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Strategic Planning Tips for Your Community Organization

Strategic Planning is a way of setting and achieving goals that has proven efficacy when implemented correctly. Find out how it can benefit your community.
Kimberly Sutherland | Mar 28, 2024 | 3 min read

Community organization boards always have something new to handle every day. It can all pile up and prove overwhelming, so formulate a strategic plan to ensure that everything runs smoothly no matter what comes up. Strategic planning essentially involves setting and scheduling the organization's affairs and activities in an organized manner to maximize efficiency and organization.

We had previously discussed the importance of mental planning to help you set goals. Strategic planning is the next step after mental planning. Here are tips on how to make a comprehensive strategic plan for your community organization.

  • Identify Your Organization's Goals

Your organization's goals, visions, and mission statements will make up the strategic plan's pillars. They will provide guidelines for all of the organization's responsibilities and policies. As such, start by brainstorming to identify your organization's goals, visions, and missions. Be thorough to ensure that you cover everything as mistakes in this initial phase will lead to complications down the road.

  • Formulate Effective Strategic Goals

How do you intend to achieve your set goals and fulfill your mission and vision statements? This particular phase of creating your strategic plan involves figuring out the answers to this question by formulating efficient tactical goals. These tactical goals should offer a practical and reasonable plan for achieving your organization's goals. They should also come up with solutions to any unforeseen challenges. They should be intricate and comprehensive as they essentially serve as the wheels on which the organization runs.

  • Prioritize Your Responsibilities

As mentioned, community organizations deal with numerous responsibilities every day. Some responsibilities are more important and urgent than others, and some are time-sensitive with attached consequences for delays or failure. As such, it is important to categorize your organization's responsibilities, missions, goals, and tactical goals based on their importance.

Important responsibilities should be prioritized over the less urgent ones. It is also prudent to factor in emergencies and other unplanned responsibilities as they can disrupt your operations if you are not ready.  

  • Get Everyone Onboard

You have a decent draft for your final strategic plan, assuming that the initial phases were successful. The next step is to share the plan with homeowners and community members to ensure that everyone is aware of how the plan impacts them. Make sure that everyone gets a copy of the plan. It would also help if you simplified it so that everyone can understand, and there should be an open line to answer any queries from members of the community.

Hopefully, your strategic plan will get approval from the majority of community members. However, be ready to take in differing opinions and be open to making changes, depending on the majority's sentiments.

It would also help if you involved more community members in the initial planning phases. This will help you get the ordinary member's insights and reduce points of conflict when unveiling the plan.

  • Monitor & Make Adjustments

No plan is ever 100% fool-proof, especially one involving a community organization with multiple responsibilities. As such, expect and be on the lookout for challenges and complications that may arise when implementing the plan.

Monitor the plan's performance and efficiency closely for the first three months, focusing particularly on emerging issues that are not planned for in the plan. Additionally, perform regular audits moving forward as complications may arise much later – besides, communities are dynamic, and things can change drastically. Finally, be ready to make all changes necessary to overcome any identified complications.

For a Serene & Organized Community!

A strategic plan is essential for keeping the community operating and interacting smoothly. As such, be thorough in your planning and ensure that it is to the benefit of all community members.

Try RealManage today and see how our association management company can help your association. Contact us or call us at (866-473-2573) today. 

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