do in the coming years."� He leaves no doubt of the desired outcome of such sessions: a strategic plan.� Most helpful are the many specific examples of various organizations that undertook the creation or revision of their strategic plan. For example, the book describes the strategic planning process for such organizations as Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Hospice Care of D.C., Piedmont Environmental Council, Pilgrim Society, Grand Canyon Association, Alzheimer's Association, Grace Episcopal Church, National Society of Fund Raising Executives (Washington, D.C., Chapter), and Gardner and Florence Cowles Foundation (a 50-year-old grant-making organization). Of course, the central premise of the book is that the board of directors, and not the organization's officers, are to set the strategic direction of the organization. The author means to drum that into the minds of board members.� Indeed, since this book is a tool to empower board members to chart the course of their organization, it doesn't purport to deal with boards which might be composed of individuals ill-equipped to engage in strategic planning. The author assumes that the diversity of the board will ensure that the strategic planning process will draw from the varied experiences of board members, and hence will benefit sufficiently from many viewpoints and varied contributions.� That sounds right, but how many times have boards seemed more a hindrance to the organization than the source of forward-thinking strategic thinking?� Sometimes boards are just not up to the challenge. What then? We aren't told, and for a very good reason: This is a book for board members themselves.�� It's designed to encourage and guide them, not dwell on weaknesses. �Because governing boards - even weak ones - are responsible for charting the course of the organization, there is no choice but to empower the board to meet its primary responsibility of setting strategy.� That is the underlying purpose of The Board Member's Guide to Strategic Planning.� It does the job well.�

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