Strategic Planning Facilitation
Collaborative planning processes that help leadership teams, boards, and organizations clarify direction, align priorities, and turn strategy into focused action.
Strategic planning works best when people are engaged in the process, not simply handed a plan.
Whether your organization needs a multi-year strategic plan, an annual planning process, or a quarterly leadership team reset, outside facilitation can help you create the structure, space, and momentum needed to make good decisions together.
Who this is for
Strategic Planning Facilitation may be right for your organization if:
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Your leadership team needs to align around annual priorities or quarterly goals
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Your nonprofit needs to create a 2–3 year strategic plan with meaningful input from staff, board members, leaders, or other stakeholders
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You have too many competing priorities and need a clearer path forward
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You want a planning process that is collaborative, structured, and practical
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Your board, staff, or leadership team needs stronger shared understanding
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You need to move from ideas and discussion into decisions and action
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You want an outside facilitator who can keep the process focused, productive, and inclusive
What this work helps organizations do
A strong strategic planning process helps people step out of the day-to-day and make thoughtful choices about where to focus.
The goal is not to create a document that sits on a shelf. The goal is to help people clarify what matters most, make aligned decisions, and leave with a plan they understand, believe in, and can actually use.
This work helps organizations:
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clarify mission, vision, values, and strategic direction
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gather meaningful input from key stakeholders
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identify strategic priorities and goals
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align leadership, staff, and/or board members around the path forward
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make decisions about what to focus on — and what not to focus on
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translate big-picture strategy into actionable goals and next steps
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build shared ownership and buy-in
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create implementation plans, metrics, or accountability structures when needed
Available planning processes
Strategic Planning Facilitation can be designed around the size, stage, and needs of your organization.
Multi-Year Strategic Planning Process
A collaborative, multi-month process often used by nonprofits, associations, boards, and mission-driven organizations to create a 2–3 year strategic plan. This may include stakeholder input, staff and board engagement, planning sessions, strategy development, and optional implementation planning.
Annual Planning Facilitation
A structured process for leadership teams that need to clarify priorities for the year ahead, align around goals, and identify the decisions, initiatives, and resources needed to move forward.
Quarterly Planning Facilitation
A focused planning session for teams that need to review progress, reset priorities, address what has changed, and clarify the next set of commitments.
Strategic Planning + Implementation Support
For organizations that want help translating the plan into action. This may include implementation planning, metrics, accountability rhythms, follow-up sessions, or quarterly planning support.
How the process works
Each strategic planning engagement is designed around the organization’s goals, timeline, stakeholders, and decision-making needs.
A typical process may include:
1. Discovery and design
We begin by clarifying the purpose of the planning process, desired outcomes, stakeholders, timeline, decision points, and what kind of plan the organization needs.
What makes this process different
Strategic planning is not just about generating ideas. It is about helping people make choices.
Kelly brings structure, focus, and thoughtful facilitation to planning conversations so the group can engage honestly, hear multiple perspectives, and move toward clear decisions.
Her approach is collaborative without becoming vague, practical without becoming shallow, and structured without shutting down meaningful conversation. She helps groups stay connected to the big picture while also identifying the concrete priorities and actions that will move the organization forward.
Kelly brings nearly two decades of coaching and facilitation experience, an MBA from Cornell, and experience working with nonprofit organizations, boards, associations, leadership teams, entrepreneurial businesses, and growth-stage companies.
“Our strategic planning process successfully charted a path for the next three years. The iterative approach that Kelly and Julie facilitated made a daunting task manageable, ensuring everyone — even newer staff, committee members, and board members — could contribute and feel invested.
The plan strikes the perfect balance between high-level vision and actionable detail, giving staff clear direction.
We especially value the metrics and clear goals, which will keep us focused over the next three years. The implementation plan has streamlined our efforts, replacing multiple disjointed action plans with one cohesive strategy. This process has energized our team and set us up for success.”
— Julie Van Domelan, Executive Director, EFAA
Frequently asked questions
Do you facilitate multi-year strategic planning processes?
Yes. Kelly facilitates longer-term strategic planning processes, often for nonprofits, associations, boards, and mission-driven organizations creating a 2–3 year strategic plan.