A good strategic plan acts like Google Map directions; it will tell you what your final destination is, how long it is going to take to get there, and what steps you will need to take to arrive. Like Google Map directions, a good strategic plan is adaptive; if you need to make a pitstop or take a detour, the strategic plan changes with you while still guiding you to your final destination.

The trouble is that many United Ways don’t have good strategic plans.

Instead, many United Ways have strategic plans that fail to adapt to challenging and unforeseen circumstances. Other United Ways have strategic plans that outline a destination and estimated time of arrival but then give so little direction that United Ways get lost along the way. The worst offenders are the strategic plans the United Ways don’t even use because the plans are either too vague or exhaustingly specific.

Why Do United Ways Have Bad Strategic Plans?

When developed correctly, a strategic plan can transform your United Way and help you to reach your long-term goals. Whether your United Way wants to become more relevant, raise more money, or impact a local issue, a good strategic plan can take you there.

But if a good strategic plan is so wonderful and beneficial to United Ways, why are they so hard to come by?

The answer is that most United Ways fail to consider three key factors when developing their strategic plan. The result is a plan that is ill-fitted to a United Way’s unique needs, which ultimately means that the plan is rendered ineffective or is never used at all.

In this blog post, we’ll explore these three factors, why United Ways need to keep them in mind while developing their strategic plan, and what those factors look like in a good strategic plan.

Factor One: Your Destination

Like with Google Maps, the first thing you need to identify when developing a strategic plan is your final destination.

However, if you want to take a road trip to visit your relative in another state, simply putting the state where your relative lives into Google Maps won’t be enough to get you were you really want to go. Instead, you’ll need to list your relative’s street address. Without that level of specificity, you might get close to where you want to go, but you won’t really reach your true final destination.

Strategic planning goals work in the same way. Your United Way first needs to identify the goals you would like to achieve at the end of your strategic plan. Many United Ways will pick goals like: “We will raise more money” or “We will have greater impact in our community,” but these goals are too general for a good strategic plan. Afterall, what does it mean to have greater impact? And exactly how much more money would you like your United Way to raise? Without specific details, everyone working on your strategic plan could have a different idea of your final destination, which will lead to a confusing, vague, and ultimately useless strategic plan.

As mentioned earlier, “to have greater impact in our community” is too vague of a goal. Does this goal mean you want to eradicate homelessness in your community? Or do you simply want to fund more partner agencies and programs? Without defining exactly what “greater impact” looks like, you cannot develop a plan to achieve your goal. However, “to lift 5,000 local families out of poverty by 2030” is an impact goal that is specific enough to be understood by everyone and therefore result in a useful, targeted strategic plan.

To develop a good strategic plan, be sure to have specific goals.

Factor Two: Your Starting Point

When pulling together Google Map directions, knowing where you’re starting from is just as important as knowing your final destination. If you choose to travel to a destination several states away, your Google Maps will give you an arrival time that will not account for the unexpected detours or necessary pit stops you find yourself needing to make along the way.

The further away your United Way’s goal is from where you are starting, the more prepared you need to be for unexpected challenges to arise during your journey. Whether your plan is disrupted by the departure of your executive director or a pandemic, surprises will happen, so you need to be prepared.

To develop a good strategic plan, include some buffer space within your plan to ensure that your unexpected pitstops and detours won’t keep you from arriving late to your final destination.

Factor Three: Your Step-by-Step Directions

After you’ve put your starting point and final destination into Google Maps, you get your turn-by-turn directions. The directions you get tell you what streets to take, but they don’t detail every step of the process like stopping at red lights or turning on your blinker to make a turn.

Good strategic plans operate at the same level of detail; they outline the general steps your United Way will need to take to reach your final destination, but they don’t describe every minute detail.

Many United Ways develop strategic plans that are too high level. Instead of giving United Way specific guidance on what streets to take, these high-level strategic plans give broad, unhelpful directions equivalent to Google Maps saying: “Drive west for awhile before eventually turning north.” Strategic plans of this nature may give vague instructions like “Develop a diversified revenue stream” without providing any more direction to guide efforts.

Other United Ways develop strategic plans that are too specific. Instead of giving United Way helpful, generalized guidance on what streets to take, these ultra-detailed strategic plans give directions equivalent to Google Maps saying: “Continue east for 6.38 miles at a speed of 45 miles per hour before turning 90 degrees and continuing south for 12.65 miles at 55 miles per hour.” Strategic plans of this nature may give detailed lists of actions to take like “Look for grant opportunities on Google, local foundation websites, national foundation websites, and international websites; or post a job listing for a grant writer on Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn…,” which provides an unnecessary level of detail and takes a significant amount of time to develop.

Effective strategic plans offer practical steps to take toward the final destination without being overly detailed. For example, a strategic plan that calls for developing a diversified revenue stream would offer a handful of practical actions like: “Research grant opportunities, hire a grant writer, and apply for grants.

To develop a good strategic plan, include helpful actions that guide your United Way toward your final destination but leave out all of the minute details.

There’s Much More to Think About

While the three factors we’ve outlined above are certainly critical to developing a good strategic plan, there is a long list of other factors – including stakeholder opinions, emergent technology, and more – that need to be carefully considered as well.

At Perspectives, we have more than 30 years of experience creating strategic plans that get United Ways where they want to go. With that experience, we know the challenges faced by United Ways are different from those faced by other nonprofits. That’s why we’ve developed a strategic planning process designed to recognize the unique challenges and factors that need to be considered when a United Way is developing a strategic plan.

To learn more about how we can help you create a strategic plan customized to meet your United Way’s unique situation, visit our strategic planning webpage here or contact us to schedule a free consultation at info@perspectives4uw.com.