Planning

Master Planning

A Master Plan is a comprehensive plan which guides an organization through strategic decisions, to the end that it is able to define and accomplish its long term objectives. It enables an organization to increase its ability to accomplish its aims and achieve its purposes, presently and for the future, and to creatively meet both current and future challenges.

Benefits of a Master Plan:

	a context in which to make sound operational decisions;
	stated long term goals and objectives, and specific steps required to meet those goals and objectives;
	a renewed excitement for and commitment to the organization and its mission;
	creative exploration of positive options for the future.

A Comprehensive Master Plan includes :

	a Program Development plan
	a Marketing plan
	an Operations plan (staffing, governance, finance) and
	a Capital Improvements plan

There are generally four stages to developing a comprehensive strategic plan:

Assessment and Analysis - the current state of the organization is evaluated
Review and Focus -
Preliminary Plan and Testing -
Final Plan -

If Master Planning is not right for you at this time, you may be interested in "Core Process Planning."

You may also be interested in an overview of Strategic Planning (note: this will take take you to another web site and open in a new window): What is strategic planning?

Read Strategic Planning as Spiritual Discipline (opens as a pdf file in new window)

"The task for any organization in long term, strategic planning is to discover its mission for the future, to describe that call in such compelling terms that it captures the hearts and imaginations of participants, donors, and guests, and to design the specific steps required to accomplish that mission."^©