Increasing Participation in Nonprofit Planning Sessions Requires Effort

By Hardy Smith 
 

“How can we get the people who should be participating in our strategic planning sessions to show up?” This was a problem shared during a recent session I was conducting for several nonprofit organizations.

We were discussing difficulties commonly experienced in the uphill battle to create successful planning activities.  

Despite the recognized importance of devoting time to strategic planning and development of annual action plans, low attendance is a frequent reality.

If your organization struggles with participation challenges for planning activities, here are eight tips to help make your sessions successful:

 

1.     Don’t repeat mistakes of the past.  There is a reason that previous efforts to secure needed participation have not been successful.  Take time to understand why and be honest with your assessment. Seek out opinions from past participants, including those who should have been attending but haven’t, and use that feedback to make needed corrections.

·       Were past sessions seen as a waste of time?

·       Was time allocated used effectively and efficiently?

·       Was the planning activity itself planned, organized, and conducted with a sense of purpose?

·       Was discussion dominated by a single person or a few individuals?

·       Did participants leave with a sense of accomplishment?

·       Was follow-up action taken on strategies that were developed? 

2.     Set participation goals.  Identify who you must have if your session is to be considered a success.  If your attendance targets are volunteer board members, establish a percentage goal of the board that must be reached, and make every effort possible to encourage participation.  

Communicate individually to let people know how much their participation is needed and how much their insight is valued.  Ask for a personal commitment for attendance.  Don’t accept “will try, plan to, or should be able to” as solid answers.  You should know exactly who will attend prior to your activity.  If you can’t confirm committed presence in advance, then chances are good you won’t get your needed numbers.  Send out reminder notes to help ensure your attendance. 

Confirm the significance of participation with personal messages from the organization’s top leader.  If your session involves volunteers, it’s a nice ego stroke.  If it involves staff, it’s hard to turn down the boss! 

3.     Avoid schedule conflicts.  Schedule planning activity far enough in advance to avoid scheduling conflicts.  Sounds like a no-brainer but sometimes the organization already has other activities planned, important deadlines are approaching, or it’s a heavy vacation period. Get schedule availability input from desired participants and set your date when most are available.  Even better – get your activity on a regular recurring schedule. 

4.     Establish expected outcomes.  Have a specific purpose for your session.  Communicate in advance what result will come from this activity, such as three new strategies for recruiting volunteers.  Your participants will be able to come in with ideas already formulated.  Having an expected outcome will also help keep the session focused on the primary task at hand. 

5.     Make sure participants are prepared.  Your planning team should know exactly what is expected of them.  Help them be prepared with advance information.  It’s difficult to offer qualified opinion when seeing a thick folder of financials, project proposals, and operational details without an opportunity to review materials prior to the time when discussion is required. 

6.     Determine what format works best for your group.  Take into account the personalities involved.  Use a meeting format that gets desired results and creates a positive experience so people are motivated to participate in future sessions.  

·       Do you need teambuilding or fun activities?

·       Will your team react more favorably to a strictly all business session?

·       What is most productive length?

·       Will you get best results by getting away from the office, working in a retreat setting, or will a few hours in an office conference room be okay?   

7.     Have a designated facilitator.  Having someone with an  ability to get everyone engaged and keep the process moving and focused is critical for creating the successful planning session you want. 

Judge whether or not someone outside your organization is needed.  An outside facilitator is often more effective at challenging, encouraging, drawing out opinions, and controlling discussion so it stays on a positive productive track.   

Advance preparation time with your facilitator is important. When I assist with nonprofit strategic planning sessions, I know the expected outcome, background of individual participants, and will have done my homework to be knowledgeable about the organization.  There is a predetermined structure designed to maximize the activity. 

8.     Don’t forget your post event follow up.  Send personal thank you notes that mention specific contributions made.  Solicit feed back for future sessions.  Give regular progress reports on implementation of the plans that were developed. 

Achieving significant participation in your organization’s planning sessions inspires the fundamental buy in for implementing the items in your action plan. 

Create within your organization the realization of the vital importance of planning activities by executing these tips and you are much more likely to find success with your planning session participation.  

As a nonprofit speaker and consultant, author Hardy Smith creates high performance success by powering up teams for remarkable results.  Learn more about Hardy by visiting: www.hardysmith.com