Nonprofit Skills: Strategic Planning for Board

Course Description

This course, aimed at nonprofit board members, is designed to help them apply basic strategic-planning skills to their nonprofit organizations. Self-paced and highly interactive, the course covers the six stages of the formal strategic planning process — Preparation; Mission and Vision; Strategic Assessment; Strategy Formulation; Implementation; and Evaluation — as well as approaches for rapidly developing strategies for situations not anticipated by the strategic plan. It includes three case studies that allow learners to apply what they have learned to real-world situations, and it allows learners to download materials that they can use to develop strategies for their own organizations.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the learner should be able to:

• Take an active role, along with your fellow board members, in developing your organization's strategic plan
• Decide which strategic position is appropriate to your organization's needs and mission
• Conduct a SWOT analysis of your organization
• Make decisions that maximize your organization's competitive advantage
• Formulate strategic goals and pair them with appropriate SMART objectives
• Use a strategy screen to make decisions about situations that were not anticipated in the strategic plan
• Choose appropriate Key Performance Indicators to evaluate the success of your organization's strategy

Notes

Estimated time to complete: 3 hours

This course includes an “Ask the Expert” feature. You can use this feature to submit questions about course content. A subject matter expert will provide guidance or point you to additional resources for the topics you’re studying. Questions are answered as quickly as possible and usually within 24 hours. Learners must achieve an average test score of at least 70% to meet the minimum successful completion requirement and qualify to receive IACET CEUs.