A relevant and vital strategic plan. (Governance).

As association leaders, many of us understand the importance of strategic plans and, in fact, have such plans in place. Yet often, those strategic plans sit on the shelf, only to get dusted off when it's time to update them. How can we as CEOs incorporate the plans into our associations' annual programming and make them living, breathing documents that touch the everyday lives of our organizations?

Developing the plan

Incorporating the strategic plan into the real life of the organization actually starts before the plan is even created.

Get everyone involved. It is imperative that the association's leadership and staff believe in the value of strategic planning and understand the importance of planning for the future health of the association. Achieve this by having all officers play a role in setting the agenda and format for the strategic planning sessions.

Create the plan to be a tool. When developing the plan, think of it as a tool to guide your association's programs for the next two to three years. It should include the association's mission statement, core purpose, values, and goals and objectives. Prioritize various activities so that resources can be allocated accordingly. Include performance measures so that the board can evaluate whether or not the objectives are successfully implemented.

Implementing the plan

Once a plan is in place, ensure that it remains at the center of the everyday activities of the association. To do this, make sure that the strategic plan is reflected in your budget and structure.

Base the budget on the plan. The treasurer and finance committee along with staff should prepare the association's annual budget by using the strategic plan as a guidepost. If the highest priority for the association over the next few years is to increase membership, resources--including dollars and staff support--must be allocated to recruitment and retention programs.

Structure the association accordingly. The strategic plan should help guide the association's structure in terms of formation and discontinuance of committees and task forces as well as staffing allocations and areas of responsibility. Volunteers and staff should be assigned to focus on each of the goals identified in the strategic plan so that efforts can be undertaken within the association's framework to implement relevant programs. The board should provide on an annual basis clear direction to each committee chair, delineating what the committee's focus should be so that all committees are working toward implementation of the plan's goals and objectives.

Make the plan omnipresent. Include the strategic plan in the directors' materials that are distributed in advance of each board meeting. Also be sure to review the plan during the orientation of new board members. The strategic plan allows the board to stay on course when individuals suggest ideas that might be good but do not fall within the association's mission or goals. Such a plan helps avoid the problem of changing direction every time a new the president is elected.

Finally, don't be afraid to modify the plan and change direction if the environment shifts or the member ship wishes to pursue other areas. The plan should guide the association's initiatives, but you should not be held hostage by it.

Submitted by Dale Singer, executive director, Renal Physicians Association, Rockville, Maryland (staff size: 5; annual operating budget: $1,500,000). E-mail: [e-mail].