Business Planning for Nonprofits!

How to make your business plan work for you!

What do you think about when you hear the words “business plan?”

A 35 page document? 

If you’re here wondering whether or not you even need a business plan, you’ve come to the right place!

I’m a firm believer that a business plan is mainly a tool to HELP YOU.  

I know, however, that there are so many mixed answers out there. 

Some may swear by one! 

Others may say to just start and pivot as necessary!

When I started my non-profit, I made sure to write down the basics of my business such as:

• How we would raise money

• What our mission was

• Why I was even starting my business in the first place

• How we would select the participating students

• Etc. 

The best advice I can give to you is to not start a business plan until you know your WHY.

If you don’t know why you need a business plan, you may miss important information when you go to use it. 

My “why” was so that I would be prepared to talk to people about my non-profit. 

Knowing the basics was enough for me! 

When you start your own business, there will be a lot of information you won’t yet know and you’ll have to adjust as you go along. 

You may not have much information at the beginning, so forget the full-fledged 35 page plan! 

If it doesn’t work for you, then don’t do it. 

A business plan should never be a requirement in my opinion, but it certainly can be helpful at times.

Here are some situations where having a business plan may be a good idea: 

1. Fiscal sponsorships 

A fiscal sponsorship is where an organization with a mission that aligns with your charitable project or activity agrees to take you under their 501(c)3 if you don’t have yours. They will look for a plan that convinces them of why they should help you, how they would be helping you, and that your idea is well thought through.  

2. Board recruitment 

As you begin recruiting board members, it’s also important that they see you have thought most everything through and that they’re not entering into a mess. Instead of a business plan, a one-pager could work too that you add to your corporate binder. 

3. Partnerships 

When you start searching for partnerships, I would recommend at least having a one-pager stating what your business does      

4. Professionalism

When you’re talking about your non-profit to others, having a business plan looks professional. Even if it’s nothing more than notes for you to speak on behalf of your organization, it looks as though you’ve taken the time to get organized and to think your business through. 

5. Understand your why 

The most important part of a business plan is for people to understand your organization’s purpose and your story behind creating it. Why did you start this business? And how is it different from others in your industry? 

Does a business plan sound like something you may want or need? 

In today’s video, I walk you through the steps to setting up a business plan that works for you. 

There’s no need to get caught up 

The best advice I can give is to not start a business plan until knowing your WHY. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on important elements. 

• Research paper 

• You won’t have enough information to make a full fledged plan 

• Don’t know how much revenue you’ll bring in 

• A business plan should never be a requirement in my opinion. 

• Personally, when I was starting my non-profit I wrote the basics down on my computer such as how we would raise money, what our mission was, why I was starting my business in the first place, how were we going to select the students… to be ready when I would talk to people 

• You may not even have a ton of information yet