This section will help you think about how your organisation plans, monitors and evaluates its work.
DOES YOUR ORGANISATION PLAN AND EVALUATE EFFECTIVELY?
A good strategic plan sets out an organisation’s priorities and aligns all its activities with its vision and mission. Good strategic planning enables individuals in every part of an organisation to understand their own role and the roles of others in achieving what the organisation as a whole wants to achieve. Strategic plans set out a few key things in each work area for a three- to five-year period. Shorter-term (often yearly) annual or workplans lay out in detail an organisation’s priorities and task assignments for that period. Regular monitoring of your activities helps you to gauge whether or not you are achieving what you planned. Evaluation allows you to assess how well you did and analyse why you were successful, or not. If you are embarking on a new strategic plan or an update of an existing plan, IFEX’s Strategic Planning Toolkit may be of assistance to you.
STRENGTHENING YOUR PLANNING
Use your assessment to determine your next steps. In all cases, you should:
- Discuss the results of this organisational strength map with IFEX. We may be able to connect you with relevant reference materials, external consultants, training opportunities or a skills exchange with another IFEX member.
- Discuss the results with some of your most committed funders who may be able to support some areas of your organisational development.
HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR PLANNING?
1. Our organisation has a strategic plan that refers to our vision and mission and identifies the key things we will try to achieve in all areas of our work, for a period of three to five years.
Yes
Somewhat
No
2. We plan our organisation’s work in detail at least once a year.
Yes
Somewhat
No
3. When we plan our organisation’s work, we always consider changes in our working environment, e.g., political changes, what other organisations are doing, the risks we face as an organisation.
Yes
Somewhat
No
4. We know which people in our organisation are responsible for all aspects of our organisation’s planning, monitoring and reporting.
Yes
Somewhat
No
5. We have a clear process and timetable that includes planning, monitoring our progress, and reporting on what we have achieved.
Yes
Somewhat
No
6. We refer to our strategic plan whenever we assess our progress.
Yes
Somewhat
No
7. We regularly use a few monitoring tools to gather information that helps us assess whether our organisation is achieving what we had planned.
Yes
Somewhat
No
8. We evaluate our work against our strategic plan at the end of each planning period.
Yes
Somewhat
No
If your assessment shows that you have answered mostly “No”
• Appoint someone in your organisation or create a committee to research and assess strategic planning tools and methodologies that might help your organisation.
• Review the information and tools in IFEX’s Strategic Planning Toolkit.
• Set programme goals for the next two years and develop an operational plan for one year. Plans need to include SMART objectives (SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound).
If your assessment shows that you have answered mostly “Somewhat”
• Review the tips under “mostly no” to ensure that you have covered the basics.
• Link operational plans to the objectives in your strategic plan.
• Identify tools and methods for monitoring and evaluation.
• Share the results of this assessment with consultants in your community who can advise you on targeted ways forward.
• Review the information and tools in IFEX’s Strategic Planning Toolkit.
If your assessment shows that you have answered mostly “Yes”
• Review the advice under “mostly no” and “mostly somewhat” to ensure that there are no gaps in your strategic planning.
• Document your strategic planning methodology, tools, resources and schedule (i.e., people involved, schedule for drafting a strategic or operational plan, approval process, etc.) for internal reference.
• Monitor and evaluate which areas do not go according to plan, and try to understand why.
• Plan for the unexpected: undertake risk assessment and ‘worst-case’ scenario planning.
• Share the results of this assessment with consultants in your community who can advise you on targeted ways forward.
• Review IFEX Strategic Planning Tools such as the Key Issues Checklist, Competitive Strength Map, Trend Map, Opportunity Map and Strategy Check.
Organisational Strength Map
Use this tool to identify your organisation’s strengths and explore areas for growth and development.
Chapters
Strategic Planning Toolkit
Build your strategic plan and improve your organisation’s effectiveness with these strategic planning tools and fact sheets. Not sure where to start? Check out the Starting Points page for advice tailored to your situation.
Communications Strategy Toolkit
Effective communications planning will enable you to raise your organisation’s voice on issues that matter.
Financial Sustainability Plan
Ensure that your organisation survives and thrives by strengthening its fiscal framework.
Social Media Strategy
This step-by-step tool will enable you to build an effective social media strategy and engage your online audiences.
Website Optimisation Plan
This 10-step plan will help you improve your website’s impact and usability.