Leadership and Planning

Long range needs and goals of your organization may often take a back seat to the immediate needs of both the organization’s animals and people. Tackle the long view of your organization in a manageable, step-by-step process using the tools below.

The tools are excerpted chapters from the ASPCA publication, Making Plans to Make a Difference. View or download the chapters from the links below, or order a printed copy of the complete manual from the ASPCA Store.

Step 1: Discover

Good planning begins with information gathering, and information gathering begins with discovering who you are today. Use these tools to learn about the strengths of your organization and your community.

• Status Check (.pdf)
  A status check uses data to give you a more precise picture of your organization's outcomes and progress on your initiatives.
• Community Assessment (.pdf)
  A community assessment describes a community's successes and limitations in dealing with a specific problems, such as ferals or pet overpopulation.
• Competitive Analysis (.pdf)
  A competitive analysis compares your programs to similar services targeting the same audiences. The results help you identify where and how you'll be most successful.
• Benchmarking (.pdf)
  Field assessments and benchmarking are processes in which you look for what works in other organizations to determine successful practices you can adopt or adapt for your organization.

Step 2: Dream

Yes, dreaming. Your dreams of making the world a better place are a powerful component of successful planning.

• Picturing Success: Creating a Shared Vision (.pdf)
  A vision captures a detailed picture of where you will be and what you will have accomplished at a defined point in the future. Vision provides clear direction, inspiring everyone in the organization to work together toward the same ends.
• Stating Your Purpose: Defining Your Mission Statement (.pdf)

A mission statement declares your fundamental purpose to you and to the world. A good mission statement clarifies how your work will make the world a better place.

Step 3: Design

With a well-defined vision and mission, your organization can design objectives for getting where you've said you want to go.

• Effort Analysis (.pdf)
  An impact-for-effort analysis compares the effort you put into an initiative to the impact the initiative can achieve. An effort analysis of your programs helps you identify those that achieve the best return for your investments of time, effort, and money.
• Designing Objectives (.pdf)
  Objectives quantify what you want to accomplish. Setting objectives involves choosing indicators of your organization's performance (that is, defining how you will know when you're achieving your purpose) and defining future targets.
• Financial Feasibility (.pdf)

A financial feasibility study evaluates your ability to afford a project. In this type of study, you detail the program costs, identify potential sources of funding, and test the waters.

Step 4: Make It So

You know who you want to be and what you want to accomplish. Now, how do you make it happen?

• Fiscal Status Check (.pdf)
  A fiscal status check examines where your money comes from and where it goes. The status check also guides you how to manage cash flow so that your money keeps up with your demand.
• Partnering Productively (.pdf)
  No one said you had to do it alone. A partnership involves jointly pursuing activities with others in a manner that meets community needs more effectively and benefits you and your partners.
• Developing a Business Plan (.pdf)
  A business plan is a narrative picture of what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. It is both a roadmap to your success and proof to funders and other supporters that you are capable of "making it so."

Photo credit: Tommie © Maggie Swanson