Strategic Plan Development

Failure to adequately address the long-term strategic position of the organization culminates in under-performance, otherwise called strategic drift. At MTF, planning has become vital in characterizing our modern innovative approach to attaining a better future. MTF sets planning as a tenet that guides its actions and directions to manage its resources effectively, tackle threats, hedge against uncertainties and reap the benefits of current and future opportunities.
Organizations without a clear strategy quickly get overstretched and ineffective. Although NGOs may have a clear strategy without having a strategic plan, writing it down enables it to be better understood by partners, funders and donors.

Importance of Strategic Planning for NGOs

A strategic plan is one of the fundamental tools that ensure the organisation’s continuity in performing its developmental role; it allows the organization to adapt its role to fit the diverse needs of the target groups. Strategic planning means a systematic process aimed at identifying and addressing specific issues in a participatory manner to attain the desired. There are many reasons why making strategic plans is essential for NGOs. Creating a strategic plan can:

•  Contribute to identifying internal capabilities and what characterizes the organization in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (where we are now?), and how to deal with each to sustain the expectations of the target groups.
•  Assist in achieving the desired results sought by the organization (where we want to go?).
• Lead to improved quality of decisions taken by the organization by focusing on vital matters and challenges facing the organization. It helps decision-makers to determine how to get there?
• Create the organization’s identity and contribute to its grassroots development.
• Helps the organization to allocate and distribute available resources and identify ways to use them; strategic planning depends on careful considerations of the organization’s capabilities and environment, leading to the adoption of important resource management decisions.

Increase the awareness and sensitivity of managers about the winds of change and the threats and opportunities surrounding its planning by taking the change into account.   

LIMITATION: The strategic planning session took place over one day, and the team did not have enough time to go through all the planning stages.

 Strategic Issues and Goals

 Strategic issue 1:

Human Resources development and support
On assessing the organization’s performance, one can concede that human capital plays a pivotal role in any charitable work. As a result, MTF continually values its volunteers as an asset that allows for uniqueness and competitive advantage. The organization’s reputation has continued to attract funders to deliver quality outcomes through the services offered by the organization. However, to gain organisational stability and resilience, there is an urgent need to ponder the question of incentives and rewards for volunteers to gain and retain them.

 Strategic issue 2:

Increasing funding for the organization
Due to the scarcity of financial resources, this strategic plan will highlight a strategic solution that enables the organization to improve its chances of getting more funding support and reduce threats to its existence and continuity because of dwindling funding opportunities.

Strategic issue 3:

Effectiveness and quality of services provided (Operations)
The executive committee believes that the effectiveness of services offered by MTF is underpinned by the outstanding support from funders, including volunteers, which do not present a financial burden on the budget and resources. Similarly, using moderate resources in delivering good programs and services certainly contributes to the efficiency of operations; this has been shown in MTF’s mode of operation. Nevertheless, MTF will continue to leverage its vast expertise and experience and partner with other organizations for effective resource use for quality and impactful service delivery.

Strategic issue 4:

Improving external communication
In this age of social internet service opportunities, organizations must take advantage of the available technology and social media space to improve their image and reach a wider audience (target groups, donors, stakeholders, and others).