No checklist... no plan!

If you and I decided to drive to Chicago today, we would likely make a checklist of things to do before we left.  Our checklist would likely include: 

• Get the car ready, change the oil, check the tires and windshield wipers
• Get a map and pick a driving route
• Decide where we will stay along the way
• Buy snacks 
• Load the iPod with great songs for the long trip

If we didn't make this checklist, we would probably just start driving and it would take us longer to get 

there.  

A strategic plan helps a nonprofit organization decide how they will get to where they want to go. A plan helps the organization focus its energy.  It creates a checklist of baby steps needed to achieve the goals of the organization.  More importantly, a strategic plan allows the organization to think how it wants to grow.  

You wouldn't drive to Chicago without a map and your checklist completed.  Why would a nonprofit organization start the year without a plan?