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Introducing our Tip of the Month series! Each month throughout 2025, we’ll share practical advice inspired by our Principles and Practices Guide: Best Practices for North Carolina Nonprofits. These tips are designed to help you strengthen your organization, engage your community, and achieve your mission.
As nonprofits kick off a new calendar year, here are some ways to prioritize strategic planning.
- Review and confirm your organization’s mission and vision.
- Does your mission and vision still meet your community needs?
- Ensure your mission statement clearly reflects what your organization does, for whom, and why it’s important
- Make a habit of intentionally reviewing and evaluating goals and outcomes annually from previous years.
- Effective strategic plans include SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely)
- Make sure your organization's commitment to racial equity and inclusion is anchored with tangible and actionable steps by incorporating EDI within your goal setting aka SMARTIE (Inclusive & Equitable) goals
- Consider conducting a community assessment to understand the needs of your community.
- Engage your stakeholders in the process
- Keep it simple and focused
- Report the findings
- Resource for your reference: Framework for a Basic Strategic Plan Document for a Nonprofit (Management Library)
Ready to dive in deeper? Our virtual Nonprofit Management Institute is offered twice each year and is designed for nonprofit executives, managers, and board leaders to assess their organizations’ management practices, identify successes and challenges and build their organization's capacity. Learn more!
