Shawna Babauta conducts training at the MANGO office on Wednesday, July 23.
AT a strategic planning training held on Wednesday, July 23 for individuals interested in setting up nonprofit organizations, Shawna Babauta, communications manager of the Marianas Alliance of Nongovernment Organizations, emphasized that strategic plans help organizations “set priorities” and “focus energy and resources.”
The training was a scaled-down version of a longer presentation previously offered through the Lemmai-Mei nonprofit incubator program implemented by MANGO.
Babauta noted that some nonprofit organizations in the CNMI are well established but still lack a strategic plan — a formal document that outlines an organization’s clients, focus areas, core values, goals, and more.
The purpose of a strategic plan, she said, is to document the organization’s current capacity, identify resources, update demographic information, and align efforts toward its goals.
From a fundraising perspective, Babauta said a strategic plan is a valuable document that can be shared with potential partnering agencies or funders.
“Sometimes funders need to see an updated strategic plan,” she said. “So if you don’t have one, now’s the time to get going.”
While strategic plans vary between organizations, Babauta said they typically include the following elements:
• An executive summary, which introduces the organization and summarizes the entire document;
• A mission statement, which explains why the organization exists;
• A vision statement, which describes the community outcome if the mission is fulfilled;
• Core values, or the basic principles that guide the organization’s operations;
• Strategic goals, which outline what the organization aims to achieve and the desired community outcomes;
• Objectives, or “specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-bound” strategies to meet those goals;
• And detailed activities to carry out the objectives.
Babauta said it is MANGO’s mission to support the nonprofit community through “growth through guidance and training.”
For assistance with strategic planning and other services, the public can email info@mangocnmi.org or call (670) 233-6200.
