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Business Planning Mention business planning and people often think about written plans—the tangible products. The leap is natural, but it is also problematic. It short circuits the process of developing the plan, which is where many nonprofits find the greater value. The business-planning process offers a nonprofit’s decision makers a rare opportunity to step back and look at their organization as a whole. It is a time to connect the dots between mission and programs, to specify the resources that will be required to deliver those programs, and to establish performance measures that allow everyone to understand if the desired results are being achieved. As a result, it encourages strategic thinking, not only while the plan is being created, but also thereafter, as implementation leads to new challenges and the need to make new decisions and tradeoffs. In “Business Planning for Nonprofits,” we draw on Bridgespan client experience to illustrate the key components of the business-planning process. The companion pieces here include articles that delve deeper into selected facets of the process; case studies that help bring business planning to life; and sample plans that illustrate different formats for the resulting product.

OF INTEREST   Articles and Papers   Business Planning for Nonprofits What it is and why it matters   Costs Are Cool: The Strategic Value of Economic Clarity When you've signed off on next year's budget, will it be supporting your organization's mission or inadvertently undermining it?   National Networks: Planning Can Align a National Network for Full Impact How a network develops its strategic plan is as important as what that plan ultimately says.   Zeroing in on Impact What's the best way to make an inspirational mission actionable?   Case Studies   Aspire Public Schools: From 10 Schools to 6-Million Kids What will it take to transform education in California?   Expeditionary Learning Schools/Outward Bound: Staying True to Mission How did ELS’ leadership respond when they learned that too few schools were reaching the level of excellence the organization’s mission demanded?   Larkin Street Youth Services: Sustaining Success Why do some organizations succeed year after year, while others are unable to sustain outstanding results for more than a year or two at a time?   MY TURN, Inc.: Preparing for Regional Growth MY TURN’s management needed a clear strategy for guiding regional growth.   The National Council of La Raza: Unleashing the Power of an Affiliate Base How could NCLR’s national office and affiliates work together to make the greatest progress possible toward Hispanic American equality?   The Steppingstone Foundation: Managing Growth How a Boston educational-services nonprofit is realizing its own potential for growth so that its scholars can realize theirs.   Sample Business Plans   Aspire Public Schools 2004 Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) 2004 MY TURN, Inc. 2004 National Academy Foundation 2006 YES Prep Public Schools 2004