Hopefully, your organization has its 2012 plans (operational, fundraising, marketing, program,etc.) in place. If you don’t, it’s not too late to start.
You might have heard the expression, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Okay, maybe you won’t actually fail, but you will have a better chance at success if you put together a yearly plan, regularly monitor your progress (I recommend every quarter), evaluate what is working and what isn’t, and make any necessary changes.
Putting together a yearly plan with your goals and objectives doesn’t need to be a daunting process. A planning tool you can use for your operational plan is the organizational dashboard. Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators Of course, you can modify this to meet your needs.
Here is some additional information about operational plans, and how they differ from strategic plans, as well as information about putting together fundraising and marketing plans.
Operational Plans
Fundraising plans
Marketing plans
Taking time to plan is time well spent. Good luck with your planning!
Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog 