This blog post was developed based on conversations between Sarah Benkirane and Jason Newberry about TNC’s history and approach to strategic planning. We hope to share what we’ve learned about strategic planning from years of evaluation, partnership, and close collaboration with the non-profit sector.
There’s a moment that shifted how we think about strategy.
It didn’t happen in a boardroom or during a perfectly facilitated retreat. It happened in the middle of a project that, on paper, wasn’t even about strategic planning.
“In the early days, I considered strategic planning to be something different… I thought it was like an esoteric process that was done by strategic planners.”
Over time, that assumption started to unravel.
“Many of the same questions you ask in strategic planning, we were already asking.”
That realization changed how we understand strategy, not as a separate exercise, but as something deeply connected to how organizations learn, reflect, and make decisions.
Strategy Rooted in Understanding
Our approach to strategic planning didn’t come from adopting a standard framework, it grew out of something else: deep organizational understanding: “So much of strategic planning is the research piece […] digging deep into the organization, understanding them.”
That kind of understanding doesn’t happen quickly. It comes from needs assessments, evaluation work, and long-term engagement in the nonprofit world. It also depends on something that is often overlooked in strategy work: sector knowledge.
“It really helps to have content knowledge and expertise. We know the sectors: mental health and substance use health, disability rights, gender-based violence prevention, which just makes our understanding of organization so much deeper and thoughtful.”
A strategy grounded in this kind of context looks different. It is less generic, more specific, and more connected to real-world conditions.
Centering Voice, Relationships, and Action
Strategic planning is not only analytical—it is relational.
“There’s a difference between listening and hearing.”
Understanding organizations requires both.
It also requires attention to who is included in the process.
“We’re always interested to know who the interest holders are… who holds power, who doesn’t, who might not be at the table.”
And ultimately, strategy must lead to action.
“You need a plan that’s going to be able to respond to opportunities… that’s linked to your capacity as an organization.”
The Problem with “The Plan”
Strategic planning is often treated as a process of defining goals and mapping out a clear path over the next three to five years. But that model doesn’t always make sense, especially for organizations navigating uncertainty, limited resources, or shifting opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
“For some organizations, it can be almost impossible to decide what that plan should look like so far in advance.”
In one case, the organization that we were working with needed to be able to respond quickly to opportunities as they arose, rather than commit to a fixed set of activities for the next 3 to 5 years.
“The strategic planning became more about how to be ready as an organization to respond to opportunities.”
For many nonprofits, the challenge isn’t a lack of vision—it’s the conditions they’re operating within. Shifting opportunities, constrained resources, and evolving needs make it difficult to commit to a fixed path. Strategy, in this context, needs to do two things at once: provide clarity, and remain flexible enough to adapt as circumstances change.
Unlearning What Strategy Is Supposed to Be
One of the biggest shifts has been letting go of the idea that strategy ends with a document: “The assumption that you get the plan in place and then the plan kind of does its work for you.”
In practice, that assumption doesn’t hold. “Ongoing implementation, planning, and pivoting is so important.”
Strategy needs to be revisited, refreshed, and actively used. Without that, even well-designed plans can lose relevance over time.
Where Strategy Often Falls Apart
The challenge is rarely the ideas themselves. It’s what happens after.
“Too many strategic plans are unrealistic.”
This isn’t about effort or intention—it’s about feasibility.
“Implementation practice gives you a lens on feasibility that other… strategic planners don’t necessarily have.”
Grounding strategy in implementation means asking different questions:
What is actually possible given current capacity?
- How will this be carried forward day-to-day?
- What happens when priorities shift?
Without those considerations, even strong ideas can stall.
What Organizations Can Expect When Working With TNC
Organizations often come into strategic planning expecting a defined process. What they experience instead is something more collaborative and adaptive.
“They shouldn’t expect a cookie-cutter approach.”
“It’s a customized strategic planning process about co-creation as opposed to a top-down.”
This also means that organizations are not simply having their existing ideas organized, they are engaging with them more critically.
“We’re not merely reflecting their own idea, we’re going to collaboratively engage with those ideas at a critical level.”
We often describe this role as being a critical friend, someone who both supports and pushes thinking forward.
What We Hope Clients Experience
At its best, strategic planning should feel both meaningful and usable.
“I would hope that our clients would… enjoy working with TNC, would feel a sense of trust… and would get… an actionable plan that they’re excited about.”
That combination—trust, clarity, and action—is what allows strategy to move beyond a document.
Strategy as an Ongoing Practice
If there is one idea that continues to shape our work, it is this:
Strategy is not something you produce once.
It is something you return to—again and again.
It lives in how decisions are made, how opportunities are taken up, and how organizations adapt over time.
And when it is working well, it doesn’t sit on a shelf.
It stays in motion.