Strategic Thinking is No Longer an Option! By R. Scott Rodin

The Times Demand Strategic Thinking

Over the years, I’ve asked hundreds of nonprofit leaders and boards their opinion on strategic planning. The response varies, to say the least. Some roll their eyes and recount past attempts that have led only to frustration. Others shrug it off as a nice thing to do when there’s plenty of time, but not now. Some show their frustration at trying to write and implement plans that took more time and energy than the benefit they provided. Still others take a strangely detached spiritual approach. They say something like, “We just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit; we don’t need a plan.” The minority who strongly advocate for a plan. And they will admit that the one they have doesn’t serve them the way they had hoped.

Overall, the idea of having a relevant and dynamic strategic plan that guides the organization’s daily decisions is akin to having an endowment large enough to sustain itself through its income. It’s a nice idea, but very difficult to attain, and most leaders are left frustrated in its pursuit. The result of this way of thinking leaves a great majority of Christian nonprofits struggling. To be effective in a rapidly changing cultural ministry context, one that swamps unfocused and reactionary leadership attempts.

I contend that Christian nonprofits can no longer afford to operate without a relevant and dynamic strategy. They need a plan that unites the organization around a common focus and leads it in the direction God intends. The stakes are too high. Risks are too significant. Times are too perilous, and the environment is too chaotic. Here are three reasons why strategic planning is no longer an option.

#1: Short-term thinking will put your organization at risk of survival.

Try this exercise. Make a list of every force or factor that could have a major impact on your ability to survive over the next five years. If you are honest, your list should contain 8 to 10 serious issues, and likely more. Next, apply a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being ‘no confidence’ and 10 being ‘fully confident’, and answer this question for each one: “How confident are you that this force or factor will never impact your organization?” Again, an honest appraisal will reveal that several items on your list fall into the three or below section of the scale.

Finally, of those that received a low level of certainty, what are you doing now to monitor, manage, or mitigate each one of those factors? This exercise will demonstrate the real level of threat you face; It clarifies how little you are doing to acknowledge it and prepare for it. And to the greatest extent possible, mitigate against it. Strategic plans focus resources on the most critical items in an organization’s life that will enable it to flourish in pursuit of God’s will. Part of that flourishing is understanding the forces that can wreck us. Without this recognition, we can continue our business without question. We will miss the signs all around us that indicate we may indeed be in significant trouble.

The times are too perilous for this laissez-faire approach to leadership.

#2: You cannot obediently steward your organization without knowing God’s plan for it.

Strategic planning carried out in the kingdom of God is a Spirit-led process of faith. Together, you seek to discern God’s will for the future of your organization. Then you can build a solid plan to pursue it. Too many nonprofit leaders operate as owner-leaders. They believe the organization belongs to them and it is up to their skill, planning, and vision to move it forward. In God’s kingdom, everything belongs to him. If our ministries and organizations truly belong to God, then the most critical question we can ask as leaders is, “What does God want us to do with His ministry?”

By approaching strategic planning from a stewardship standpoint and seeing it as an act of absolute obedience, it cannot be just an option. Instead, it lies at the very core of what it means to be faithful steward leaders.

#3: Every person financially supporting your ministry deserves to know you’re leading it according to a divinely inspired plan.

It’s not too radical to say that we have no right to ask any financial partner for a dollar of the money God has entrusted to them unless we can assure them that it will be invested in God’s work according to God’s plan. Suppose we are unwilling to invest the time, energy, and resources necessary to discern God’s will for the future of our ministry and develop a comprehensive plan to pursue it. What right do we have to ask people to entrust their financial resources to us? It’s disingenuous to take resources from God’s people and invest them in a ministry that doesn’t know where God wants it to go.

These are just three reasons why leaders of nonprofit ministries and nonprofit boards cannot afford to overlook strategic planning as an option. It must be given the highest priority, carried out prayerfully, and implemented effectively. I believe God is ready to pour out His resources on organizations that look back to Him, seek His direction for their future, and are willing to follow obediently, regardless of the cost. We are in uncharted waters in almost every area of our lives, culture, and society. For faithful steward leaders, obedient steward boards, and faithful financial stewards, having a strategic plan to navigate these times is no longer an option.

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R. Scott Rodin is the Senior Consultant/Chief Strategy Officer for The Focus Group. Over the past thirty-eight years, Scott Rodin has helped hundreds of organizations enhance their effectiveness in leadership, fundraising, strategic planning, and board development. His books and articles have been translated into over twenty languages, and he has taught and consulted with ministries across five continents. Scott also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Association of Biblical Higher Education and as board chair for ChinaSource.

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