The Magic Circle: Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits Fast Track Management Guide: Š MBA 2007
Mark Butcher
Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits
An MBA Fast Track Management Guide
0
The Magic Circle: Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits Fast Track Management Guide: © MBA 2007
Contents Introduction
2
The ‘Magic Circle’ planning method
4
Getting the mission right
5
Gathering information to inform the plan. Undertaking analysis
7
Setting organisation goals
11
Time for action – the implementation phase
14
Critical checks – the importance of evaluation
16
Managing Change
18
Change management models (ADKAR, Kotter’s 8 Phases of Change, Kurt Lewin’s 3 Stage Model)
20
Key management models and tools to improve your practice (The Ansoof Matrix, The BCG Matrix, Balanced Scorecard)
28
Further reading
38
About the author
39
1
The Magic Circle: Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits Fast Track Management Guide: Š MBA 2007
Introduction About MBA
MBA, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of the U.K.'s leading providers of training, consultancy and information to voluntary, community and statutory sector organisations. In the past 14 years we have worked with hundreds of organisations across Europe, Africa and the U.S.A. including the National Trust in London, the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam and the Carmichael Centre in Dublin. Our mission is to enable not-for-profit organisations and the individuals within them to exceed expectations and operate at a higher level.
About MBA Fast Track Management Guides Each Fast Track Guide is designed to give you a quick overview of a specific management issue, covering all of the points and issues.
Other titles in the series include:
21 Ways to Manage Your Time
The 10 Golden Rules of Not-for-Profit Marketing
An Introduction To Project Management
Improve Your Fundraising
Influencing and Negotiating Skills
High Impact Presentation Skills
Peak Performance-Becoming The Best You Can Be
Leading Your Team
Did you know? By joining MBA’s online Gold Membership Scheme you would receive four Fast Track Management Guides for free, hundreds of other Knowledge Bank management resources and our bi-monthly fundraising bulletin. Visit our web-site for more information (www.mba-consulting.co.uk).
2
The Magic Circle: Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits Fast Track Management Guide: Š MBA 2007
About this Management Guide There are two ways to benefit from this publication. You can read it from cover to cover (we have kept it nice and short to help you). This will give you access to all of the key ideas, themes and issues related to the subject.
If you have more time though, you can work through the exercises, apply the learning to your own organisation and share your thinking with colleagues. Although this will demand more time, we strongly believe it will give you better results and real solutions to your specific challenges.
Taking your learning further You can find full details of the publications, training, consultancy services and information resources available from MBA Consulting at www.mba-consulting.co.uk.
ŠMBA 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without permission. The contents must not be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form, by way of trade or otherwise. Please feel free however to print hard copies for internal use within your organisation or team. www.mba-consulting.co.uk. Tel: 0191 226 7304/6
3
The Magic Circle: Strategic and Business Planning for Nonprofits Fast Track Management Guide: © MBA 2007
The ‘Magic Circle’ planning method
The MAGIC Circle planning method is designed to help you complete the strategic thinking necessary prior to the creation of a business plan. It will take you through 5 key focus areas and allow you to:
Mission
decide on strategic direction
identify and eliminate key weaknesses
build on your organisation’s strengths
prioritise your developmental goals
control the process of implementation
Checks
Analysis
The Magic Circle
It is based on the concept of ‘Horizon Planning’that is, that you can only see as far as the horizon -
Implementation
what lies beyond is a mystery. In planning terms we suggest that the horizon is about 3 years into the future (this of course depends on the kind of work you do, the rate of change in your sector and so on).
A revolution of the MAGIC Circle should take therefore, no more than 3 years in most cases. Many organisations use it as an annual planning tool.
4
Goals