The real power of strategic planning isn’t in the plan—it’s in the people. Center them, and you build trust, strengthen alignment, and unlock clarity at every level of your organization.
Right now, many nonprofits are stretched thin as they grapple with rising costs, political uncertainty, shifting donor priorities, and growing demands for impact and equity. For smaller teams, planning can feel like one more thing on an already full plate. But done well, it becomes a moment of relief: a chance to pause, reflect, and refocus.
At Panorama Strategy, we specialize in strategic planning that centers the people doing the work. We see it as an opportunity to surface what matters most, navigate uncertainty with clarity, and advance with shared purpose. Rather than delivering a static plan and stepping away, we work alongside teams to build clarity, momentum, and ownership—so strategy becomes something they live, not just something they write down. We’ve supported dozens of organizations—from grassroots nonprofits to global alliances—to navigate transitions, reset strategy, and build plans that stick.
Whether you're facing a leadership transition, adapting to funding shifts, or recalibrating after a period of growth, here are five people-centered practices that will help ensure your next strategic planning process is more effective and energizing.
1. Start with people, not just plans.
Every planning process begins with a core group of people who will help shape it, whether that’s your leadership team, a board committee, or a cross-functional working group. This kickoff moment isn’t just a logistical meeting. It’s a chance to align around purpose, unpack assumptions, and build the psychological safety needed to navigate hard conversations—especially in environments shaped by team culture, power dynamics, and past experiences with planning processes.
Try this: Begin with a round of reflection. Ask: What are you most proud of in your organization’s journey? What value should guide the organization moving forward? What hope—and what fear—do you bring into this process? These simple questions open the door for honesty, connection, and clarity.
2. Listen with care and value people’s time.
Gathering insights is a critical part of any strategic planning process, but how you listen matters just as much as who you invite. Engaging stakeholders means surfacing the experiences, wisdom, and concerns of those closest to the work: staff, board, partners, and often, community members whose voices are most impacted yet least heard. Listening isn’t just a step in the strategic planning process; it’s a responsibility. To make it meaningful, build in time, provide context, show appreciation, and approach every conversation—no matter the person or their title—with humility and respect.
Try this: If you’re asking people, particularly community members or frontline workers, for their insights, compensate them when you can. A stipend, gift card, or even offering food and transportation signals that their time and expertise are valued.
3. Focus on what matters most—together.
Every organization has more good ideas than it has time, people, or funding to pursue. Prioritization is where good intentions meet real-world constraints. Done well, it’s not just a tactical step—it’s an act of care. It creates space to hear from your team, acknowledge ideas and concerns, and build alignment around what your team can realistically take on right now. When people feel heard, even if their ideas don’t all make it into the plan, it builds trust and momentum. Prioritization can be a moment of energy and clarity when people feel empowered to do fewer things better.
Try this: Use a simple impact/effort matrix to map out your initiatives as a group. Then create a “parking lot” for great ideas that matter but don’t fit today’s capacity. This gives your team permission to focus without feeling like they’re abandoning meaningful work.
4. Make your plan usable and accessible for everyone.
Once your organization has clarity on priorities, it’s time to put it all together in a way that people can actually use. A strategic plan isn’t just for funders or senior leaders—it needs to serve your internal team, partners, and the communities you support. A 40-page plan might check all the boxes, but it often falls short of building shared understanding. A usable strategic plan translates strategic clarity into a format that’s easy to understand, easy to revisit, and easy to act on.
Try this: Adapt your plan into different formats tailored to the needs of each audience: a full document for internal alignment, a visual one-pager for funders or partners, and a plain-language summary for community stakeholders. Use clear, accessible language at a 6th to 8th grade reading level, avoid jargon, and ensure digital versions meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Tools like Microsoft Word’s Readability Statistics or the Hemingway App can help assess clarity and accessibility.
5. Make strategy part of how your people work.
A plan on paper isn’t enough; it has to live in the people doing the work. Activating your strategy means embedding it into daily decisions, team routines, and organizational culture. When everyone understands their role in moving the strategy forward, values turn into behaviors and momentum builds through shared ownership—not just top-down direction.
Try this: Assign clear owners to each strategic priority and set regular check-ins (quarterly or biannually) to reflect on progress. Don’t wait until next year to ask, “How are we doing?” Make those conversations part of your rhythm from the start.
Want to dig deeper?
We’ll be sharing expanded tools and resources for each phase of the strategic planning process in the months ahead. Follow us on LinkedIn to stay connected. If your organization is ready to realign, reimagine, or rebuild, Panorama Strategy can help you plan what’s next.
Contact us to start a conversation. We’d love to learn more about your work.
