charity business plan template word

Free Nonprofit Business Plan Templates

By Joe Weller | September 18, 2020

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In this article, we’ve rounded up the most useful list of nonprofit business plan templates, all free to download in Word, PDF, and Excel formats.

Included on this page, you’ll find a one-page nonprofit business plan template , a fill-in-the-blank nonprofit business plan template , a startup nonprofit business planning timeline template , and more. Plus, we provide helpful tips for creating your nonprofit business plan .

Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Use this customizable nonprofit business plan template to organize your nonprofit organization’s mission and goals and convey them to stakeholders. This template includes space for information about your nonprofit’s background, objectives, management team, program offerings, market analysis, promotional activities, funding sources, fundraising methods, and much more. 

Download Nonprofit Business Plan Template

One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Template

This one-page nonprofit business plan template has a simple and scannable design to outline the key details of your organization’s strategy. This template includes space to detail your mission, vision, and purpose statements, as well as the problems you aim to solve in your community, the people who benefit from your program offerings, your key marketing activities, your financial goals, and more.

Download One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Template

Excel | Word | PDF

For additional resources, including an example of a one-page business plan , visit “ One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide .”

Fill-In-the-Blank Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Use this fill-in-the-blank template as the basis for building a thorough business plan for a nonprofit organization. This template includes space to describe your organization’s background, purpose, and main objectives, as well as key personnel, program and service offerings, market analysis, promotional activities, fundraising methods, and more. 

Download Fill-In-the-Blank Nonprofit Business Plan Template

For additional resources that cater to a wide variety of organizations, visit “ Free Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Templates .”

Startup Nonprofit Business Planning Template with Timeline

Use this business planning template to organize and schedule key activities for your business. Fill in the cells according to the due dates, and color-code the cells by phase, owner, or category to provide a visual timeline of progress.

Download Startup Nonprofit Business Planning Template with Timeline

Excel | Smartsheet

Nonprofit Business Plan Template for Youth Program

Use this template as a foundation for building a powerful and attractive nonprofit business plan for youth programs and services. This template has all the core components of a nonprofit business plan. It includes room to detail the organization’s background, management team key personnel, current and future youth program offerings, promotional activities, operations plan, financial statements, and much more.

Download Nonprofit Business Plan Template for Youth Program

Word | PDF  | Google Doc

Sample Nonprofit Business Plan Outline Template

You can customize this sample nonprofit business plan outline to fit the specific needs of your organization. To ensure that you don’t miss any essential details, use this outline to help you prepare and organize the elements of your plan before filling in each section.

Download Sample Nonprofit Business Plan Outline Template

Nonprofit Startup Business Planning Checklist Template

Use this customizable business planning checklist as the basis for outlining the necessary steps to get your nonprofit organization up and running. You can customize this checklist to fit your individual needs. It includes essential steps, such as conducting a SWOT analysis , fulfilling the research requirements specific to your state, conducting a risk assessment , defining roles and responsibilities, creating a portal for board members, and other tasks to keep your plan on track.

Download Nonprofit Startup Business Planning Checklist Template

Tips to Create Your Nonprofit Business Plan

Your nonprofit business plan should provide your donors, volunteers, and other key stakeholders with a clear picture of your overarching mission and objectives. Below, we share our top tips for ensuring that your plan is attractive and thorough.

• Develop a Strategy First: You must aim before you fire if you want to be effective. In other words, develop a strategic plan for your nonprofit in order to provide your team with direction and a roadmap before you build your business plan.
• Save Time with a Template: No need to start from scratch when you can use a customizable nonprofit business plan template to get started. (Download one of the options above.)
• Start with What You Have: With the exception of completing the executive summary, which you must do last, you aren’t obligated to fill in each section of the plan in order. Use the information you have on hand to begin filling in the various parts of your business plan, then conduct additional research to fill in the gaps.
• Ensure Your Information Is Credible: Back up all the details in your plan with reputable sources that stakeholders can easily reference.
• Be Realistic: Use realistic assumptions and numbers in your financial statements and forecasts. Avoid the use of overly lofty or low-lying projections, so stakeholders feel more confident about your plan. 
• Strive for Scannability: Keep each section clear and concise. Use bullet points where appropriate, and avoid large walls of text. 
• Use Visuals: Add tables, charts, and other graphics to draw the eye and support key points in the plan.
• Be Consistent: Keep the voice and formatting (e.g., font style and size) consistent throughout the plan to maintain a sense of continuity.
• Stay True to Your Brand: Make sure that the tone, colors, and overall style of the business plan are a true reflection of your organization’s brand.
• Proofread Before Distribution: Prior to distributing the plan to stakeholders, have a colleague proofread the rough version to check for errors and ensure that the plan is polished.
• Don’t Set It and Forget It: You should treat your nonprofit business plan as a living document that you need to review and update on a regular basis — as objectives change and your organization grows.
• Use an Effective Collaboration Tool: Use an online tool to accomplish the following: collaborate with key personnel on all components of the business plan; enable version control for all documents; and keep resources in one accessible place.

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• Nonprofit Jobs

Business Planning for Nonprofits

Business planning is a way of systematically answering questions such as, “What problem(s) are we trying to solve?” or “What are we trying to achieve?” and also, “Who will get us there, by when, and how much money and other resources will it take?”

The business planning process takes into account the nonprofit’s mission and vision, the role of the board, and external environmental factors, such as the climate for fundraising.

Ideally, the business planning process also critically examines basic assumptions about the nonprofit’s operating environment. What if the sources of income that exist today change in the future? Is the nonprofit too reliant on one foundation for revenue? What happens if there’s an economic downturn?

A business plan can help the nonprofit and its board be prepared for future risks. What is the likelihood that the planned activities will continue as usual, and that revenue will continue at current levels – and what is Plan B if they don't?

Narrative of a business plan

You can think of a business plan as a narrative or story explaining how the nonprofit will operate given its activities, its sources of revenue, its expenses, and the inevitable changes in its internal and external environments over time. Ideally, your plan will tell the story in a way that will make sense to someone not intimately familiar with the nonprofit’s operations.

According to  Propel Nonprofits , business plans usually should have four components that identify revenue sources/mix; operations costs; program costs; and capital structure.

A business plan outlines the expected income sources to support the charitable nonprofit's activities. What types of revenue will the nonprofit rely on to keep its engine running – how much will be earned, how much from government grants or contracts, how much will be contributed? Within each of those broad categories, how much diversification exists, and should they be further diversified? Are there certain factors that need to be in place in order for today’s income streams to continue flowing?

The plan should address the everyday costs needed to operate the organization, as well as costs of specific programs and activities.

The plan may include details about the need for the organization's services (a needs assessment), the likelihood that certain funding will be available (a feasibility study), or changes to the organization's technology or staffing that will be needed in the future.

Another aspect of a business plan could be a "competitive analysis" describing what other entities may be providing similar services in the nonprofit's service and mission areas. What are their sources of revenue and staffing structures? How do their services and capacities differ from those of your nonprofit?

Finally, the business plan should name important assumptions, such as the organization's reserve policies. Do your nonprofit’s policies require it to have at least six months of operating cash on hand? Do you have different types of cash reserves that require different levels of board approval to release?

The idea is to identify the known, and take into consideration the unknown, realities of the nonprofit's operations, and propose how the nonprofit will continue to be financially healthy.  If the underlying assumptions or current conditions change, then having a plan can be useful to help identify adjustments that must be made to respond to changes in the nonprofit's operating environment.

Basic format of a business plan

The format may vary depending on the audience. A business plan prepared for a bank to support a loan application may be different than a business plan that board members use as the basis for budgeting. Here is a typical outline of the format for a business plan:

• Table of contents
• Executive summary - Name the problem the nonprofit is trying to solve: its mission, and how it accomplishes its mission.
• People: overview of the nonprofit’s board, staffing, and volunteer structure and who makes what happen
• Market opportunities/competitive analysis
• Programs and services: overview of implementation
• Contingencies: what could change?
• Financial health: what is the current status, and what are the sources of revenue to operate programs and advance the mission over time?
• Assumptions and proposed changes: What needs to be in place for this nonprofit to continue on sound financial footing?

More About Business Planning

Budgeting for Nonprofits

Strategic Planning

Contact your state association of nonprofits  for support and resources related to business planning, strategic planning, and other fundamentals of nonprofit leadership. 

Additional Resources

• Components of transforming nonprofit business models  (Propel Nonprofits)
• The matrix map: a powerful tool for nonprofit sustainability  (Nonprofit Quarterly)
• The Nonprofit Business Plan: A Leader's Guide to Creating a Successful Business Model  (David La Piana, Heather Gowdy, Lester Olmstead-Rose, and Brent Copen, Turner Publishing)
• Nonprofit Earned Income: Critical Business Model Considerations for Nonprofits (Nonprofit Financial Commons)
• Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability  (Jan Masaoka, Steve Zimmerman, and Jeanne Bell)

Disclaimer: Information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be nor should be construed as legal, accounting, tax, investment, or financial advice. Please consult a professional (attorney, accountant, tax advisor) for the latest and most accurate information. The National Council of Nonprofits makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.

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• Nonprofit & Community

Charity Business Plan

Starting a charity business is a huge responsibility. To make a positive impact in society, you will need to build your charity business strong, for which you will need a detailed business plan.

Need help writing a business plan for your charity business? You’re at the right place. Our charity business plan template will help you get started.

Free Business Plan Template

Download our free business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

• Fill in the blanks – Outline
• Financial Tables

How to Write A Charity Business Plan?

Writing a charity business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the entire business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

Introduce your Business:

Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.

Market Opportunity:

Highlight the charity programs you offer your clients. The USPs and differentiators you offer are always a plus.

Marketing & Sales Strategies:

Financial highlights:, call to action:.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your company. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

Business Description:

Describe your business in this section by providing all the basic information:

Describe what kind of charity company you run and the name of it. You may specialize in one of the following charity businesses:

• Humanitarian charities
• Public charity
• Private charity
• Health charities
• Educational charities
• Environmental charities
• Animal welfare charities
• Describe the legal structure of your charity company, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.
• Explain where your business is located and why you selected the place.

Mission Statement:

Business history:.

If you’re an established charity service provider, briefly describe your business history, like—when it was founded, how it evolved over time, etc.

Future Goals

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

Target market:

Start this section by describing your target market. Define your ideal customer and explain what types of services they prefer. Creating a buyer persona will help you easily define your target market to your readers.

Conduct SWOT analysis:

Competitive analysis:, market trends:.

Analyze emerging trends in the industry, such as technology disruptions, changes in customer behavior or preferences, etc. Explain how your business will cope with all the trends.

Regulatory Environment:

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your charity business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Products of Your Bicycle Shop

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

Describe your programs:

Mention the charity programs your business will offer. This list may include:

• Direct assistance
• Education and training
• Healthcare & medical services
• Social services
• Advocacy and awareness

Describe the objectives behind programs:

Supportive services:.

In short, this section of your charity plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

Define your business’s USPs depending on the market you serve, the equipment you use, and the unique services you provide. Identifying USPs will help you plan your marketing strategies.

Marketing Mix:

Marketing channels:, fundraising strategies:.

Describe the fundraising strategies you plan on implementing to generate revenue for your nonprofit. Your nonprofit may generate income from grants, major gifts, individual giving, charity events, online fundraising, corporate sponsorship, etc.

Donor Retention:

Overall, this section of your charity business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your charity business, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

Staffing & Training:

Operational process:, equipment & software:.

Include the list of equipment and software required for charity, such as office equipment, software & IT infrastructure, communication & presentation tools, fundraising equipment, vehicles & transportation, etc.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your charity business’s management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

Founders/CEO:

Key managers:.

Introduce your management and key members of your team, and explain their roles and responsibilities.

Organizational structure:

Compensation plan:, advisors/consultants:.

Mentioning advisors or consultants in your business plans adds credibility to your business idea.

This section should describe the key personnel for your charity, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

Profit & loss statement:

Cash flow statement:, balance sheet:, break-even point:.

Determine and mention your business’s break-even point—the point at which your business costs and revenue will be equal.

Financing Needs:

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your charity business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

This sample charity business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful charity plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our charity business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a charity business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful charity business. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your charity company.

How to get funding for your charity business?

There are several ways to get funding for your charity business, but self-funding is one of the most efficient and speedy funding options. Other options for funding are:

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought startup options.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

Where to find business plan writers for your charity business?

There are many business plan writers available, but no one knows your business and ideas better than you, so we recommend you write your charity business plan and outline your vision as you have in your mind.

What is the easiest way to write your charity business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any charity business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our business plan software .

How do I write a good market analysis in a charity business plan?

Market analysis is one of the key components of your business plan that requires deep research and a thorough understanding of your industry. We can categorize the process of writing a good market analysis section into the following steps:

• Stating the objective of your market analysis—e.g., investor funding.
• Industry study—market size, growth potential, market trends, etc.
• Identifying target market—based on user behavior and demographics.
• Analyzing direct and indirect competitors.
• Calculating market share—understanding TAM, SAM, and SOM.
• Knowing regulations and restrictions
• Organizing data and writing the first draft.

Writing a marketing analysis section can be overwhelming, but using ChatGPT for market research can make things easier.

How detailed should the financial projections be in my charity business plan?

The level of detail of the financial projections of your charity business may vary considering various business aspects like direct and indirect competition, pricing, and operational efficiency. However, your financial projections must be comprehensive enough to demonstrate a complete view of your financial performance.

Generally, the statements included in a business plan offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.

What key components should a charity business plan include?

The following are the key components your charity business plan must include:

• Executive summary
• Business Overview
• Market Analysis
• Products and services
• Sales and marketing strategies
• Operations plan
• Management team
• Financial plan

Can a good charity business plan help me secure funding?

Indeed. A well-crafted charity business will help your investors better understand your business domain, market trends, strategies, business financials, and growth potential—helping them make better financial decisions.

So, if you have a profitable and investable business, a comprehensive business plan can certainly help you secure your business funding.

What's the importance of a marketing strategy in a charity business plan?

Marketing strategy is a key component of your charity business plan. Whether it is about achieving certain business goals or helping your investors understand your plan to maximize their return on investment—an impactful marketing strategy is the way to do it!

Here are a few pointers to help you understand the importance of having an impactful marketing strategy:

• It provides your business an edge over your competitors.
• It helps investors better understand your business and growth potential.
• It helps you develop products with the best profit potential.
• It helps you set accurate pricing for your products or services.

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Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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FREE 12+ Charity Business Plan Samples in MS Word | PDF | Google Docs | Pages

With more than one million charities in the United States, one can expect a close competition, if there is any. Depending on the category your charity falls under, you can be unique and remain on the top of your game. To do that, you need to innovate to keep up with the industry and grow. But even a striving charity can experience plight on its journey, often heading downhill. Despite that, you can establish a charity business plan to lead the organization to its goals. With a business plan, you can set your expectations and maneuver a process in achieving it. Find out more about a business plan and how it affects charity projects with this article. Continue reading below.

Charity Business Plan

Free 12+ charity business plan samples, 1. charity fundraising plan template, 2. charity development plan template, 3. charity business plan template, 4. voluntary business strategic plan, 5. voluntary & charities business plan, 6. charity startup business plan, 7. non profit business plan template, 8. sample charity business plan, 9. executive charity business plan, 10. non-profit business plan format, 11. voluntary organisation business plan, 12. sample charity commission business plan, 13. charity trust business plan template, what is a business plan, a breakthrough: lean business plan, charity business plan: why is it important, does planning make a start-up successful, how to craft an effective charity business plan, what should a non-profit business plan contain, does a charity need a business plan, can i accept donations without being non-profit.

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The simplest way to define a business plan is to compare it with a guideline. It is a detailed plan that outlines goals and how to achieve these goals. Even if you have written down ideas on a piece of paper with some tasks you need to do, you have written a basic business plan . At its core, a business plan is a plan for the business operations, and how you are going to make it work.

Documenting your business ideas can take a lot of work. Often, it takes more writing and thinking. Thus, we recommend creating a lean business plan unless you are required to pass a formal business plan. Why? Aside from it is shorter than a usual business plan, it easier to create, and it includes pitch, strategy, tactics, business, schedule, budget, and committees. With this, companies can perform on their ideas fast and frequently. By writing a lean business plan , you can quickly sort useful things from what is not.

Essentially, you can only execute sample ideas right after a business plan is completed. That said, preparing a business plan is the smartest decision that an organization can make so that it can size up in terms of growth. With a charity business plan, you can set out the parts that the organizations should cover. Since it describes the charity and its undertakings, it can help in setting more goals, plans, finances, and risks that the organization might encounter.

According to a report posted by Harvard Business Review, based on research, a business plan makes a small business start-up more likely to become successful. In the report, it found out that a business person who writes a formal business plan has a 16% chance to achieve his goal compared to a non-planning entrepreneur. Furthermore, business start-ups that aim to gain high-growth are 7% more likely to write a plan. On top of that, entrepreneurs who are seeking external financial support are 19% more likely to commit to writing a business plan .

Successful organizations did not have it all until they come up with a plan. As an organization, a charity should give its administrator a reason to establish a strategic plan before it gets worse. Whether you are just a starting charity or a seasoned organization, you might consider the following steps beneficial for writing a charity business plan.

1. Keep It Simple and Straightforward

Along with  charity membership forms ,  charity profiles ,  charity fundraising letters , and  sponsorship forms , a  charity business plan is a document made for a professional reader. That said, wordy sentences and jargon might be complex to some of your audiences. As much as you want to make your plan to sound good, you cannot put its content at risk by using hifalutin words. Rather, pay more attention to keeping it concise and straightforward. Though you can use infographics as visual elements, keep them to a minimum.

2. Be As Logical As Possible

When writing a business, clear your head, and do not be biased in making decisions. It’s important to remind yourself that the business plan can make a series of effects on your other plans, which involve marketing and other related areas. If you fail to foresee its impact to the organization, you might forget to anticipate the circumstances that could make or break the charity profile .

3. Write a Realistic Plan

Your ambitions are great guideposts, but limits exist for a reason. Being too positive can cause negative effects in most situations, as it locks your focus on your goals but not on the process of achieving it. Knowing this, take the time to create a roadmap or plot a schedule that will keep you on track. Whatever goals you have set for the charity, make sure you can execute them. Or you will waste your time believing your goals are doable.

4. Support Your Claims with Facts

Making a convincing business plan means incorporating facts from articles, statistics, research papers, and other references. All these will add credibility to the charity business plan. However, many references make it hard to choose a source. With this, verify the information, so you can use it to back up your claims. If you do not support your plan with relevant details, it is unlikely to become successful. You can even gather information from an existing charity business plan if there is any.

A basic business plan contains the following: an executive summary , problem, solutions, market analysis, target supporters, target clients, competition, and promotions for funding strategy.

Yes, a charity needs a business plan for its undertaking. Without a plan, the organization could not outline goals and how to achieve those goals.

State laws define whether an organization can accept donations or not. If your state allows donations for a non-profit organization, then you can accept charitable funds from donors.

A business plan is a forwarding tool for a charity. With no plans, an organization cannot implement growth, as it cannot execute its ideas. If you want your charity to be successful, start building a plan now.

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Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Download our Non-Profit Business Plan and create a business plan for your non-profit!

Updated September 24, 2023 Reviewed by Brooke Davis

Running a successful non-profit organization is challenging. A business plan is one tool that helps steer your organization in the right direction. It clearly articulates your goals and details how to accomplish them.

It also shows external stakeholders that you’re serious about your non-profit and reassures them that they can work with you or provide you with funding.

This guide helps you understand how to write a non-profit business plan and includes a free template to help you get started.

Why You Need a Business Plan for Your Non-profit Business

How to write a business plan for a non-profit, non-profit business plan example.

A business plan is a roadmap. It shows where your organization is now, where you want to go, and how to get there.

Typically, a non-profit business plan spans the upcoming three to five years. Every non-profit organization should have a business plan, regardless of size or financial status. It helps you:

• Stay organized
• Identify essential stakeholders in your organization
• Understand the feasibility of your work
• Attract volunteers and an administrative board
• Uncover new opportunities

A non-profit business plan is also an essential document for securing funding. If you hope to get significant donations or grants, you must show donors or grantmakers your goals and objectives.

They want proof that your organization will achieve its goals, and there’s no better way to reassure them than with a clear, concise business plan.

Writing a business plan is easy if you take it step-by-step and use a template to create each section. As you write, keep your target audience in mind: How do you want them to respond to this business plan?

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary gives a general outline of your entire business plan. It gives the reader a clear idea of what to expect in the rest of the document. An executive summary also contains enough information so that someone who doesn’t have the time to read your entire business plan can get a sense of your organization, goals, and methods.

In your executive summary, cover what your non-profit does, the basic need you address, and why that need exists. Most importantly, explain how your organization plans to meet the demand. This first section of your business plan concisely tells your story. Your goal in crafting it should be to sum up the whole document while convincing the reader to keep reading.

As this section is a general summary of the rest of your business plan, it helps to write the executive summary last.

2. Management Team

The second section in your non-profit business plan covers your management team or organizational structure. Here, you explain who runs your organization and what their tasks are. You should also mention which type of non-profit you are (501(c)(3), fraternal beneficiary, horticultural, labor, etc.).

In addition to discussing your management team or board of directors, mention if your organization has employees, utilizes volunteers, or both.

If you have a facility dedicated to running your non-profit, here is the place to describe it. Noting your previous successes in this section may help convince donors to fund you.

If you are a new organization, use this section to describe your vision and how you’ll use practical methods to solve real problems.

3. Products and Services

In the products and services section, discuss your plans for achieving your goals. Describe, in detail, the needs of your community that your organization addresses.

Then, document how you will meet those needs. Do you create and offer products that improve lives? Do you run programs that provide needed services and support? Be explicit about what you do and how it helps people in need.

When describing your products and services, use numbers. For instance, if you run a food pantry, provide statistics about food insecurity in your area. Mention your daily capacity for distributing food based on your expected number of donations.

Also, include information about the people administering your products and services. Who works at your food pantry? Who organizes the donations and assigns volunteers?

This section should contain specific and concrete facts about your non-profit’s work, as these numbers will help convince donors and partners to fund or work with you.

4. Customers and Marketing

Your non-profit business plan should contain a marketing strategy. In the customers and marketing section, describe how you promote your efforts and be specific. Some common types of non-profit marketing channels include:

• Printing and distributing promotional materials
• Online marketing
• Social media posts
• Email newsletters
• Maintaining and updating a website
• Marketing partnerships
• Fundraisers
• Outreach events

If you’re a new non-profit and haven’t started marketing, mention your plan. State the scope of your marketing efforts, including your target demographics and whether your strategy is local, national, or international.

In addition to marketing methods, this section of your business plan should iterate your messaging.

What type of language will your campaigns focus on? Do you have critical slogans, logos, or other brand assets you plan to use? If not, how will you develop those assets? If you’ve done a marketing analysis, include it in this section.

5. SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a critical part of any business plan, whether for-profit or non-profit. SWOT is a strategic framework that helps you identify your vital areas and room for improvement.

To find your strengths , ask what your organization does well. Which unique resources do you have that you can draw on? Also, evaluate what competitors or other organizations might see as your strengths.

To find your weaknesses , ask what your organization can improve upon. Which resources are you lacking? What might external stakeholders identify as your weaknesses?

To find opportunities , look at the trends in your field upon which you might capitalize. Opportunities usually come from outside your organization and require a forward-thinking mindset.

To find threats , think about what could harm your non-profit. What is your competition doing better than you are? Which external factors may hurt your operations?

6. Financials

Your non-profit cannot operate without funding. Your financial section covers how you plan to pay for everything you need. This section is essential because you can’t carry out your other activities without a solid funding source.

Mention your current financial status, including assets and liabilities. Also, include essential financial documents such as income statements, a cash flow sheet, and a balance sheet.

What else should go in your non-profit business plan’s financial section? Be sure to highlight:

• Your fundraising plan
• Grants you’ve received or a plan for applying for grants
• Potential obstacles to gathering funding and proposed solutions
• What you’ll do with surplus donations
• Startup costs if you’re not established yet

You cannot give too much financial information, so always include anything you think might be relevant. Your potential partners and donors want a clear picture of your financial situation.

7. Operations

Explain how you plan to carry out your programs or provide your services in your operations section. Your products and services section is the “what,” and your operations section is the “how.”

Retake the food pantry example. You’ve already described what it is using numbers and statistical data; now, you explain how it runs.

Is it open every day, and for how long? Where and from whom will you collect food donations? Are there any goods you will not accept? Can you hold food drives with schools, churches, or other organizations? What rules will you have about distributing food for volunteers and the recipients?

As you develop your operations strategy, ask yourself, “How.” Keep asking until you have a clear, detailed plan that describes your work. Don’t forget to include a sub-section about your team, volunteers, or the people carrying out your operations.

Their strengths will also keep your non-profit running, so you should mention them in your business plan.

8. Appendix

The appendix of your non-profit business plan is where you attach additional documents that your readers may find helpful. Charts, data, or lists typically go in the appendix. Add any information that seems too lengthy or complex to read in the body of your business plan.

Some examples of appendix documents include:

• List your board of directors
• Status letter from the IRS
• Balance sheets
• Management flow chart
• Budget for the current fiscal year
• Market analysis

With an appendix, you don’t have to be as concerned about structure as you are with the body of the business plan. Think of it as a reference section for your readers.

A sample business plan already has the structure for you; you have to fill in each section with the relevant information.

Writing a non-profit business plan is simpler when you work from a template. Download our free PDF or Word template and fill it out independently.

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How to Write a Nonprofit Business Plan

Angelique O'Rourke

13 min. read

Updated May 10, 2024

Believe it or not, creating a business plan for a nonprofit organization is not that different from planning for a traditional business. 

Nonprofits sometimes shy away from using the words “business planning,” preferring to use terms like “strategic plan” or “operating plan.” But, the fact is that preparing a plan for a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization are actually pretty similar processes. Both types of organizations need to create forecasts for revenue and plan how they’re going to spend the money they bring in. They also need to manage their cash and ensure that they can stay solvent to accomplish their goals.

In this guide, I’ll explain how to create a plan for your organization that will impress your board of directors, facilitate fundraising, and ensures that you deliver on your mission.

• Why does a nonprofit need a business plan?

Good business planning is about setting goals, getting everyone on the same page, tracking performance metrics, and improving over time. Even when your goal isn’t to increase profits, you still need to be able to run a fiscally healthy organization.

Business planning creates an opportunity to examine the heart of your mission , the financing you’ll need to bring that mission to fruition, and your plan to sustain your operations into the future.

Nonprofits are also responsible for meeting regularly with a board of directors and reporting on your organization’s finances is a critical part of that meeting. As part of your regular financial review with the board, you can compare your actual results to your financial forecast in your business plan. Are you meeting fundraising goals and keeping spending on track? Is the financial position of the organization where you wanted it to be?

In addition to internal use, a solid business plan can help you court major donors who will be interested in having a deeper understanding of how your organization works and your fiscal health and accountability. And you’ll definitely need a formal business plan if you intend to seek outside funding for capital expenses—it’s required by lenders.

Creating a business plan for your organization is a great way to get your management team or board to connect over your vision, goals, and trajectory. Even just going through the planning process with your colleagues will help you take a step back and get some high-level perspective .

• A nonprofit business plan outline

Keep in mind that developing a business plan is an ongoing process. It isn’t about just writing a physical document that is static, but a continually evolving strategy and action plan as your organization progresses over time. It’s essential that you run regular plan review meetings to track your progress against your plan. For most nonprofits, this will coincide with regular reports and meetings with the board of directors.

A nonprofit business plan will include many of the same sections of a standard business plan outline . If you’d like to start simple, you can download our free business plan template as a Word document, and adjust it according to the nonprofit plan outline below.

Executive summary

The executive summary of a nonprofit business plan is typically the first section of the plan to be read, but the last to be written. That’s because this section is a general overview of everything else in the business plan – the overall snapshot of what your vision is for the organization.

Write it as though you might share with a prospective donor, or someone unfamiliar with your organization: avoid internal jargon or acronyms, and write it so that someone who has never heard of you would understand what you’re doing.

Your executive summary should provide a very brief overview of your organization’s mission. It should describe who you serve, how you provide the services that you offer, and how you fundraise. 

If you are putting together a plan to share with potential donors, you should include an overview of what you are asking for and how you intend to use the funds raised.

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Opportunity

Start this section of your nonprofit plan by describing the problem that you are solving for your clients or your community at large. Then say how your organization solves the problem.

A great way to present your opportunity is with a positioning statement . Here’s a formula you can use to define your positioning:

For [target market description] who [target market need], [this product] [how it meets the need]. Unlike [key competition], it [most important distinguishing feature].

And here’s an example of a positioning statement using the formula:

For children, ages five to 12 (target market) who are struggling with reading (their need), Tutors Changing Lives (your organization or program name) helps them get up to grade-level reading through a once a week class (your solution).

Unlike the school district’s general after-school homework lab (your state-funded competition), our program specifically helps children learn to read within six months (how you’re different).

Your organization is special or you wouldn’t spend so much time devoted to it. Layout some of the nuts and bolts about what makes it great in this opening section of your business plan. Your nonprofit probably changes lives, changes your community, or maybe even changes the world. Explain how it does this.

This is where you really go into detail about the programs you’re offering. You’ll want to describe how many people you serve and how you serve them.

Target audience

In a for-profit business plan, this section would be used to define your target market . For nonprofit organizations, it’s basically the same thing but framed as who you’re serving with your organization. Who benefits from your services?

Not all organizations have clients that they serve directly, so you might exclude this section if that’s the case. For example, an environmental preservation organization might have a goal of acquiring land to preserve natural habitats. The organization isn’t directly serving individual groups of people and is instead trying to benefit the environment as a whole. 

Similar organizations

Everyone has competition —nonprofits, too. You’re competing with other nonprofits for donor attention and support, and you’re competing with other organizations serving your target population. Even if your program is the only one in your area providing a specific service, you still have competition.

Think about what your prospective clients were doing about their problem (the one your organization is solving) before you came on this scene. If you’re running an after-school tutoring organization, you might be competing with after school sports programs for clients. Even though your organizations have fundamentally different missions.

For many nonprofit organizations, competing for funding is an important issue. You’ll want to use this section of your plan to explain who donors would choose your organization instead of similar organizations for their donations.

Future services and programs

If you’re running a regional nonprofit, do you want to be national in five years? If you’re currently serving children ages two to four, do you want to expand to ages five to 12? Use this section to talk about your long-term goals. 

Just like a traditional business, you’ll benefit by laying out a long-term plan. Not only does it help guide your nonprofit, but it also provides a roadmap for the board as well as potential investors. 

Promotion and outreach strategies

In a for-profit business plan, this section would be about marketing and sales strategies. For nonprofits, you’re going to talk about how you’re going to reach your target client population.

You’ll probably do some combination of:

• Advertising: print and direct mail, television, radio, and so on.
• Public relations: press releases, activities to promote brand awareness, and so on.
• Digital marketing: website, email, blog, social media, and so on.

Similar to the “target audience” section above, you may remove this section if you don’t promote your organization to clients and others who use your services.

Costs and fees

Instead of including a pricing section, a nonprofit business plan should include a costs or fees section.

Talk about how your program is funded, and whether the costs your clients pay are the same for everyone, or based on income level, or something else. If your clients pay less for your service than it costs to run the program, how will you make up the difference?

If you don’t charge for your services and programs, you can state that here or remove this section.

Fundraising sources

Fundraising is critical for most nonprofit organizations. This portion of your business plan will detail who your key fundraising sources are. 

Similar to understanding who your target audience for your services is, you’ll also want to know who your target market is for fundraising. Who are your supporters? What kind of person donates to your organization? Creating a “donor persona” could be a useful exercise to help you reflect on this subject and streamline your fundraising approach. 

You’ll also want to define different tiers of prospective donors and how you plan on connecting with them. You’re probably going to include information about your annual giving program (usually lower-tier donors) and your major gifts program (folks who give larger amounts).

If you’re a private school, for example, you might think of your main target market as alumni who graduated during a certain year, at a certain income level. If you’re building a bequest program to build your endowment, your target market might be a specific population with interest in your cause who is at retirement age.

Do some research. The key here is not to report your target donors as everyone in a 3,000-mile radius with a wallet. The more specific you can be about your prospective donors —their demographics, income level, and interests, the more targeted (and less costly) your outreach can be.

Fundraising activities

How will you reach your donors with your message? Use this section of your business plan to explain how you will market your organization to potential donors and generate revenue.

You might use a combination of direct mail, advertising, and fundraising events. Detail the key activities and programs that you’ll use to reach your donors and raise money.

Strategic alliances and partnerships

Use this section to talk about how you’ll work with other organizations. Maybe you need to use a room in the local public library to run your program for the first year. Maybe your organization provides mental health counselors in local schools, so you partner with your school district.

In some instances, you might also be relying on public health programs like Medicaid to fund your program costs. Mention all those strategic partnerships here, especially if your program would have trouble existing without the partnership.

Milestones and metrics

Without milestones and metrics for your nonprofit, it will be more difficult to execute on your mission. Milestones and metrics are guideposts along the way that are indicators that your program is working and that your organization is healthy.

They might include elements of your fundraising goals—like monthly or quarterly donation goals, or it might be more about your participation metrics. Since most nonprofits working with foundations for grants do complex reporting on some of these, don’t feel like you have to re-write every single goal and metric for your organization here. Think about your bigger goals, and if you need to, include more information in your business plan’s appendix.

If you’re revisiting your plan on a monthly basis, and we recommend that you do, the items here might speak directly to the questions you know your board will ask in your monthly trustee meeting. The point is to avoid surprises by having eyes on your organization’s performance. Having these goals, and being able to change course if you’re not meeting them, will help your organization avoid falling into a budget deficit.

Key assumptions and risks

Your nonprofit exists to serve a particular population or cause. Before you designed your key programs or services, you probably did some research to validate that there’s a need for what you’re offering.

But you probably are also taking some calculated risks. In this section, talk about the unknowns for your organization. If you name them, you can address them.

For example, if you think there’s a need for a children’s literacy program, maybe you surveyed teachers or parents in your area to verify the need. But because you haven’t launched the program yet, one of your unknowns might be whether the kids will actually show up.

Management team and company

Who is going to be involved and what are their duties? What do these individuals bring to the table?

Include both the management team of the day-to-day aspects of your nonprofit as well as board members and mention those who may overlap between the two roles. Highlight their qualifications: titles, degrees, relevant past accomplishments, and designated responsibilities should be included in this section. It adds a personal touch to mention team members who are especially qualified because they’re close to the cause or have special first-hand experience with or knowledge of the population you’re serving.

There are probably some amazing, dedicated people with stellar qualifications on your team—this is the place to feature them (and don’t forget to include yourself!).

Financial plan

The financial plan is essential to any organization that’s seeking funding, but also incredibly useful internally to keep track of what you’ve done so far financially and where you’d like to see the organization go in the future.

The financial section of your business plan should include a long-term budget and cash flow statement with a three to five-year forecast. This will allow you to see that the organization has its basic financial needs covered. Any nonprofit has its standard level of funding required to stay operational, so it’s essential to make sure your organization will consistently maintain at least that much in the coffers.

From that point, it’s all about future planning: If you exceed your fundraising goals, what will be done with the surplus? What will you do if you don’t meet your fundraising goals? Are you accounting for appropriate amounts going to payroll and administrative costs over time? Thinking through a forecast of your financial plan over the next several years will help ensure that your organization is sustainable.

Money management skills are just as important in a nonprofit as they are in a for-profit business. Knowing the financial details of your organization is incredibly important in a world where the public is ranking the credibility of charities based on what percentage of donations makes it to the programs and services. As a nonprofit, people are interested in the details of how money is being dispersed within organizations, with this information often being posted online on sites like Charity Navigator, so the public can make informed decisions about donating.

Potential contributors will do their research—so make sure you do too. No matter who your donors are, they will want to know they can trust your organization with their money. A robust financial plan is a solid foundation for reference that your nonprofit is on the right track.

• Business planning is ongoing

It’s important to remember that a business plan doesn’t have to be set in stone. It acts as a roadmap, something that you can come back to as a guide, then revise and edit to suit your purpose at a given time.

I recommend that you review your financial plan once a month to see if your organization is on track, and then revise your plan as necessary .

Angelique is a skilled writer, editor, and social media specialist, as well as an actor and model with a demonstrated history of theater, film, commercial and print work.

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Charity Business Plan Template

What is a Charity Business Plan?

A charity business plan outlines the goals, projects, and initiatives of a non-profit organization or social enterprise. It serves as a roadmap for the organization's activities, and helps to ensure that the organization is working towards achieving its objectives in an effective and efficient manner. The charity business plan template provides a structure for outlining the organization's mission and goals, as well as the strategies, projects, and KPIs that can be used to achieve them.

What's included in this Charity Business Plan template?

• 3 focus areas
• 6 objectives

Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.

Who is the Charity Business Plan template for?

The charity business plan template is designed for non-profit organizations and social enterprises that want to develop a business plan that outlines their mission, goals, and strategies. The template provides an organized and systematic way to create a business plan that takes into consideration the organization's resources, goals, and objectives. It is designed to help organizations create an effective and efficient business plan that can be used to track their progress and ensure that they are on the right path towards achieving their mission.

1. Define clear examples of your focus areas

Focus areas are the broad topics that the organization is focusing on. Examples of focus areas may include increasing outreach, improving efficiency, or increasing impact. Each focus area should have several objectives and projects that are related to that focus area.

2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area

Objectives are the goals that the organization wants to achieve within a particular focus area. These objectives should be specific, measurable, and achievable. Examples of objectives may include reaching new donors, engaging existing donors, or automating data entry.

3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective

KPIs, or key performance indicators, are measurable targets that are used to track progress towards an organization's objectives. Examples of KPIs may include increasing website visits, increasing email response rate, or decreasing time to process donations.

4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs

Projects are the actions that are taken to achieve the organization's objectives and KPIs. Examples of projects may include creating a digital marketing campaign, implementing email strategies, or automating data entry.

5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy

Cascade Strategy Execution Platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to help organizations develop and implement a successful business plan. It offers features such as goal setting, project tracking, real-time reporting, and automated notifications, which can help organizations see faster results from their strategy.

Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations

• Great for beginners
• Ready-to-use, fully customizable Subcategory
• Get started in seconds

Charity organizations play a crucial role in making the world a better place. But to truly make an impact, they need a solid roadmap. That's where ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations comes in.

This template is specifically designed to help charity leaders and managers:

• Clearly define their organization's mission, goals, and strategies
• Secure funding and establish key partnerships by presenting a comprehensive plan
• Guide their day-to-day operations towards maximizing social impact

Whether you're a non-profit veteran or just starting out, this template will provide the structure and guidance you need to create a powerful business plan that sets your charity up for success. So let's get started and make a difference together!

Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations Benefits

A business plan template for charity organizations offers a range of benefits to help leaders and managers effectively navigate the complex world of fundraising and social impact. Some of the key benefits include:

• Streamlining the planning process by providing a structured framework to outline the organization's mission, vision, and goals
• Enhancing credibility and professionalism when presenting the organization to potential donors, partners, and stakeholders
• Guiding strategic decision-making by identifying key priorities, target demographics, and sustainable funding models
• Facilitating effective communication and alignment among team members, board members, and volunteers
• Increasing the likelihood of securing funding and partnerships by demonstrating a clear roadmap and measurable outcomes.

Main Elements of Charity Organizations Business Plan Template

ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations is designed to help charity organization leaders and managers create a comprehensive and impactful business plan. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Keep track of the progress of each section of your business plan with statuses like Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do.
• Custom Fields: Add important information to your business plan such as Reference, Approved, and Section, making it easy to organize and reference key details.
• Custom Views: Explore different perspectives of your business plan, including Topics, Status, Timeline, Business Plan, and Getting Started Guide, to easily navigate and focus on specific areas of your plan.

With ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations, you can streamline the process of creating a comprehensive and effective business plan to guide your organization's success in maximizing social impact.

How To Use Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations

If you're a charity organization looking to create a business plan, follow these six steps to make the most of the Business Plan Template in ClickUp:

1. Define your mission and vision

Start by clearly defining the mission and vision of your charity organization. What is the purpose of your organization? What impact do you hope to make in the world? This will serve as the foundation for your business plan and guide all of your future decisions.

Use a Doc in ClickUp to articulate your mission and vision statements.

2. Identify your target audience and beneficiaries

Next, identify the specific audience or beneficiaries that your charity organization aims to serve. Who are the individuals or communities that will benefit from your work? Understanding your target audience will help you tailor your programs and services to meet their needs.

Create tasks in ClickUp to list and categorize your target audience and beneficiaries.

3. Outline your programs and services

Now it's time to outline the specific programs and services that your charity organization will offer. What initiatives will you undertake to fulfill your mission? This could include fundraising events, community outreach programs, educational workshops, or any other activities that align with your goals.

Use custom fields in ClickUp to define and track your programs and services.

4. Develop a fundraising and financial strategy

Every charity organization needs a solid fundraising and financial strategy to support its operations. Determine the different fundraising methods you'll use, such as grants, donations, sponsorships, or partnerships. Additionally, create a budget and financial plan that outlines your expected income and expenses.

Utilize the Goals feature in ClickUp to set financial targets and track your progress.

5. Establish a marketing and communication plan

To raise awareness about your charity organization and attract supporters, you'll need a well-defined marketing and communication plan. Consider the various channels and strategies you'll use to reach your target audience, such as social media, email campaigns, press releases, or partnerships with influencers or media outlets.

Use the Calendar view in ClickUp to schedule and manage your marketing and communication activities.

6. Set goals, milestones, and measures of success

Finally, set specific goals, milestones, and measures of success for your charity organization. What do you hope to achieve in the short term and long term? Break down your goals into actionable steps and establish deadlines to keep yourself accountable.

Create Milestones in ClickUp to track your progress and celebrate your achievements.

By following these steps and utilizing the Business Plan Template in ClickUp, your charity organization will be well-equipped to create a comprehensive and effective business plan.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations

Charity organization leaders and managers can use the Business Plan Template for Charity Organizations in ClickUp to create a comprehensive plan that aligns with their mission and goals, and helps them secure funding and partnerships.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a powerful business plan:

• Use the Topics View to organize your plan into different sections, such as mission, goals, strategies, and financials
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section, with statuses like Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do
• The Timeline View will give you a visual representation of your plan's milestones and deadlines
• The Business Plan View will provide a comprehensive overview of your plan, allowing you to easily navigate and make updates
• The Getting Started Guide View will provide step-by-step instructions on how to use the template and create an effective business plan
• Utilize custom fields like Reference, Approved, and Section to add additional information and track key details
• Collaborate with team members to gather input, make revisions, and ensure everyone is aligned with the plan's objectives
• Monitor and analyze your plan's progress and performance to make informed decisions and drive social impact.
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Nonprofit Business Plan Template & Guide [Updated 2024]

Nonprofit business plan template.

Are you passionate about making a positive impact in your community? Are you part of a nonprofit organization or considering starting one? If so, you need a business plan and you’re in the right place to do that! 

Below, we’ll guide you through the essential elements of a nonprofit business plan, sharing valuable insights and a user-friendly template to set you on the path to success. 

• How to Write a Nonprofit Business Plan

Growthink’s nonprofit business plan template below is the result of 20+ years of research into the types of business plans that help nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to attract funding and achieve their goals.

Follow the links to each section of our nonprofit business plan template:

Nonprofit Organization Planning Resources & FAQs

Below are answers to the most common questions asked by nonprofits:

Is there a nonprofit business plan template I can download?

Yes. If you’d like to quickly and easily complete your non-profit business plan, download our non-profit business plan template and complete your business plan and financial model in hours.

Where can I download a nonprofit business plan PDF?

You can download our free nonprofit business plan template PDF here . This is a sample nonprofit business plan template you can use in PDF format.

What Is a nonprofit business plan?

A non-profit business plan describes your organization as it currently exists (which could be just an idea) and presents a road map for the next three to five years. It lays out your goals, challenges, and plans for meeting your goals. Your business plan should be updated frequently, as it is not meant to be stagnant. It is particularly important to create/update your business plan annually to make sure your nonprofit remains on track towards successfully fulfilling its mission.

A nonprofit business plan template is a tool used to help your nonprofit business quickly develop a roadmap for your business.

Why do you need a business plan for your nonprofit?

A nonprofit business plan serves many purposes. Most importantly, it forces you to think through and perfect your nonprofit’s strategic plan, it provides a roadmap to follow to grow your nonprofit, and it provides financial and other information major donors and board members need to know before they invest in your organization. Business planning can be a challenge and business plan templates help make this task easier for your team.

What are the types of nonprofit organizations (NPOs)?

There are several types of nonprofits. These are categorized by section 500(c) by the IRS for tax exempt purposes. Listed below, are some of the frequently filed sections:

Corporations formed under Act of Congress. An example is Federal Credit Unions.

Holding corporations for tax exempt organizations. This group holds title to the property for the exempt group.

This is the most popular type of NPO. Examples include educational, literary, charitable, religious, public safety, international and national amateur sports competitions, organizations committed to the prevention of cruelty towards animals or children, etc. Organizations that fall into this category are either a private foundation or a public charity. Examples include Getty Foundation, Red Cross, Easter Seals, etc.

Examples include social welfare groups, civil leagues, employee associations, etc. This category promotes charity, community welfare and recreational/educational goals.

Horticultural, labor and agricultural organizations get classified under this section. These organizations are instructive or educational and work to improve products, working conditions and efficiency.

Examples include real estate boards, business leagues, etc. They work to ameliorate business conditions.

Recreation and social clubs that promote pleasure and activities fall into this category.

Fraternal beneficiary associations and societies belong to this section.

Voluntary Employees’ beneficiary associations which provide benefits, accidents and life payments to members are a part of this section.

When filling in your nonprofit business plan template, include the type of nonprofit business you intend to be.

What are the primary sources of funding for nonprofit business plans?

The primary funding sources for most nonprofit organizations are donors, grants and bank loans. Donors are individuals that provide capital to start and grow your nonprofit. Major donors, as the name implies, write large checks and are often instrumental in launching nonprofits. Grants are given by organizations and others to achieve specific goals and often nonprofits qualify for them. Business loans, particularly for asset purchases like buildings and equipment, are also typically used by nonprofits.

Nonprofit organizations may also sell products or services, work with investors or develop their own investments. The expertise of the non-profit staff, members and board of directors will impact funding options for a nonprofit organization. The non profits mission, resources, goals and vision will all impact the funding sources a nonprofit business will place in it’s business plan as well.

How do you write a nonprofit business plan?

To most quickly write a nonprofit business plan, start with a template that lays out a nonprofit business plan outline. Answer the questions provided in the template and discuss them with your co-founders if applicable. A templated financial model will help you more easily complete your financial forecasts.

How do you start a nonprofit?

The key steps to starting a nonprofit are to choose the name of your organization, write your business plan and impact plan, incorporate your organization, apply for your IRS and state tax exemptions and get any required licenses and permits you need to operate.

How many nonprofit organizations are in the US?

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics , there are approximately 1.54 million nonprofits registered in the United States (data pulled from registrations with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)).

The nonprofit sector has annual expenses exceeding 2.46 trillion U.S dollars.

Does your action plan and fundraising plan belong in your plan?

Yes, both belong in your plan.

Include your action plan in the operations plan section.  

Your fundraising plan goes in your financial plan section. Here you will discuss how much money you must raise and from whom you plan to solicit these funds, as well as outlines your fundraising events. It should clearly outline your fundraising goals and potential donors.

Where do you include your non profit mission in your plan?

Nonprofit mission statements, or a vision statement, are extremely important as it lays the foundation for and presents the vision of your nonprofit. You should clearly detail your nonprofit mission statement in both the executive summary and organizational overview of your nonprofit plan.  

What do you include in a nonprofit’s financial projections?

Your financial projections must include an Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. These statements within your business plan show how much money your organization will bring in from donors and customers/clients and how much your organization will spend.

The key purpose of your financial projections is to ensure you have enough money to keep your organization operating. They also can be an important component of your nonprofit business plan template, as donors, your board of directors, and others may review to understand financial requirements of your nonprofit.

How do nonprofit owners get paid?

Nonprofits function like for-profit businesses in that they often have employees who receive salaries. As such, as the owner, founder and/or CEO of a nonprofit, you can give yourself a salary. Many nonprofit CEOs, particularly those running large health, finance and educational organizations earn millions of dollars each year.

How much does it cost to start a nonprofit business?

Nonprofit organizations must complete Form 1023 with the IRS in order to get exemption status. The filing fee for this form is $600. If neither actual nor projected annual income for the organization exceeds $50,000, you can file form Form 1023-EZ which costs just $275.

In addition to the filing fee, there are other costs associated with starting a nonprofit organization based on the type of organization you are developing (for example, if you require buildings and equipment). Gathering information through the business planning process will help you accurately estimate costs for your nonprofit business plan template.

Where can I download a nonprofit business plan template doc?

You can download our free nonprofit business plan template DOC here . This is a nonprofit business plan template you can use in Microsoft DOC format.

What should be included in nonprofit plans?

A nonprofit business plan should include the following information: Executive Summary, Organization Overview, Products, Programs, and Services, Industry Analysis, Market Analysis of your Target Market, Marketing Plan, Operational Plan, Leadership Team/Organizational Structure, Financial Plan and Appendix (this should include all financial statements including cash flow statement, balance sheets and income statements).

Additional nonprofit resources

Below is a list of additional resources to help you get starting with your own nonprofit organization:

• How to Start a Non Profit Organization
• Sample Nonprofit Business Plan
• Nonprofit Marketing Plan + Template
• How to Write a Mission Statement for Your Nonprofit Organization
• NonProfit Business Plan PDF
• National Council of Nonprofits
• Nonprofit Quarterly
• The Fundraising Authority

Helpful Video Tips for Nonprofit Business Plans

Below are tips to create select sections of your nonprofit business plan:

How to Write Your Nonprofit Business Plan’s Executive Summary

Writing the management team section of your nonprofit business plan, how to write the operations plan of your nonprofit business plan, writing the customer analysis section of your nonprofit business plan, finish your non profit business plan in 1 day.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Nonprofit Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your Nonprofit business plan today.

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• Nonprofit Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Organization Overview
• 3. Products, Programs, and Services
• 4. Industry Analysis
• 5. Customer Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan
• 10. Appendix
• Nonprofit Business Plan Summary

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The best nonprofit business plan template

If you’re looking to start a new charity but don’t know where to start, a nonprofit business plan template can help. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the US. While it’s awesome that there are so many charitable orgs, unfortunately, many of them struggle to keep their doors open.

Like any other business, a nonprofit needs to prepare for the unexpected. Even without a global pandemic, strategic planning is crucial for a nonprofit to succeed.

In this article, we’ll look at why a business plan is important for nonprofit organizations and what details to include in your business plan. To get you started, our versatile nonprofit business plan template is ready for you to download to turn your nonprofit dreams into a reality.

Get the template

What is a nonprofit business plan template?

A nonprofit business plan template is not that different from a regular, profit-oriented business plan template. It can even focus on financial gain — as long as it specifies how to use that excess for the greater good.

A nonprofit business plan template includes fields that cover the foundational elements of a business plan, including:

• The overarching purpose of your nonprofit
• Its long and short-term goals
• An outline of how you’ll achieve these goals

The template also controls the general layout of the business plan, like recommended headings, sub-headings, and questions. But what’s the point? Let’s dive into the benefits a business plan template offers nonprofits.

Download Excel template

Why use a nonprofit business plan template?

To get your nonprofit business plans in motion, templates can:

Provide direction

If you’ve decided to start a nonprofit, you’re likely driven by passion and purpose. Although nonprofits are generally mission-driven, they’re still businesses. And that means you need to have a working business model. A template will give your ideas direction and encourage you to put your strategic thinking cap on.

Help you secure funding

One of the biggest reasons for writing a nonprofit business plan is to attract investment. After all, without enough funding , it’s nearly impossible to get your business off the ground. There’s simply no business without capital investment, and that’s even more true for nonprofits that rarely sell products.

Stakeholders and potential investors will need to assess the feasibility of your nonprofit business. You can encourage them to invest by presenting them with a well-written, well-thought-out business plan with all the necessary details — and a template lays the right foundation.

Facilitate clear messaging

One of the essential characteristics of any business plan — nonprofits included — is transparency around what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. A nebulous statement with grandiose aspirations but no practical plan won’t inspire confidence.

Instead, you should create a clear and concise purpose statement that sums up your goals and planned action steps. A good template will help you maintain a strong purpose statement and use clear messaging throughout.

Of course, there are different types of nonprofit plan templates you can use, depending on the kind of business plan you want to draw up.

What are some examples of a nonprofit business plan template?

From summary nonprofit plans to all encompassing strategies, check out a few sample business plan templates for different nonprofit use cases.

Summary nonprofit business plan template

New nonprofit ventures in the early stages of development can use this business plan template. It’s created to put out feelers to see if investors are interested in your idea. For example, you may want to start an animal shelter in your community, but aren’t sure if it’s a viable option due to a lack of funds. You’d use a summary business plan template to gauge interest in your nonprofit.

Full nonprofit business plan template

In this scenario, you have already laid the foundations for your nonprofit. You’re now at a point where you need financing to get your nonprofit off the ground.

This template is much longer than a summary and includes all the sections of a nonprofit business plan including the:

Executive summary

• Nonprofit description
• Needs analysis
• Product/service
• Marketing strategy
• Management team & board
• Human resource needs

It also typically includes a variety of documents that back up your market research and financial situation.

Operational nonprofit business plan template

This type of business plan template is extremely detail-oriented and outlines your nonprofit’s daily operations. It acts as an in-depth guide for who does what, how they should do it, and when they should do it.

An operational nonprofit business plan is written for your internal team rather than external parties like investors or board members.

Convinced to give a business plan template a go? Lucky for you, our team has created the perfect option for nonprofits.

monday.com’s nonprofit business plan template

At monday.com, we understand that starting a nonprofit business can feel overwhelming — scrambling to line up investors, arranging fundraising events, filing federal forms, and more. Because we want you and your nonprofit to succeed, we’ve created a customizable template to get you started. It’s right inside our Work OS , a digital platform that helps you effectively manage every aspect of your work — from budgets and high-level plans to individual to-do lists.

Here’s what you can do on our template:

Access all your documents from one central location

Besides a business plan, starting a nonprofit requires a lot of other documentation. Supporting documents include a cash flow statement or a general financial statement, resumes of founders, and letters of support.

monday.com’s Work OS lets you store all these essential documents in one centralized location. That means you don’t need to open several tabs or run multiple programs to view your information. On monday.com, you can quickly and easily access documents and share them with potential investors and donors. Security features also help you control access to any board or document, only letting invited people or employees view or edit them. By keeping everything in one place, you save time on tracking down rogue files or statements and can focus on what really matters, such as running your nonprofit.

Turn your business plan into action

With monday.com’s nonprofit business plan template, you can seamlessly transform your plan into actionable tasks. After all, it’s going to take more than some sound strategic planning to bring your nonprofit to life.

Based on your business plan, you have the power to create interactive vision boards, calendars, timelines, cards, charts, and more. Because delegation is key, assign tasks to any of your team members from your main board. You can even set up notification automations so that everyone stays up to date with their responsibilities. Plus, to make sure the team stays on track, you can use the Progress Tracking Column that shows you the percent to completion of tasks based on the different status columns of your board.

Keep your finger on the pulse

From budgets to customer satisfaction, you need to maintain a high-level overview of your nonprofit’s key metrics.

monday.com keeps you well-informed on the status of your nonprofit’s progress, all on one platform. With customizable dashboards — for example, a real-time overview of donations received and projects completed — and visually appealing views, you can make confident decisions on how to take your nonprofit business forward.

Now that you have the template, let’s cover each section and how to fill it out correctly.

Essential sections of a nonprofit business plan template

So what exactly goes into a nonprofit business plan? Let’s take a look at the different sections you’ll find in most templates.

This is a concise summary of your business at the beginning of your plan. It should be both inspired and to the point. The executive summary is typically two pages long and dedicates about two sentences to each section of the plan.

Organization overview

This section gives some background on your company and summarizes the goal of your business. At the same time, it should touch on other important factors like your action plan for attracting potential external stakeholders. You can think of an organization overview as a mission statement and company description rolled into one.

Products, programs, and services

Any business exists to provide products, programs, and services — perhaps with a focus on the latter two for nonprofits. Your business plan should outline what you are bringing to your community. This will influence your target market , potential investors, and marketing strategies.

Marketing plan

An effective marketing strategy is the cornerstone of any successful business. Your marketing plan will identify your target audience and how you plan to reach them. It deals with pricing structures while also assessing customer engagement levels.

Operational plan

The operational plan describes the steps a company will take over a certain period. It focuses on the day-to-day aspects of the business, like what tasks need to be done and who is responsible for what. The operational section of a business plan works closely with strategic planning.

Competitive analysis

Even nonprofits face competition from other nonprofits with similar business profiles. A market analysis looks at the strengths and weaknesses of competing businesses and where you fit in. This section should include a strategy to overtake competitors in the market. There are many formats and templates you can use here, for example, a SWOT analysis .

Financial plan

Your financial plan should be a holistic image of your company’s financial status and financial goals. As well as your fundraising plan , make sure to include details like cash flow, investments, insurance, debt, and savings.

Before we wrap up, we’ll address some commonly asked questions about nonprofit business plan templates.

FAQs about nonprofit business plan templates

How do you write a business plan for a nonprofit.

The best way to write a nonprofit business plan is with a template so that you don’t leave anything out. Our template has all the sections ready for you to fill in, combined with features of a cutting-edge Work OS.

For some extra tips, take a look at our advice on how to write a business plan . We’ve detailed the various elements involved in business planning processes and how these should be structured.

How many pages should a nonprofit business plan be?

Business plans don’t have to be excessively long. Remember that concise communication is optimal. As a rule of thumb — and this will vary depending on the complexity and size of your business plan — a nonprofit business plan is typically between seven and thirty pages long.

What is a nonprofit business plan called?

A nonprofit business plan is called just that — a ‘nonprofit business plan.’ You may think that its nonprofit element makes it very different from a profit-oriented plan. But it is essentially the same type of document.

What is the best business structure for a nonprofit?

The consensus is that a corporation is the most appropriate and effective structure for a nonprofit business.

How do you start a nonprofit with no money?

Creating a business plan and approaching potential investors, aka donators, is the best way to start a nonprofit business if you don’t have the funds yourself.

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Home > Business Plan Templates > 10-Part Nonprofit Business Plan Template (With Examples)

10-Part Nonprofit Business Plan Template (With Examples)

Mar 26, 2024 | Business Plan Templates

Table of Contents

Does a Nonprofit Need a Business Plan?

Yes. A nonprofit needs a business plan just as much as any for-profit enterprise. A business plan for a nonprofit organisation serves several critical purposes: it outlines the mission and vision, sets clear goals and objectives, and details the strategies for achieving them. Additionally, it plays a vital role in securing funding from donors, grants, and other sources by demonstrating the organisation’s potential for impact and sustainability.

A well-crafted business plan helps nonprofits to effectively allocate resources, manage risks, and measure progress towards their goals. It also provides a roadmap for growth and development, ensuring that the organisation remains focused and aligned with its core values and objectives.

In essence, a business plan is indispensable for a nonprofit organisation’s success, guiding its efforts to make a meaningful difference in its community.

So, without further ado, here is our nonprofit business plan template!

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary provides a concise overview of your nonprofit organisation and summarises the main aspects of your plan. Although it comes first in your business plan, you might find it easier to write this part last, ensuring it captures all the important points from the rest of your document.

Introduction

Begin with a brief introduction to your organisation. What is its name? What causes does it support? Whether you’re focusing on environmental conservation, community development, etc., make it compelling and engaging.

Example: The Helping Hands Foundation is a nonprofit organisation committed to uplifting disadvantaged communities through access to quality education, healthcare, and basic amenities.

Organisation Overview

Here, provide a high-level summary of your organisation. Discuss the core activities and why the work is crucial. Include the types of services offered and any significant initiatives.

Example : Our organisation mainly operates in rural areas, where we undertake various community development projects and run a healthcare centre and a school.

Mission and Vision Statement

Write your Nonprofit’s mission and vision statement. This should communicate your organisation’s purpose, its strategic goals, and its commitment to the cause.

Example: Our mission is to empower underprivileged communities by providing education, healthcare services, and resources that foster a sustainable livelihood. Our vision is to create an equitable world where every individual has access to basic human rights and opportunities needed for personal and communal growth.

Geographic Reach and Accessibility

Discuss where your nonprofit operates, explaining where you have the most significant presence or impact and the communities you are serving in those regions.

Example: The Helping Hands Foundation currently extends its services to the marginalised communities in two rural towns in Montana, reaching over 5,000 individuals directly.

Service Type

Explain the kind of work your nonprofit does. Whether you provide direct services, advocacy, research, etc., describe in detail.

Example: We offer direct services, including running a healthcare centre that provides basic medical services and a school that offers quality education from Kindergarten to 5th grade. We also have several livelihood programs that equip adults with skills to earn a living.

Key Goals and Objectives

Outline what you’re striving for in the short and long term. These should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals.

Example: Our main goal for the coming year is to expand our services into two more towns and to increase our direct beneficiaries by 20%. In the long term, we aim to establish a network of schools and healthcare centres across Montana.

2. Programs and Services

This section provides the reader with a detailed understanding of your organisation’s specific programs and services, their purpose, and their impact.

Program Definition and Theme

Describe the programs or services your organisation offers in detail. Explain the principles guiding these programs and the kind of expertise involved.

Example: We run three main programs: the Community Health Initiative, the Learning Support Program, and the Adult Skill-building Program. Each of these programs follows a participatory model, where community members are active participants, ensuring culturally and contextually relevant interventions.

Service Range

Enumerate the range of services you offer under each program. Highlight key elements and features of these services.

Example: The Community Health Initiative includes services like regular medical check-ups, basic treatments, immunisations, and health awareness workshops. The Learning Support Program offers a comprehensive curriculum, while the Skill-building Program offers vocational classes in various trades.

Beneficiary Analysis

Describe who benefits from your programs or services, detailing how they are chosen and why they are the focus of your efforts.

Example: Our beneficiaries predominantly include underserved individuals and families from the marginalised communities in rural Montana. The selection is made based on household income, with priority given to those below the poverty line. We focus on these groups because we believe that providing them with access to healthcare, quality education, and skill-building can lead to a significant upliftment.

3. History and Governance

This section provides a glimpse into the historical background of your nonprofit and an insight into its governance structure.

Legal Status and Structure

Specify the legal status of your nonprofit. Is it a nonprofit corporation, a public charity, a private foundation, or another type of legal entity? Why was this type chosen?

Example: The Helping Hands Foundation is a Public Charity under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. This structure allows us to accept donations, contributions, and gifts that are tax-deductible for donors, which is beneficial in raising funds for our cause.

Board of Directors

Introduce your board of directors briefly, highlighting their experience and roles. Point out their key contributions to the organisation.

Example: Our board comprises five dedicated members, including a physician, an educator, a social worker, a business entrepreneur, and a legal professional, each offering expertise in their respective fields to help guide and govern our organisation.

Key Milestones

Highlight significant milestones in your organisation’s history to show the progress and impact over time.

Example : Founded in 2015, the Helping Hands Foundation started as a health outreach program serving a single community. By 2017, we expanded our services to education, and in 2019 added our Adult Skill-building Program. We’re now serving multiple communities across Montana and have positively impacted over 5,000 lives directly.

4. Business Model

This section will outline how the nonprofit organisation functions and generates revenue to support its mission and programs.

Main Income Sources

Discuss your nonprofit’s main sources of income. These could include individual and corporate donations, grants, fundraising events, service fees, etc.

Example: Our main income sources include individual donations, corporate partnerships, and grants. We also generate revenue through our annual charity run – “Run for Help”.

Planned Collaborations/ Partnerships

Discuss any planned collaborations or partnerships. These could be with other nonprofit organisations, for-profit businesses, government institutions, etc.

Example: We are planning to partner with local businesses for some of our skill-building programs. These businesses will not only provide practical training but also potential job placements for our beneficiaries.

Special Projects

If there are any special projects or initiatives planned that will bring substantial funds or support to the organisation, detail them.

Example: We plan to launch a “Sponsor a Child’s Education” initiative that encourages donors to cover educational expenses for a specific child for a period of one year.

5. Market Analysis

This section provides an understanding of the broader context in which your nonprofit operates, including the current need, target beneficiaries, and competitive landscape.

Current Community Need

Describe the current community need that your nonprofit is addressing. Use data and real examples to illustrate the need.

Example: According to the latest census, the rural parts of Montana that we serve have 35% of the population living below the poverty line. Lack of access to quality healthcare, education, and job opportunities persist as significant challenges.

Beneficiary/ Constituency Analysis

Detail the demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, and other relevant characteristics of the people your organisation serves.

Example: Our primary beneficiaries are families living below the poverty line, struggling with limited access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. They present a diverse age group, from children requiring educational support to adults needing vocational training.

Related Organisations and Competitive Analysis

Identify other nonprofit organisations working on similar issues, examine their approach, and highlight what sets your organisation apart.

Example: While other nonprofits in the region primarily focus on either healthcare or education, The Helping Hands Foundation sets itself apart by offering a holistic approach – providing access to healthcare, quality education, and skill-building programs for sustainable livelihoods.

Positioning and Strategy

Explain how your nonprofit is positioned in response to the need, target beneficiaries, and competitive landscape. Describe your strategy to deliver your mission.

Example: Our organisation is positioned as an all-encompassing solution for the challenges faced by our target community. Our strategy involves a holistic, participatory approach that acknowledges and works around the cultural and contextual realities of the community.

6. Public Relations and Fundraising Strategy

This section deals with how you plan to generate awareness about your organisation’s purpose and work, as well as how you plan to solicit donations.

PR Strategy

Outline your strategy to garner visibility and positive coverage in the media and community.

Example: Our PR strategy includes issuing press releases about milestone achievements, hosting town hall meetings to engage community members, and inviting local influencers or media to cover our key events and initiatives.

Fundraising Plan

Describe your approach to raising funds. This may include details of fundraising events, online campaigns, donor recognition strategies, and plans to apply for grants.

Example: We plan to conduct an annual charity run event, “Run for Help”, which is our major fundraiser. We also run online crowdfunding campaigns around specific causes like “Back-to-School” and “Vaccinate a Village”. We acknowledge our generous donors through a ‘wall of fame’ on our website and an annual appreciation dinner.

Community Engagement/ Volunteer Plans

Discuss how you plan to engage community members and volunteers in your work. This can bring additional resources to your organisation through volunteer time and word-of-mouth advertising.

Example: We welcome community members to volunteer in our learning centres, health camps, and other initiatives. We also encourage volunteer involvement in event organisation, fundraising, and spreading the word about our work.

7. Operations

This is where you’ll outline how your nonprofit will function day-to-day, including details about staff recruitment, facility needs, technology, and overall operational flow.

Team Recruitment and Roles

Describe how you plan to staff your nonprofit. This includes the roles you require, criteria for each position, expected number of hires you plan to make per year, and any recruiting strategies.

Example: We plan to hire qualified professionals for roles like Program Managers, Field Coordinators, and Fundraising Coordinators. We also rely on volunteers to help us in various capacities. We actively participate in job fairs and conduct regular recruitment drives to find passionate and committed individuals for our team.

Board Composition and Roles

Discuss the current and expected composition of your board. What roles do they play in your nonprofit, and how often do they meet?

Example: Our board comprises five members, specialising in different areas like healthcare education, legalities, business, and social work. They meet quarterly to review our progress and annual plan. They are instrumental in providing strategic direction to our organisation.

Technology Needs

What kind of technology does your nonprofit require to function seamlessly? This might include software for managing donor data, a website for online presence, project management tools, etc.

Example: We use a donor management software to streamline our fundraising efforts, an accounting software to track our income and expenses, and social media platforms to reach out to our followers and prospective donors.

Facility Needs (If Applicable)

What are your facility needs? Do you need an office space, a storage room, a community centre, etc.?

Example: We currently operate from a rented office space in downtown Montana. Due to the expansion of our programs, we plan to rent additional storage space for our education and healthcare supplies.

8. Marketing and Communications Strategy

This section involves how the nonprofit plans to market its programs and services to its beneficiaries and prospective donors.

Marketing and Outreach

Describe how you plan to increase awareness of your nonprofit in the community you serve, among potential donors, and the public in general.

Example: We plan to conduct regular community awareness programs in schools and public places to educate people about our work. Also, we use digital marketing channels like social media, email newsletter, and our website to increase our visibility among potential donors.

Website and Social Media

Discuss your organisation’s online presence. This may include details about your website, blog, and social media accounts.

Example: Our website provides comprehensive information about our programs, stories of impact, and ways to get involved. We also maintain an active presence on various social media platforms, where we share updates, appeal for donations, and engage with our followers.

Community Engagement

Discuss how you plan to engage with the community beyond the direct provision of services.

Example: We regularly host town hall meetings to engage with community members and gather their feedback. We also participate in local events and festivals to further integrate ourselves into the community culture.

9. Financial Plan

This section focuses on your nonprofit’s financial aspects, detailing how funds will be raised and spent.

Startup Budget/ Current Annual Budget

Lay out the current or expected budget for your organisation, including income and expenses.

Example: Our annual budget for this year is $500,000, with the majority of the funds divided between education and healthcare programs. We allocate 10% for administrative expenses, and the remainder is used for fundraising and marketing.

Proposed Financing

Discuss your proposed financing options. These could include a detailed breakdown of expected revenues from various sources like donations, grants, government funding, special events, etc.

Example: We hope to raise 40% of our funds from individual and corporate donations, 30% from grants, 20% from special events like ‘Run for Help’, and the remainder 10% from government funding and other sources.

Key Financial Assumptions and Justifications

Clarify any assumptions in your financial plan, explaining why these assumptions have been made.

Example: We have assumed a 5% increase in donations from last year as we have seen a steady growth in our donor base. We also anticipate securing a major grant that we’ve applied for based on our past successes with similar applications.

10. Appendices

This section includes any additional documents or supportive material related to your business plan, such as:

Organisational Chart

Include a visual representation of your nonprofit’s structure, showing the roles and departments within the organisation.

Example: Our organisational chart distinguishes between our board members, management team, employees, and volunteers, providing a clear understanding of the functioning of our nonprofit.

Resumes of Key Staff/Volunteers

Attach resumes or brief bios of key team members to provide a sense of their skills, expertise, and experience.

Example: We have included the resume of our Program Manager who holds a master’s in Public Health and has over seven years of experience working in the nonprofit sector.

Detailed Budget

If your financial plan refers to a detailed budget, include a copy here.

Example: A detailed breakdown of our annual budget, including income and expenditure, reflects our judicious allocation of resources.

Related Market Research

Include any market research that validates the need for your nonprofit’s services.

Example: A Local Community Survey report, conducted by us, indicates a significant need for our healthcare and educational services among the local populace.

Wrapping Up Our Nonprofit Business Plan Template

In essence, a business plan helps you articulate and present your nonprofit organisation’s mission, operations, and financial activities with accuracy and persuasiveness. It enables you to highlight your organisation’s unique vision, services, and strategies robustly.

From charting organisational history and governance, presenting market analysis, to detailing your PR and fundraising strategy – a perfect business plan showcases your nonprofit in a compelling light. Remember, it’s crucial to tweak and adjust our guidance to fit your specific context, allowing your unique story, approach, and goals to shine through.

Follow this roadmap, and remember, a well-crafted business plan is more than just a document – it’s an opportunity to bring your organisation’s work to life, foster stakeholder understanding, build support, and ultimately, amplify your nonprofit’s impact.

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Before you start work with an external consultant, Stella Smith gives some useful pointers.

Is management consultancy right for your charity?

CHARITY BUSINESS STRATEGY AND PLANNING 

Having a good charity business plan in place will not only help you to have a clear focus, it will position you to attract new funders, volunteers and supporters. , thinking about and aligning your charitable activities also gives you time to think about potential risks and opportunities. a well thought out business plan is vital part of building a robust and successful charity. .

Webinar: How to create a business plan for your charity

The below webinar was delivered by Cranfield Trust Volunteer Stephen Cahill, as part of the ongoing Essentials to Excellence webinar series. The style of the webinar is a mix of presenter input and lively case studies with as much input as possible. You will leave the session equipped with simple practical steps you can take to translate your thoughts into action quickly.

You will learn how to:

• Be successful at business planning – what has changed forever and why you need to revisit your business planning approach.
• Make your business plan robust and avoid being ‘blindsided’.
• Use your business plan as a focus for funders.
• Do business planning with half the effort for twice the result!

Stephen Cahill Bio: 

Stephen Cahill BSc MPA (Warwick) is a semi-retired executive with extensive senior experience across the public, private and charity sectors. He has over 30 years of experience in helping organisations improve their governance, strategy, and operations. He specialises in helping organisations to achieve rapid results by focusing on,"the things that really matter".  He has been an active Cranfield Trust volunteer for nearly a decade.

Reworking your strategy

Six steps to reworking your charity’s strategy in the ‘new normal’ by Cranfield Trust Volunteer, Stephen Cahill. 

Build your charity business plan

Questions to ask to help you build your charity's business plan.

Business Planning - questions to build your plan

Charity business plan template

A template for a straightforward business plan, in Word and PDF versions.

Word template for three year business plan

PDF template for three year business plan

LEAN Management

In reviewing your activities and writing your business plan you may wish to consider your processes to ensure that they are efficient and contributing to a high quality of activity.  This article on LEAN management provides some guidance.

Introduction to Lean

Is merger right for your charity?

Volunteer Matthew Wilkley, Director of Income Generation at Independent Age, considers merger as a strategic option, with particular reference to fundraising.

Blog: To merge or not to merge

Related free charity resource library

Charity digital, charity set up and structure, fundraising, gdpr & data protection.

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• How to build a strategic plan for your ...

How to build a strategic plan for your nonprofit (with template)

Every organization needs a strategic plan—even if you’re a nonprofit. A strategic plan helps you define who you are, what you want to achieve, and how you’ll get there. Use our template to walk through the three steps of creating a strategic plan: Assessing your situation, developing your strategy and building your plan.

If you’re not quite sure where to start and how a strategic plan will help your nonprofit grow, this article is for you. Learn what a strategic plan for nonprofit organizations should entail, how to write one, and check out our template for further inspiration.

What is a nonprofit strategic plan?

A nonprofit strategic plan is a tool that helps you define where your nonprofit organization wants to go and what actions you will take to achieve your goals.

At its core, the process for nonprofits doesn’t differ too much from the strategic planning process other organizations and industries embark on. Regardless of your form of work, you need a strategic plan to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take in order to get there.

This plan should be updated every three to five years to ensure your organization continues challenging itself and growing.

Before you can create an action plan or a roadmap for your nonprofit that drives results, you need to walk through the following three steps of strategic planning:

Step 1: Assess your current situation

Step 2: Develop your strategy

Step 3: build your strategic plan.

Once you’ve built your strategic plan, you can set KPIs and schedule the milestones your organization needs to hit in order to be successful.

Whether you’re creating a strategic plan for the first time or updating your existing one, it’s important that you consult and involve the right people in this process. Create a strategic planning team that consists of senior executives, board members, and key team members who can contribute to the long-term success of your nonprofit.

We’ll walk you through the steps your strategic planning team will take on this journey and provide a template that you can use to assist your team during this process. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Assess your situation

Before you can figure out where you want to go, you need to assess where you are right now. Gather all the information you can about your nonprofit so your strategic planning team has a clear understanding of who you are and where you’re at.

Demographics: While some of these questions may seem trivial, it’s a good idea to start with questions that are easy to answer and align your strategic planning team.

How big is your organization?

Where are you located?

What is your annual net asset?

How many people do you employ?

What is your target demographic?

Success and goals: Before you dive into the details, it’s good practice to give yourself credit for the things you’ve accomplished in the past. First of all, this will give you better clarity on your strengths and opportunities (which you’ll analyze in more depth later). But this also puts your strategic planning team in a positive and optimistic mood which will make the process much easier and more enjoyable.

What were your biggest accomplishments so far?

Do you have any goals set for the future?

How thought-out are these goals, and do they meet SMART goal criteria ?

Capital: As a nonprofit, money may not be your main driver. However, in order to make an impact, you need capital. So ask yourself where you’re currently getting your revenue.

Does the government fund you?

How successful has fundraising been in the past?

Who are your donors or sponsors?

What other revenue streams do you have?

Are there any revenue sources you haven’t considered yet?

What does your grant management process typically look like?

Stakeholders: A stakeholder analysis is key in strategic planning. Your internal and external stakeholders are the people who can impact the success of your organization, so you need to know who they are and what their roles are. 

Internal stakeholders are team members who are directly impacted by the strategic plan and likely the ones who are already on your strategic planning team. External stakeholders are usually agencies, clients, or other parties who are involved financially or contribute otherwise to the performance of your organization.

Who are our top stakeholders (internal and external)?

Why do they believe in our nonprofit?

What do we need from them (e.g., labor, capital, marketing, etc.)?

Why do we believe and trust in these stakeholders?

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats: Finally, you’ll want to conduct a SWOT analysis to find out  your internal strengths and weaknesses and how external threats and opportunities can influence your nonprofit’s success. 

What makes us stand out from other nonprofits in the industry?

What past events have impacted our success and why?

Are there any weaknesses that have prevented us from reaching our full potential in the past?

Once you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you’re ready for the next step: developing your nonprofit’s strategy.

In this phase of the strategic planning process, you’ll take the information you’ve gathered in step one and put your heads together to define who you want to be as an organization—more precisely, you’ll define your values, mission, and vision statements .

Mission and vision statement

You’ll want to start out with your mission and vision statements. If you already have these statements in place, review and consider updating them to match your new strategy.

It’s not always easy to come up with vision and mission statements for your nonprofit organization. That’s why it can be helpful to check out how others have put their dreams into writing. Take a look at three examples of how nonprofit organizations define their vision and mission:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s mission and vision statements are very closely intertwined. The organization’s mission is to “Create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.” Their vision is to help all people lead a healthy and productive life.

The American Red Cross

The mission statement of the American Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate “Human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.​”

Their vision statement reads as follows: “The American Red Cross, through its strong network of volunteers, donors and partners, is always there in times of need. We aspire to turn compassion into action.”

The Research Foundation for The State University of New York

The Research Foundation of SUNY’s mission is to provide “Talent, services, and technology that empower SUNY to research, innovate, and transfer discoveries that transform the world’s knowledge economy.”

Their vision is to “Make it the best place for faculty, students and staff to research, innovate, and solve the world’s most pressing problems.”

Company values

Next, you’ll want to define your nonprofit’s core values . Try to define anywhere between five to 10 values that describe your organization and align with your mission and vision.

Here are some examples of values that could describe your nonprofit:

Reliability

Trustworthiness

Communication

Transparency

Assessing where you’re at and defining who you are are two crucial steps in the strategic planning process. They build the foundation for your strategic plan that you’re ready to create now that you’ve put in the groundwork.

The heart of your strategic plan consists of your strategic priorities and goals for the future. They will inspire your implementation plan and ultimately define how effective and successful your new strategy will be. 

You should pick at least three main strategic priorities based on what you’ve learned from your SWOT analysis. For example, if your SWOT analysis showed that you only have a couple of revenue sources, you could make “diversifying revenue streams” a strategic priority. 

Your strategic priorities don’t have to be super built out—that’s what happens in the next and final step of your strategic plan.

Step 4: Create SMART goals

Creating SMART objectives is crucial so you can successfully put your new strategy into action.

Your SMART goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. For example, to diversify your revenue streams, your SMART goal could be:

“Over the next three years, we plan to add at least seven new revenue streams to our repertoire by applying to one new government fund per quarter, hosting monthly fundraisers on social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter), and bi-annual in-person charity events.”

Nonprofit strategic plan template and example

Use our template to build a strategic plan for your nonprofit that drives results. Don’t forget to include stakeholders, your board of directors, and key staff members in your strategic planning process—their insight and ideas will shape the future of your company.

Here is what your nonprofit strategic plan can look like once you start working on it:

You can download the template using the button below and modify it to your organization’s needs.

Put your plan into action

After you’ve built your strategic plan, there’s just one step left: put it into action. Implementing your strategic plan is both rewarding and scary. All the hard work you put into building a strategy for your nonprofit is about to come to fruition.

With the support of Asana’s goal-setting software, you can turn your strategic plan into actionable steps so you can easily track, manage, and share your strategic initiatives with shareholders and teammates.

Related resources

What is management by objectives (MBO)?

7 steps to complete a social media audit (with template)

How to accomplish big things with long-term goals

What are objectives and key results (OKRs)?

Charity Business Plan Template | Free Business Plan Software

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Here's the Business Plan Template's Table of Contents :

1.0 Executive Summary 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Mission 1.3 Keys to Success 2.0 Company Summary 2.1 Company Ownership 2.2 Start-up Summary Table: Start-up 3.0 Products and Services 4.0 Market Analysis Summary 4.1 Market Segmentation Table: Market Analysis 4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy 4.3 Service Business Analysis 4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns 5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary 5.1 Competitive Edge 5.2 Marketing Strategy 5.3 Sales Strategy 5.3.1 Sales Forecast Table: Sales Forecast 5.4 Milestones Table: Milestones 6.0 Management Summary 6.1 Personnel Plan Table: Personnel 7.0 Financial Plan 7.0 Financial Plan 7.1 Start-up Funding Table: Start-up Funding 7.2 Important Assumptions 7.3 Break-even Analysis Table: Break-even Analysis 7.4 Projected Profit and Loss Table: Profit and Loss 7.5 Projected Cash Flow Table: Cash Flow 7.6 Projected Balance Sheet Table: Balance Sheet 7.7 Business Ratios 7.7 Business Ratios Table: Ratios

Other Business Plan Outlines and samples that may interest you:

Charity Business Plan Template Market Analysis Summary Sample

[Company Name] is a part of the religious and social services industry. Churches and religious groups in the US include about 340,000 establishments with about 160 million members, according to the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. Large churches include Catholic, Southern Baptist, United Methodist, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The size of individual congregations varies significantly. This industry offers effective programs that provide hope and opportunity for underrepresented segments of society as well as a place of worship for all those needing to be healed and encouraged in the lord. The Organization desires to help those in need physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It helps people survive, learn and eventually contribute. Social programs and services touch people’s lives. [Company Name] sees the faces of its clients and congregation daily. It understands that the problem it solves on a daily basis benefits people, families and its community in a major way.  

[Company Name]'s business plan focuses solely on church goers within the religious industry. [Company Name]'s key market is community members within the Spring Valley, IL area. The Organization has the services necessary to impact this market. By delivering superior service, having an outstanding reputation as well as longevity within this industry, [Company Name] potential is excellent.

4.1 Market Segmentation

[Company Name]'s market segmentation scheme is fairly straightforward, and focuses on the target market, church goers in the Spring Valley, IL and Bureau County, IL area. These church goers prefer certain fellowship services as well as community services and its [Company Name]'s duty to deliver on their expectations.

[Company Name] knows that there will always be a need for religious organizations. Church goers within the religious industry want exceptional religious services. [Company Name]'s congregation members appreciate the quality service that the Organization offers, as well as the knowledgeable, experienced staff, and caring staff. These church goers may have the option to go elsewhere, but they understand that attending [Company Name] is beneficial to them because the church demonstrates the characteristics and delivers the dedication that they desire.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

[Company Name] caters to church goers in the Spring Valley, IL and Bureau County area. [Company Name] knows how to meet the needs of its congregation members. The church knows that satisfied members aid the Organization by referring the church to other church goers who seek religious and community services.

Currently, [Company Name] serves the religious organization market segment. [Company Name]'s choice of target markets is based on an in-depth understanding of the church goer's needs. [Company Name] skills and capabilities will allow the Organization to effectively build on to its reputation within its area. [Company Name] will utilize the methods below to reach its target market:

• Collect as much demographic data as possible on potential area service users to assist management in creating both immediate and long-term plans for reaching out to this market segment.
• Formulate and adopt additions and/or revisions to the marketing strategies within this Business Plan once sufficient demographic data has been gathered.
• Management must keep in mind that making the masses aware of the Organization is far more difficult and expensive than working with an existing user base.  Management must take particular care in making sure certain marketing dollars are wisely spent since funds are limited. 
• Construct a sophisticated website that highlights the benefits of choosing the Organization and its services. 

4.3 Service Providers Analysis

[Company Name] provides the community with a year round service. [Company Name] is a a religious organization offering a place of worship for all those needing to be healed and encouraged in the lord. Additionally, the church will provide soup kitchen services; feature a counseling center, a food pantry, a tutoring center and a youth center.

As the church grows, its main objective is to focus on the needs of its congregation. It's the church's duty to engage in community outreach, provide a positive welcoming atmosphere, and offer a strong support system.

4.3.1 Alternatives and Usage Patterns

[Company Name]'s members look for several qualities in a church, including:

• Caring and nurturing environment
• Strong spiritual message
• Outstanding reputation
• Community involvement
• Exceptional member services

[Company Name] seeks to establish strong communication with the members of its congregation to ensure that they are satisfied with its services.  If members are happy, they will continue to attend the church and offer support as well as recommend the church to other members of the community.

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An operational plan is a crucial document that outlines all the important targets and strategies that will be undertaken by an organization during a certain period. For non-profit organizations too, this is an important tool to ensure that all the objectives are achieved while making optimum use of resources and time. Our professional plan templates have been created to help you properly prepare such crucial documents conveniently.

Step 1: Goals and Objectives

Step 2: key targets and strategy, step 3: staffing and budget, step 4: detailed procedures, step 5: monitoring.

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65 Free Action Plan Templates For Excel, Word, PDF, PowerPoint, and Google Docs

Last Updated on April 1, 2024 by Owen McGab Enaohwo

Featured Bonus Content: Get 65 Free Action Plan Templates! Click Here To Download It.

If you don’t want to spend years wishing you achieved your goals, you need to act on them now. The best way to do so is to have an action plan.

Having a long list of tasks to complete can be overwhelming. As you see the list grow, you may lose the motivation to do any of them. That said, if you have a step-by-step action plan that spells out your chores in achievable pieces, you can accomplish them without noticing.

Action plans assist in keeping track of your work progress. With an action plan in place, you’ll have an official start and end date, as well as an estimate of how long each step will take. You won’t have to spend mental energy each day trying to decide when and how to start. 

Also, you can use an action plan to keep track of your project budget and determine whether you need to change your time or resource estimates.

In this in-depth post, you’ll learn what an action plan is, why you need one, and how to make action plan templates on Microsoft Excel, Word, PDF, PowerPoint, and Google Docs.

We’ll also answer some frequently asked questions about action plans. Finally, we’ll give you access to 65+ free, editable, and downloadable action plan templates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and Google Docs.

Let’s get started.

Chapter One: What is an Action Plan and Why Do You Need One?

Chapter Two: Action Plan Templates For Excel

Chapter Three: Action Plan Templates For Word

Chapter Four: Action Plan Templates For PDF

Chapter Five: Action Plan Templates For PowerPoint

Chapter Six: Action Plan Templates for Google Docs

Chapter Seven: How to Make an Action Plan on Excel, Word, and Google Docs

Chapter eight: action plan templates frequently asked questions (faqs), chapter nine: create and manage your action plans using sweetprocess.

Every situation benefits from having an action plan. It is a simple success roadmap if used judiciously. In your job, business, or personal endeavor, a well-designed action plan will highlight what to do at every point and assist you in tracking achieved tasks. 

For instance, do you want to switch to a tech career by a specific age? An action plan helps you consider your existing qualifications, identify your existing strengths, and point you to the courses you’re going to need to take to successfully achieve this transition. You can also include the top tech organizations you’ll hopefully transition into.  

If you’re working on a project, the action plan forces you to consider the number of resources you have at your disposal, the complexity of the project or objective at hand, and the level of detail necessary when executing the project. 

What is an Action Plan?

Action plans are communication tools that simplify complex tasks and initiatives. It is an organizational strategy framework for identifying steps that you must take to achieve a goal. 

When using an action plan, you should consider and map out specific tasks to help the organization set quality standards and save costs. This enables you to avoid trial and error as much as possible. 

An action plan is a social planning tool. With it, you can document actions that serve as a symbol of a company’s or nation’s accountability. 

For instance, an action plan might be used by a city to express plans to enhance a neighborhood. This could involve plans for adding green spaces, services, living streets, and better rail service.

Why You Need an Action Plan

Many companies have a growth strategy, but nothing gets done at the end of the day. This happens because they have no action plan to follow to provide a roadmap for how and when to complete each task. 

Your action plan is a working document that makes your strategy a reality. As a result, you achieve your tasks and allocate resources to your team for efficient job implementation.

You need an action plan so you can:

• Focus on specific goals

Action plans provide you with the framework to efficiently execute specific tasks, so you complete your work without distractions. 

• Logically complete tasks

It assists you in completing your tasks in a logical order and ensures that you do not overlook or miss any essential steps. 

• Effectively delegate tasks

Action plans make it easy to determine when you need to delegate or outsource tasks. The document quickly points you to what job to outsource and how to do it. That way, you’ll save time and effort as you’re able to delegate tasks that slow your progress or do not achieve the end goal for your business. 

• Efficiently keep records 

Having an action plan lets you document the time and resources you’ll likely spend on tasks. This way, you stay motivated and ensure that you complete your job in as short a period as possible.

• Avoid procrastination

With an effective action plan, you’ll avoid procrastination. This is because an action plan provides you with a visual map that documents achievement in a structured manner. As a result, it helps you see your progress when you need to complete each job faster. 

What You Should Include in Your Action Plan

Action plans are likely to fail for two reasons: You may not take action as written on the document, or you fail to include the essential points to make the path to success clear in the action plan.

When creating an action plan, here are the specifics to include to use it efficiently.

Define your goal

You need to understand your goal before creating an effective action plan. Having this at the top of your action plan motivates you to keep moving forward.

State the actions 

Write out the step-by-step actions that are involved in doing every task. This will help you to achieve your set goals and minimize decision fatigue.

List the persons in charge 

Mention the employees who will be handling each step. This introduces accountability to your action plan and creates a sense of responsibility in the mind of stakeholders.

Timeline 

You’ll be less likely to achieve your goals if you don’t attach your set goals to a particular deadline. Having a deadline for each step keeps you on your toes to effectively deliver your tasks.

Resources 

Identify the assets you need to allocate for each step. When resources are not available, your action plan will experience a delay. Therefore, in your action plan, ensure that you include plans to acquire the necessary resources to meet your project delivery deadline. 

Potential barriers 

Be mindful of the factors that can potentially hinder the completion of each step. Considering this will force you to have mitigation strategies in place for every foreseeable problem that arises.

Track your progress

It won’t be fair to realize that your goals won’t be met at the end of your task. You should track your progress to avoid this. Not tracking each process leads to mistakes and inefficiencies, and you’ll waste time going back to fix your errors. 

Why Use an Action Plan Template?

Are you a worker who wishes to enhance your job performance, or a project manager whose task is to delegate responsibilities to team members? 

You need an action plan to help organize human and material resources. With this, you can identify a clear route to meet your objectives and confidently manage related tasks in the most effective sequence to attain your goal.

But creating an action plan from scratch could be time-consuming for you. Hence, the need for an action plan template.

Action plan templates are industry-specific, ready-made documents that you can instantly download and use. 

You need to use action plan templates because they not only help you stay motivated and track your progress toward your goals, but they also help you save time as you can adopt them very quickly.

Whether you’re working alone or with others, action plan templates guide you in all categories of your work and can be a reference for those who should be held responsible for each task. Using an action plan template helps you prevent delays and errors.

Action plan templates enable you to transform your vision into attainable objectives and tasks. 

How to Make an Effective Action Plan

To make an action plan, here are steps to consider:

Step 1: Define the problem

The first step to solving a problem is to understand what it is. By identifying the problem, you can assess the circumstances surrounding the problem and examine possible solutions.

At this point, you’ll consider all ideas and ask for feedback from your team and the parties interested in solving the problem. 

Step 2: Gather and analyze information

The next step is to gather and analyze the collected data to support or reject whether the problem exists or has a different root cause than you anticipated. 

You would figure this out by asking questions like: 

• What is the root source of the problem?
• What do others think about the situation? 

Step 3: Define and prioritize the problems

In cases where you find there are more problems than the ones you envisioned, there is a need to prioritize them so that you may focus on the most pressing issues first. 

Ask yourself the following questions to assist you in sorting the concerns:

• Which issue is likely to cause more problems?
• Which problems have the most considerable influence on the operation’s long-term financial stability?

Step 4: Write a goal statement for each solution

Now that you’ve identified the problems and gathered information associated with it, write out the goals’ statement for each solution using the S.M.A.R.T framework. Setting S.M.A.R.T. objectives or goals means the goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. 

You should then look through the solutions and analyze them for difficulties. If you identify any, then find a solution as you proceed.

Step 5: Put solutions into action—the action plan

Next is to itemize the actual steps to solve the issues. 

An action plan developed this way will let you complete your tasks effectively and efficiently. It will also transform your elusive goal or strategy into a people-oriented solution. 

Then create your resulting action plan. This should answer what, when, how, where, and who.

Step 6: Evaluate your process

Walk through each action’s process. Evaluating the process is the best strategy to determine if the goal and action plan effectively resolve the issue. 

Sticking to a well-designed monitoring technique will assist you and your team in determining when the action plan requires revision.

Chapter Two: Action Plan Templates for Excel

Excel is an intuitive tool for creating an action plan template. We’ve compiled some free action plan templates for Excel below, which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Work action plan template 

Click here to download the Work Action Plan Template

The work action plan template contains a list of actions you must complete to accomplish a simple project. In addition, it has sections documenting needed resources, possible difficulties, and results. 

You can use your action plan to structure tactics and modest stages toward reaching long-term objectives. 

• Corrective action plan template

The corrective action plan template lets you spell out the steps needed to deal with an issue disrupting your organization’s operations. 

Businesses can streamline their procedures and remove errors when they use these templates. Corrective action can take numerous forms, including training, product redesigns, and other enhancements. This template enables users to make a cohesive action plan. 

• Mentoring action plan template

A mentoring action plan template identifies the mentor and mentee relationship’s actions and goals. With this template, you’ll have the themes to focus on to help your mentee define their professional goals.

• Excel sales action plan template

The Excel sales action plan template helps you plan your sales targets using the built-in flexibility of an Excel spreadsheet. This sales plan template is segmented into 12 months and divided into product lines. 

It includes columns for last year’s performance, current sales goals, and outcomes. It also lets you create a yearly sales strategy and compare statistics across products and over time.

• Maintenance action plan template

A maintenance action plan template is a document that outlines what must be done to keep assets in a facility in good working order. The information in the template will assist you in ensuring that an asset is used to its full potential. You can keep track of maintenance schedules using the estimated time column, and check and record accountability when the task is complete.

Chapter Three: Action Plan Templates for Word

Microsoft Word is one of the most straightforward tools for making an action plan template. It provides you with easy-to-use features to achieve an easy-to-read, comprehensive document.

Here are some free action plan templates for Word, which you can

download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Project action plan template

The project action plan template provides you with a place to document the steps needed to finish a simple project or goal. In addition, it identifies the vital tasks you need to focus on to deliver your projects within timelines successfully. 

• Blank action plan template

The blank action plan template outlines a series of stages or activities that must be done to complete the work or task correctly. It helps you keep track of task accomplishments and the money and equipment needed to execute the action. 

• Sales action plan template

A sales action plan template outlines what you’ll do to meet your sales objectives, with an emphasis on the transactions and relationships you can build with clients.

Things included in this template are: 

• Who your top customer segments are
• Your revenue target
• How to structure your teams for success 
• Sample corrective action plan template

A sample corrective action plan template helps you lay out the process of prioritizing and correcting specific hazards or deficiencies in running your organization. In addition, it helps you to deal with any issue that may disrupt your workflow. 

It has sections to streamline your work process while eliminating errors.

• Startup action plan template

This startup business plan template includes the essential elements you’ll need to pitch investors and stakeholders on your business idea and strategy. 

An executive summary, a financial overview, a marketing plan, specifics on product or service offerings, and more are all included in the template.

• Personal development action plan template

The personal development action plan template provides you with an assessment for personal growth in the context of professional goals, education, relationship, or self-improvement. This is usually based on awareness, values, reflection, goal setting, and planning.

• Non-profit action plan template

A nonprofit action plan template outlines your organization’s current state and lays out a strategy for the next three to five years. It also details your objectives and plans for achieving your organizational goals. 

You need to consistently update your charity business plan to reflect your changing goals and circumstances.

• Account action plan template

The account action plan template provides your sales team with practical and effective strategies for transforming major account relationships into long-term partnerships. 

It serves as a tool for the sales team to plan and manage the account and keeps critical developments up to date for management. It’s also used to maintain control of the account’s performance.

• Basic action plan template

The basic action plan template contains sections to focus on when achieving your fundamental goals. It allows you to create action stages that you can prioritize and keep track of when completing your project while you measure progress and evaluate performance. 

• Education action plan template

An education action plan template allows you to monitor the progress of a new educator through the set objectives toward a goal of achieving professional growth. Also, it provides instructional assistance and comprehensive assessment across educational boards. 

•   Sample action plan template

This sample action plan template allows you to manage your work and complete tasks on schedule. It provides you with information such as the purpose of your plan, instructions for using it, goals, and action items. 

It also allows you to add the timeframe for completion, who is responsible, resources, potential hurdles, communication strategy, evaluation method, and so on.

•   Simple action plan template

The simple action plan template allows you to keep track of the tasks that must be accomplished daily to achieve a larger goal. You can document your objectives, task list, success criteria, timeframe, and available resources. Each page has a label where you may enter information about your firm in addition to tables and images.

Chapter Four: Action Plan Templates for PDF

You can easily create your action plan templates in PDF format. We’ve compiled 20+ free action plan templates for PDF, which you can

•  Recruitment action plan template

The recruitment action plan template helps you recruit potential partners for your company. It includes responsibilities for recruitment and appointment, and recruitment timing so that potential partners are tracked and approached on time.

• Team action plan template

The team action plan template includes sections for listing team members and keeping track of attendance at multiple planning sessions. 

It also includes all of the necessary components for producing an effective action plan for a team with a straightforward layout that makes group work more accessible. 

•   Epilepsy action plan template 

The epilepsy action plan template includes a section for healthcare providers and patients to collect data about the patient’s health. 

This template encourages healthcare practitioners to use a shared decision-making approach that allows the person with epilepsy and their family to engage as partners in all healthcare decisions in a collaborative relationship.

•   Emergency action plan template

The emergency action plan template outlines detailed procedures for dealing with any work-related situation that is likely to occur. An emergency action plan is a written strategy that specifies the proper response to several unforeseen emergencies. 

This template makes it easy to create and share emergency action plans that include names and phone numbers for emergency personnel, utility company emergency contacts, and training plans.

• Business action plan template

A business action plan template lays out the needed resources to achieve a goal, creates a timeframe for completing specific activities, and determines the resources required to achieve the business’s aim. 

This template has sections for recording required resources, future challenges, and ultimate outcomes. Successful completion of an action item may be the end outcome, or you might have discovered more actions needed during the process. 

• Incident action plan template

The incident action plan template is a written document that outlines the incident objectives and the techniques used to manage them over the operating time. 

It contains critical information on who to contact in an emergency, task assignments, resources, and safety requirements, based on the incident objectives.

• 90-day action plan template

A 90-day action plan template contains a framework for onboarding, acclimating, and educating new team members. It establishes expectations for what the person is expected to do in the first 90 days including learning and performance objectives.

A 90-day action plan template helps you set short- and long-term goals for new employees.

• Affirmative action plan template

An affirmative action plan template defines your company’s attempt to provide equitable employment opportunities and encourage employee progress regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, or veteran status. Based on federal rules, affirmative action should be reviewed and updated at least once a year.

• Strategic action plan template

A strategic action plan template provides you with steps needed to achieve strategic actions. It allows you to mobilize the resources needed to carry out those activities to ensure timely task delivery. 

• Housekeeping action plan template

The housekeeping action plan template shows how to recruit and train housekeeping staff. It delineates the goals and objectives for training as well as the training stages. 

• Human resources action plan template

The human resource action plan template provides a continual process of systematic planning beforehand to ensure that the organization’s most important asset (quality employees) are used to their full potential. 

Human resource planning ensures that employees and jobs are a good match while preventing labor shortages or surpluses.

• Church emergency action plan template

A church emergency action plan template is a document that provides answers to all questions of what, where, when, how, and who in a church emergency event. 

The more detailed the plan is, the less valuable time will be lost in a calamity. In addition, this plan can provide information on a familiar gathering spot in an emergency, ensuring that no one is left behind.

• Physical fitness action plan template

The physical fitness action plan template allows you to complete the daily fitness routine. By completing the fitness action plan you reduce the chances of developing certain illnesses and diseases that may arise due to inactivity. Physical activity aids in the maintenance of healthy bones, muscles, joints, as well as weight management. 

• Company emergency action plan template

The company emergency action plan template documents all the critical and significant information to create a solid emergency action plan. This template comes with various headers, sections, and fields that you can modify to suit your company’s specific needs.

• Discipline action plan template

A discipline action plan template contains the information necessary to maintain a company’s or organization’s standards of behavior. In the workplace, the purpose of discipline is to correct wrong behavior step-wise and document each step in the process. 

A disciplinary action policy can shield you from legal implications while also preventing issues from impacting your staff and company. 

•   Diving emergency action plan template

The diving emergency action plan template provides explicit instructions to help uneducated witnesses contact emergency personnel and provide them with details about diving accidents.

In an emergency, processing too much information wastes time. So information that includes a scuba-specific emergency hotline, standard emergency numbers, and diving locations are essential. 

• Personal mental health action plan template

The personal mental health action plan template makes personal health goals simpler for you, although planning personal health does take time and effort. 

Still, the template emphasizes the significance of prevention while also recognizing the critical role of mental health in achieving health for all individuals.

• Early years action plan template

The preschool or early years action plan template allows you to create the school action plan for your children, making it easier for them to learn and grow. 

As a teacher, you must establish an action plan for your students to benefit both the students and yourself.

• Library action plan template

The library planning action plan templates aid institutions in addressing broader shifts in how information is sought, accessed, and consumed so that students prepare ahead for success in an increasingly data- and knowledge-based world. 

Higher education institutions can use library strategic planning to save money, control rising student fees, and meet accreditation requirements.

• Presentation action plan template

The presentation action plan template provides a blueprint to prepare slides or collections of slides that you can use for a meaningful presentation. It includes layouts, colors, fonts, effects, background styles, and content to guide your presentation.

• Gender action plan template

The gender action plan template contains a road map for gender activities that a company or organization has adopted. 

Its goal is to make institutions’ operations more gender-responsive, transformative, effective, efficient, and successful by redressing existing gender disparities and redefining women’s and men’s gender roles and relationships through gender mainstreaming guidelines.

• Church mission action plan template

A church mission action plan template provides a hopeful and optimistic glimpse into the future. It’s the church’s inspiring, long-term plan for what they’ll be able to do, who they’ll help, and how they’ll be seen in the future. 

• Wellness recovery action plan template

A wellness recovery action plan template is a framework that teaches how to make positive personal adjustments in your feelings and how you respond to life’s obstacles. 

It is a self-designed preventive and wellness planning technique based on mutuality, self-determination, and the concept that resilience, recovery, and wellness have no bounds.

• Employee action plan template

An employee action plan template contains an incorporated performance planning process that maps out the steps an employee plans in order to achieve a particular goal or objective. 

It provides a process that an organization must develop to identify and prioritize their actions and identify quick and simple changes to demonstrate to employees that it is committed to implementing an action plan in response to employee engagement feedback.

• Family emergency action plan template

The family emergency plan template is a valuable document that helps you identify each family member’s roles in an emergency and guides you and your family members to work together as a team in the event of a disaster. 

It’s an essential aspect of any preparedness strategy and may help protect people’s lives, limbs, and property before, during, and after a disaster.

• Advertising action plan template

A marketing action plan template is a crucial tool that can assist your marketing department in determining the subsequent measures to take to improve the company’s marketing procedures. 

It has both a marketing strategy and an action plan. The vision, goals, and target audience of your organization are defined in the strategic component of the design.

• Printable action plan template

The printable action plan template provides you with a solid reference point for gathering and printing actual copies of action plans without the need for any special software or device. In addition, it gives ease in writing on them and highlighting essential portions of relevant themes. 

• Internal audit corrective action plan template

The internal audit corrective action plan template helps you adhere to the step-by-step instructions to conduct the financial inspection of your company. In addition, it allows you to determine cost-saving strategies and reveal spending deficiencies.

It is the state where you can discover the answer to your financial situation’s nonconformity. The strategy aims to avoid and regulate the recurrent problem. It addresses the issue at its source and reduces the likelihood of recurrence.

Chapter Five: Action Plan Templates for PowerPoint

PowerPoint helps you visualize your action plan. Here are some free and downloadable action plan templates for PowerPoint, which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Meeting minutes action plan template

The meeting minutes action plan template contains written notes taken during a meeting. They emphasize the essential subjects debated, motions made or voted on, and activities carried out. 

You can use the meeting minute template to keep track of your project or company meetings. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step template for minutes contains a formatting style that everyone in the conference will appreciate.

• Task action plan template

A task action plan template is a document that outlines the steps necessary to achieve your goal. A solid action plan will specify all of the required procedures to attain your goal and assist in reaching your target efficiently by giving each stage in the process a start and end date. It also breaks down the goal into short, quantifiable activities, which might assist in achieving your objectives. 

• Project planning timeline

A project planning timeline template encompasses the whole duration of your project, from beginning to end, and includes the dates of each deliverable and project milestone in chronological sequence. It allows the project manager to see all the tasks in one spot, making planning easy.

Chapter Six: Action Plan Templates for Google Docs 

Google Docs helps you create action plan templates for your business

from scratch. Here are some editable and downloadable action plan

templates for Google Docs, which you can download, tweak, and use for

your organization.

• Retention action plan template

The employee retention action plan template contains an easy-to-edit format to assist with adjustments to the employer-employee contract. Using retention action plan templates makes it easy to keep your valuable human resources team . 

Some of the standard components of the retention action plan include survey and exit interview analyses, the employer’s strengths and weaknesses, the retention plan’s purpose, and finally, the exact measures to be implemented.

• Reading action plan template

The reading action plan template outlines the steps you’ll take to reach your reading objective. This involves the reading exercise, rewriting the learned concepts through the recall process, and taking meaningful notes. Maybe you need to ace an exam or teach an idea to others; the reading action plan template is a tool to achieve reading success.

• One-page action plan template

A one-page action plan template allows every organization, particularly new start-ups, to quickly develop new versions of their business plan to keep track of the most recent assumptions and strategy changes. 

Sequential planning is essential when you’re starting your business plan. List your original assumptions, and then try to validate the assumptions. Most of your premises will be incorrect, and you will need to shift course.

• Employee engagement survey action plan template

As the name implies, an employee engagement action plan template provides a strategy that necessitates deliberate action. The goal of an employee engagement action plan is to help your team members become more engaged, have a better working environment, and increase staff retention. 

An employee engagement action plan is an essential process that organizations should go through to determine the activities to improve the organization’s structure. However, you must demonstrate the changes to your staff through employee feedback and meetings.

• Work action plan template

The work action plan template is a detailed work plan template that guides you in achieving success in your initiatives. The steps of the work plan, as well as critical data, are clearly described. The template also makes it easier to focus on the most vital issues like: 

• What resources are available?
• What resources are required? 
• What are the points of resistance you must address? 
• What is your strategy for each step’s communication?
• Change management action plan template

A change management action plan template can assist you in document management including tracking document owners and responsible parties. 

You’ll need a change management strategy to thrive in business. During the control and execution stage of your change management plan, this template describes all of your duties in managing and controlling change.

•   Company action plan template

The company action plan template sets out every piece of a standard business plan to help you develop your own. It includes space for companies seeking investment to add finance information. 

• Personal action plan template

If you want to achieve your goals systematically, use the personal action plan template. A personal action plan template can influence you to achieve more productive and efficient results. 

• Sales and marketing action plan template

The sales and marketing action plan template outlines how you intend to attract, engage, and convert prospects into paying customers. The template directs marketing and sales in their day-to-day actions, assisting them in defining agreed goals, and strategies for achieving them.

• Compliance corrective action plan template

Compliance corrective action plan template includes compliance action plans to ensure that your organization and staff follow the standards you’ve set for a work environment, as well as the standards set by local and national governments. 

The contents, such as actions and tasks, must be as precise as possible so that your team members understand what needs to be done right away.

• Easy action plan template

An easy action plan template consists of a list of actions or tasks that must be accomplished to achieve the goals you’ve set. This easy action plan template will guide you to get through the disorderly situation and help you reach your goals faster. 

• Stay interview action plan template

A stay interview action plan template includes a planned conversation that a leader has with each employee to understand the precise steps that must be taken to improve the organization’s engagement and retention.

•   Rescue diver emergency action plan template

The rescue diver emergency action plan template provides potential diving accident victims the aid and guidance to help themselves and assist rescuers during response.

• 100-day action plan template 

A 100-day action plan template provides you with a structure to onboard, accommodate, and educate new team members. It outlines expectations for what the person should do in the first 100 days, including learning and performance goals.

• 30-day action plan template 

A 30-day action plan template provides you with a structure for figuring out how to onboard and educate new team members . In addition, it defines expectations for the individual in the first 30, 60, and 90 days as they learn to manage social media.

• Case management action plan template

A case management action plan template allows case managers to record, plan and execute case actions. It includes the overall administration of cases and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of service needs.

• First aid action plan template 

The first aid action plan template assists you in dealing with a health crisis. Following it helps keep a person breathing, lessen their discomfort, or mitigate the effects of an accident or unexpected sickness before the ambulance comes.

You can take first aid training so you can recognize an emergency and provide basic first aid until expert help comes.

Below are some ways to make an action plan template. 

How to Make an Action Plan in Word

Word is a popular commercial word processor created by Microsoft. It is included in the Microsoft Office productivity package and is available as a standalone application.

You can create an action plan on Microsoft Word.

Here is how to do so:

• Open your Microsoft Word application

Select a blank document on your Microsoft Word application home tab and click on create. This will create a new Word application for you.

• Insert table into the document

Next is to click on the “Insert” tab, then select “Insert Table.” Create a table of five columns and five rows.

• Type text into your table

Insert text headers: Action, Who, Due Date, Status, and Additional Action to your table. 

Then, under each header, state the action you want to achieve, who’s responsible for achieving it, the due date for completing the action, its current status, and additional tasks or actions that may arise from that task.

Below is a video tutorial that walks you through how to do this:

How to Make an Action Plan in Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet tool available as a web, mobile, and desktop application. It’s perfect for creating an action plan and similar to Google Sheets.

This is the step-by-step process for creating an action plan in Excel.

• Open an Excel spreadsheet

Open your Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and click on the “New” tab. Then double click on a blank document or click on the “Create” tab.

• Select a portion of the sheet 

Left-click, hold, and drag your cursor to the portion of the Excel spreadsheet that you want to use as your action plan.

• Give your area selection a border

After selecting, click on the icon as shown in the image below, then select “All Borders.” This will give the selected area a nice full border, making your selected area stand out from the entire spreadsheet.

As shown in the image below, type text in the headers of your table and label each as What, Who, When, Status and Comments.

Now you can fill in what your action is, who will be in charge of it, when the action should be completed, the status of the completion, and any needed comments.

This video tutorial below shows how to create an action plan on Microsoft Excel:

How to Create an Action Plan in Google Docs

Google Docs is a word processing tool that comes with Google’s free,

web-based Google Workspace suite. It’s perfect for creating an action plan template similar to Microsoft Word. Its sweet spot is that it allows you to share the document with your team easily.

This is the process for creating an action plan on Google Docs.

• Open Google Docs from Drive

Make sure that you log in to your Google accounts. Then, from Google applications, open Drive, then open Google Docs as shown in the image below. 

• Title your action plan

Give your action plan a befitting title. 

• Insert a table

Now click on Insert, then Table. 

• Type in header text

After that, type in the header text and label each, as shown in the image below.

Below is a video tutorial on how to create and share action plan templates with your team:

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about action plan templates.

How do I make a simple action plan?

To make a simple action plan template, you need to: 

• Determine your goals. State what you want to achieve with your action plan. 
• Write down your objectives. It will be challenging to track what you want to achieve if you don’t write it down.
• Establish a deadline. Setting a deadline is the next step.
• Make a checklist. Create a list of your actions. 

What is a good action plan template?

A good action plan template guides you to achieve your goals and objectives and evaluate your progress.

Is there an action plan app?

Yes, there are different action plan apps. Examples are the 90 Day Action Plan on Google Playstore, My Action Plan app on AppStore , and InPhase Assurance app. 

You can also use SweetProcess iOS and Android apps as an action plan software to create and manage your company’s processes, procedures, and policies.

How effective are action plans?

Action plans are effective because they make your goals clearer. They also aid in forming consensus toward a goal and foster a sense of responsibility and accountability. 

What is the main purpose of an action plan?

The main purpose of an action plan is to specify the resources you need to achieve your goals and provide a schedule for when you must perform certain activities. 

How do I write a better action plan?

To write a better action plan, you should have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, then make the objectives quantifiable. After this, download the relevant templates specified in this article and tweak them to represent your required actions.

SweetProcess helps organizations document their company’s policies, procedures, and processes.

If you want your team members to achieve their goals on time and become more productive at work, you can use our software to do so.

Here are some companies who have leveraged the power of our software to manage their employees effectively and efficiently in one place.

Spark Marketer is a marketing agency for small- and medium-sized local businesses that want to leverage digital marketing to grow their businesses. Its dedicated team works closely with companies to navigate the digital space and achieve measurable results. 

The Nashville-based company has a track record of success working with chimney businesses in the home services space. It is committed to offering its clientele a custom experience and more than essential online services. They also create marketing campaigns focused on the unique attributes of each business to generate continuous income.

One of the biggest problems Spark Marketer faced was a lack of documentation. As a result, employees depended on tribal knowledge to get things done, which resulted in disorganization in the workplace. 

“When you’re doing work to a standard, then you can measure against that standard. Before, we would have these nebulous conversations when we had to let someone go: ‘Well, we don’t feel like you’re doing the job well.’ ‘Show me where I wasn’t doing it well, and I’ll change.’ This is horrible to admit now. I’m almost ashamed to say it but you know, there was no objectivity,” said Carter Harkins, co-founder of Spark Marketer.

Then they adopted SweetProcess to foster growth . Carter and his partner were introduced to SOPs by a business consultant, and they gave it a shot using Google Docs. However, they soon began to see the importance of documentation, and as their business began to grow, they realized that Google Docs was insufficient to sustain their growth. 

Carter said, “Growth causes you to think differently. You start realizing what got us to this point will not get us to where we want to go, so it’s time to shift gears. It’s time to look for efficiencies, so I started looking for systems that would help us document our processes more easily and more uniformly, and I just literally went out and started scouring the web.”

How SweetProcess Changed the Game at Spark Marketer

SweetProcess has a reputation as a results-oriented software. Like many businesses, the team at Spark Marketer has been enjoying the benefits of the system. Carter provides more details of how the software has improved operations at his organization.

1. Simplified process documentation

Capturing the right amount of information makes the difference in business process documentation . On the other hand, your processes may not be of much help if they are overly detailed and clustered—this is often the case when you use manual tools such as Google Docs for your documentation. 

“In a Google Doc format, you’re grabbing an entire section of text and moving it up above and just trying to organize things, but with SweetProcess, it’s super simple to break things out into new tasks and reorder them so that everything flows in a much more natural way.

2. Decentralized knowledge base

Documenting business processes goes beyond writing a bunch of information. There is a need to sieve out relevant information from the shaft and make it easily accessible by team members using a knowledge base software . 

“The ability to group things into procedural or process-based groupings has been a real change for us. For example, in Google Docs, it was just turned into one folder that was shared with everybody, and nobody knew exactly how to find what they needed.”

All that time spent by employees looking for specific information for their tasks could be used better, and SweetProcess made that possible. 

“SweetProcess not only standardized the format but made it easy to create the teams that we needed so that you only see the processes that you need to see, which makes it so much easier for people to go find what they need.”

Another company, Zen Media , is a public relations (PR) firm specializing in the tech niche. Established in 2009, the Dallas-based organization captures key moments in a brand’s life and turns those moments into the talk of the town. Plus, they have a track record of offering results-driven PR services to B2B and B2C brands worldwide. 

The new generation PR agency gives brands their desired level of exposure and ensures that this translates into money. It uses various techniques to measure the performance of its PR campaigns to understand their efficiency and round up the numbers. 

When Stephanie Chavez resumed her role as the company’s chief marketing officer, she found out that they had a series of great products that catered to their client’s needs but lacked operational structure underneath this excellent performance. 

“We were always producing great products and doing a great job for our clients; that wasn’t debatable. What was debatable was the ‘how can we streamline?’ and so that was one of the first things that I noticed,” Stephanie said. 

In the absence of a central knowledge base , employees relied on tribal knowledge to get by. Little could be done when the people who knew how to perform specific tasks were indisposed, holding the organization hostage. 

“What happens if one of the employees is out or sick? Every client is a little bit different—the way we research their content topics and their hashtags and whatnot, they are all different,” she said. 

Having noticed the structural gap in the organization, Stephanie was keen on finding the right system to resolve the problem. She found her answer when she attended a marketing class organized by a friend on LinkedIn. He recommended SweetProcess as an effective tool for streamlining business operations , and she checked it out. 

“Anthony talked about SweetProcess, and I thought, well, I’m going to check that out, and it’s been really wonderful. I have each department go through it, and we have a list of all the things that they do that are repeatable each month so that I can make sure, ‘Hey, what did you put in this month? Let’s run through it and make sure it makes sense to everyone.’”

How SweetProcess Raised the Bar at Zen Media

Read on to see exactly how SweetProcess facilitated the growth at Zen Media.

1. Employee onboarding and training

Hiring more employees is necessary as a business grows, but it is a challenge for many organizations to bring new hires up to speed with the processes and procedures in place. The team at Zen Media now enjoys a seamless onboarding process thanks to SweetProcess. Rather than going through a rigorous onboarding process, they direct new employees to the standard operating procedures in the system to get all the information they need about their duties.  

“When we hire new interns or employees, I send them to a whole bunch of the SweetProcess steps that we have, and I just send in the email, link it, and say watch all these, go through these processes, and that’s the very first onboarding process.”

Employee training on SweetProcess is not a one-off. New and established team members can always go back to the system if they doubt any process or procedure.

2. Quality control and assurance 

Achieving desired results at the workplace is more feasible when team members operate on the same level and produce consistent results. Beyond creating uniformity in organizational output, quality assurance and quality control help to win customer trust and loyalty as the customers are sure to get great results repeatedly. SweetProcess has helped the company work consistently as a team rather than individually. 

“It helps from a consistency perspective because everyone might be doing something a little bit differently, and I think it’s really hard to scale. Think about McDonald’s: if everyone in every franchise were making their hamburgers a little bit different, it wouldn’t be McDonald’s because you couldn’t expect the same thing every time. So by having everyone on the same page with SweetProcess, they can have a more efficient and predictable result.”

Want to improve efficiency in your team? 

Sign up for a 14-day free trial of SweetProcess today to create

and manage action plans at your organization. The best part? You do not need to add your credit card details to use the software for free.

An action plan helps you to achieve your goals. It transforms your vision into attainable results that boost your company’s growth. It also assists you in staying focused and success hungry. 

In this post, you’ve learned what action templates are and why you must use them to speed up your workflow instead of creating from scratch.

We also showed you 65 free action plan templates which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

Want to choose the action plan templates that are best to use for your

company? 

Click here to download the templates relevant to your industry , and get ahead of thousands of other businesses who have to build them from scratch. 

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