What are the key steps for project planning in the NFP sector?
When you’re responsible for project planning in the not for profit sector, there are a whole host of aspects to think about. The most obvious, money, is important – while staffing and project management should also be on your to do list as you plan. This post will delve into these considerations and explain how to incorporate them into your strategy.
Appropriate costing
For the sort of community-minded visionaries who are doing such good work in the not for profit sector, thinking about financing is often a necessary evil. But the reality of the situation is that without appropriately-costed plans, your project may quickly find itself coming to nothing. Before starting any project plan, it’s wise to use financial modelling software to think smartly about all of your revenue streams and whether they will live up to expectations. Will you apply for a grant to pay for it, for example, and what’s the likelihood of your grant being approved in full? Will the project take a business model approach, and can it definitely generate enough income to sustain itself? Without asking these questions, you may soon find that your project falls at the first hurdle.
Staffing issues
While high profile charities such as Oxfam or Cancer Research UK are often seen to have large staffing bodies, it’s often the case that not for profits are small organisations that don’t have such big staffing bases. Before launching your project, it’s wise to be sure that your current staff can take on the burden of the additional workload. There’s nothing worse than wasting the time of others by launching a project that you clearly don’t have capacity for – so be sure to have an honest conversation with your team about whether or not it really is feasible. If it’s not, investing in software designed to automate key processes might be wise, as it’s a streamlined and efficient way to get extra work done without having to hire more people.
Project management
Once your project is off the ground, how will you manage it and keep it on target? This is another important question to answer – and it’s one that is often best answered with “software”. Sophisticated project management software tools that track everything from the risk of potential overspending to areas of significant inefficiency can be a godsend once your project is underway, and can sometimes mean the difference be-tween its success and its failure.
Whether you’re planning to launch a new social action project designed to help the most vulnerable in society or you’re hoping to raise awareness of a particular issue through a campaign, there are clearly all kinds of potential projects that not for profit workers can do. But from project management to fully-funded costing plans, proper planning is essential.
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