Short-term Planning and the Annual Report
Annual Strategic Planning
Short-term planning is essential to all organizations and businesses as it gives practical direction to the organization for its most important time – the present. If long range planning is the scaffolding that outlines future projects, short range planning is the brick and mortar that holds together the current ones.
Your organization should already have a long-range plan. Every 3 to 5 years a long look down the road should be put on paper. But those goals are often too broad and general to use when creating your daily to-do list. Therefore short-term planning takes the extensive strategic plan and breaks it into more specific goals and sets mile-markers for the coming year. Within the framework of your 3-5 year strategy, there should be a fresh twelve-month strategic plan created at the beginning of every year to guide your short term efforts.
Look Back, Look Forward
January is named after the Greek god Janus who had a face on both sides of his heads so that he could look backward and forward at the same time. This is how each year should begin for your organization, with a brief recap of the previous year, and an outline of the year to come.
The prior year recap does not need to be extensive, but should simply note those activities or items that would be considered the highlights of the year, outlining them in a logical manner. Such items may include anything from fundraisers with large returns to programs that demonstrated a surge in participants. Other milestones from the past year, such as new hires, new major donors or board members, and even failed initiatives and set backs should be honestly noted.
Once you have written an honest recap of last year, it is amazing how clear the priorities of the current year become. Again, this is an overview, not a daily task list. Walk through the year in a chronological way and hit the highlights. Creating an annual calendar – preferably a wall-sized calendar that all can see – with key dates will help everyone to begin setting priorities and deadlines.
A Simple Organizing Principal
In order to keep your year-end summary and annual strategy brief and well organized, break all activity down into a few categories: Operations, fundraising, and program are probably general enough to encompass everything that needs to be reviewed. For the purpose of this article, we will use these three categories:
- Operations.
- Program.
- Fundraising
Operations.
Operations encompass all of those administrative duties that constitute a significant amount of the behind-the-scenes work of an organization. Many of these items are automated and predictable, and therefore overlooked. Have any of these systems become inefficient or in need of a serious overhaul? Under the heading of Operations, it is also appropriate to examine the past performance of the Board, its development and accomplishments. Staffing as well as the remaining administrative duties should be reviewed closely for changes or significant milestones over the past twelve months, and then careful thought can be given to the next twelve.
Program.
This is why you exist. This is where your mission is carried out. Therefore, a thorough review of the various programs currently offered along with their progress and development is an annual necessity. Look for accomplishments and the means that led to the ends. Accomplishments are obviously the sought result of any organization or business and therefore a replication of the process, when possible, should be noted in your short-term plan. It is also important to note any program changes, new services or discontinued activities. These changes need to be measured and understood as to what impact they had or could have on the organization’s future. Perhaps the hardest part of this “look back-look forward” is being honest about the real value of program activity. Almost every organization has activities that are underperforming, but which have become institutions. Is it time to have a board level discussion about the sacred cow? In any event, focus on results. When all is said and done, did your programming change the world last year, and what will it take to do it again this year?
Fundraising.
For most non-profits, an organization’s finances are the most unpredictable aspect of the entire organization. Financial planning and forecasting, whether it be for the upcoming twelve months or five years from now, is useful in ensuring a solid organization that achieves impact year over year. The easiest method to incorporate financials into a short-term plan is to review last year’s budget to actual, and then look at the past three years. Note the trends, highlights the biggest and the smallest numbers, look for red flags. Ask for explanations. It’s what donors do, and if you do not do it first, you will not have the answers for the donors who want to know. Finally, when it comes to fundraising, we are tempted to only look at the bottom line, but don’t forget to track activity. Cultivating donors take time, so without a good grasp of what spade work was done last year, it’s hard to say what harvest can be expected next year.
This short term, annual planning should result in a document that you can discuss with board members and staff to ensure that the entire organization is on the same page as you move forward in the coming year. Keep in mind these items should align with and be guided by the organization’s current three to five year strategic plan. This short term planning brings the strategic plan off the shelf and onto your desk, because when all is said and done, every strategic plan, no matter how complex or involved, is simply an answer to the question: “What’s next?”
Annual Meeting and Annual Report
An internal review of the organization’s activities is important for the integrity of the organization as a corporate unit. But it is also good to share this information with your public. The Annual Meeting is the perfect opportunity to share your look back and reflect on past occurrences as well as cast the vision for the future. We council clients to have a first quarter Annual Meeting to which all constituents are invited to hear about last year’s accomplishments and this year’s goals. If you have the time and the resources, the best way to present this information to the public is through a published Annual Report.
The Annual Report generally begins with a brief letter from the Executive Director or Chairman. The director provides a brief review of the previous year’s activities as well as a glimpse into the future, often ending with a sincere thank you to all supporters. Following the Director’s message is a more thorough outline of the programs and activities of the organization. Generally this is where a more detailed encounter of those program activities that proved beneficial are highlighted. The finances of the organization are then covered with charts and graphs for ease of understanding. A listing of Board members and their affiliations is a must, along with any Advisory Council if applicable. Some organizations like to include a list of contributors as well. If you do list your donors, be sure to get their permission first. Finally, you can end the report with an inspirational note that looks ahead to a year of promise.
Annual Reports Resources
- This website provides a multitude of resources from viewing other annual reports to tips on writing and understanding them. There are numerous links to assist and answer questions regarding the topics to cover when producing your organization’s report. http://www.zpub.com/sf/arl/index.html
For more information, please visit the Giersch Group at http://www.gierschgroup.com/ or contact us at prosper@gierschgroup.com
