Staying on Mission and Staying in Business: Strategic Planning in the Education Nonprofit Sector

Abstract

This capstone explores a strategic planning process I carried out at the NYC Leadership Academy (NYCLA), a nonprofit organization. Through the development and launch of a strategic plan for the NYCLA alumni network, I learned that nonprofit organizations face strategic planning considerations distinct from those of private-sector organizations. In an effort to reconcile the tension between what I see as organizational solvency and mission fulfillment in the alumni network strategic planning process, I explore the merits and limitations of Mark Moore’s strategic triangle framework and determine how a nonprofit might make best use of the framework in strategic planning. Ultimately, I conclude that the NYCLA alumni network and similarly-situated nonprofit organizations can manage the tension between mission fulfillment and organizational solvency by strategizing for public value. I also reflect on the success of Marshall Ganz’s community organizing practices in engaging and mobilizing the NYCLA alumni network. I argue that nonprofits should leverage community organizing practices to build authentic stakeholder involvement and authorship in the strategic planning process.