Institute For The Future

Applying corporate planning techniques to philanthropic challenges

The accelerated pace of the 21st century requires that organizations explore and implement new tools, strategies, and techniques for planning and charting the future. IFTF Research Director Jackie Copeland-Carson has a great piece titled "Applying corporate planning techniques to philanthropic challenges" on Alliance magazine's website that highlights five key techniques philanthropic organizations can use to better prepare for the future.

 

From the article:

The present recession has left many philanthropy leaders to ‘wonder what happened’ as the downturn undermined many institutions’ financial footing and clouded their visions of the future. The global economic crisis brings into sharp relief slowly emerging changes in our social, economic and environmental systems. How can we better anticipate, prepare for and shape these dynamic changes to move from survival mode to ways of thinking about the future that strengthen philanthropy’s resilience and effectiveness?

 

While philanthropy has a long tradition of strategic planning, conventional tools no longer seem to be keeping pace with the speed and complexity of change. New times require new measures better suited to the accelerating pace of change, and there are several alternative strategic planning techniques that philanthropy might consider to enable it to better chart its future.

 

The state of sector strategic planning

 

The success of any organization – or the field it is in – depends in large part on its ability to anticipate, adjust to and shape the social, economic and other forces that drive its future. However, for a variety of reasons, philanthropy’s strategic planning is largely limited to 3-5 year plans. These plans often rely on an 'environmental scan' that identifies key trends currently affecting the sector without much effort to identify longer-term trends that could affect a foundation’s prospects.

 

But 3-5 year plans alone are insufficient as philanthropy attempts to re-make itself in this recession. They must be combined with longer-term trends data and planning horizons. With globalization all communities are interconnected, and we are moving into what many leaders in fields as diverse as the corporate sector and the military describe as a VUCA world: an era where heightened volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are the norm. It is not just that philanthropy is changing but in a globalized VUCA world, change has an even more accelerated, unpredictable character.

 

Corporations and some NGOs are creating planning principles and strategies more appropriate to 21st century demands. While no institution – non-profit or corporate – is immune from the downturn, five key techniques could help more to weather the current economic storm and offer more effective philanthropy.

 

Read the rest of the article here.