Bryan Roach Chairman Crime Stoppers Australia

Strategic Planning The process for defining strategy (direction) and decision making For Crime Stoppers, it’s answering: ‘What do we do?’ Project Planning A discipline for stating how to complete a project within a certain timeframe, usually with defined stages, and with designated resources. It deals with: Project Scope – work needed to be done to achieve a goal / objective Project Resources – people and cost of doing that work Project Schedule – time it will take to achieve milestones to complete that work

Why strategically plan? Increasing pressure on NFPs to demonstrate capacity to use resources responsibly and strategically – no different for Crime Stoppers Increasing need for NFPs to provide clear indications of results and how they have changed the lives of their target group To ensure NFPs are accountable and that their processes are transparent To think through the issues and risks, and to document what NFPs are doing, for whom, and why they are doing it To encourage examination of established directions and strategies for contemporary relevance and results

To ensure and maintain public accountability, Boards of Directors must ask difficult questions and encourage discussion: Do we need to change our mission? What is our target community and has it shifted its focus or needs? Should we abandon much loved programs that have outlived their usefulness and concentrate our resources elsewhere by doing something different? Is there enough capacity and commitment within our team to achieve our objectives? Strategic planning is used for one purpose only – to help an organisation to do a better job.

Successful strategic planning process must: Be inclusive – involve all stakeholders – Board of Directors, and paid and volunteer staff, clients, sponsors, and the community Focus on the vision and priorities in response to a changing environment Ensure that members and broader membership across Regions, Nations through to the smallest jurisdictions, are all working toward the same objectives The strategic plan is to document: Where the organisation is going what it needs to do to get there how it is progressing along the way that a full account of the results it achieves will be delivered at the appropriate time

The Process (Conduct a SWOT Analysis): Conduct an Environmental scan Plot a Direction Develop a mission statement Set Goals / Objectives Action Planning: Prioritise Activities (Develop Projects) Prepare for Evaluation Prepare Budgets

Strategic Planning is a Process: Strategic plan is not a monument, or an end in itself, but rather a means of achieving its purpose Those responsible must have flexibility and authority - to be creative and be able to respond to new developments: Need to change previously approved / selected activities in the light of new opportunities or challenges Need to remain aligned with the mission Builds commitment and embraces public accountability: Engages with key stakeholders Identifies priorities Evaluates strategies

How the Customer explained it How the Project Manager understood it How the Analyst designed it How the Programmer wrote it How the Business Consultant described it How the Project was documented What Operations installed How the Customer was billed How it was supported What the Customer really needed!

What do you do if you don’t have a Project Plan? Create one! NFP activities, events, campaigns, promotions are all projects: no matter how big or small, projects must be fully considered – need: Scope Resources (people and funding) Schedule without a Project Plan the organisation, stakeholders, beneficiaries, the community may suffer poor outcomes

A Project Plan can help to: Improve communication with the community, our clients Increase the transparency of our own work Help us to become more organised Help us to focus on the project goal (the successful end product) – so we don’t get lost along the way – use Milestones (Goals) Milestones should be SMART: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time limited

Conduct Planning Identify your Milestones (SMART Goals) Describe the Tasks and Resources needed to achieve them Determine the time needed to achieve them Develop a schedule, calendar, or Gantt Chart to provide a graphical overview of: the plan the resources the tasks in a given period of time the budget Is there life after planning? Yes – now you must deliver throughout the life of the project Keep within the allotted time and budget Use a Project Management Tool for complex projects

Over Ambitious Commitment Lack of People Management Ignoring Trivial Problems Lack of Communication Poor Time Management Lack of Cost Management Inability to Adapt to Changes Misjudging User Expectations Lack of Leadership Inability to say “NO”

Strategic Planning The process for defining strategy (direction) and decision making ‘What is it that we do?’ Project Planning A discipline for stating how to complete a project within a certain timeframe, usually with defined stages, and with designated resources.