Strategic Planning

You can do anything you want, just not everything you want.

This reality is the foundation of Association Laboratory Inc.’s strategic planning service.

Association Laboratory Inc. specializes in strategic planning for trade and professional organizations. Our broad industry experience allows us to guide your volunteer leadership to consensus on the organizational, marketing or delivery strategies that provide staff with the clear direction necessary for successful implementation and management.

Association Laboratory Inc. provides a comprehensive toolkit for association strategic planning.

For associations with short timeframes or limited resources Association Laboratory Inc. has created an affordable, performance-based strategic planning process specifically designed to create an effective strategic plan within these parameters.

This proprietary process based on our work with a wide variety of associations involves several key features.

Critical Issue Identification and Prioritization - Association Laboratory Inc. oversees a process for identifying key issues of the association related to the external environment and membership value so that final association strategy can take the unique circumstances of your association and membership into account.

Strategic Planning Retreat - Your leadership will participate in a 1 and ½ day facilitated strategic planning retreat where professional association executive facilitators guide your leaders through an objective process to develop critical business strategy to address your association’s goals.

Strategic Plan - A final Strategic Plan outlining the process, conclusions and recommendations will be developed to act as a guide for staff implementation.

In addition, by combining our research expertise with strategic planning, associations can implement a comprehensive, objective, data-driven strategic planning process that allows the most sophisticated associations to create a strategic plan most appropriate to their unique Mission and goals.

The comprehensive Association Laboratory Inc. strategic planning process includes the following key features.

Membership Profile - Identify the unique individual and business characteristics of your membership so that you can assess the most valuable audiences for service.

Program/Service Evaluation - Assess which programs and services create the most value for members and eliminate unproductive activities to free up staff and financial resources for more important priorities.

Member Needs Assessment - Identify the top concerns of your membership so that you can develop new programs and services while improving the delivery of your existing activities to provide greater membership value.

External Environmental Analysis - Understand the external pressures that will define the future of your association and create the parameters necessary for your volunteer leadership to identify and prioritize strategy.

Internal Strength/Weaknesses Evaluation - Identify your leaders' perceptions of critical association strengths and weaknesses to guide consensus development of feasible strategy within the financial and staff capabilities of the association.

A Strategic Business Review will be developed consolidating all the information necessary for your volunteer leadership to develop your new strategic plan. This document provides an objective knowledge-base to guide discussions of business strategy at the Strategic Planning Retreat.

Strategic Planning Retreat - Your leadership will participate in a 1 and ½ day facilitation where professional association executive facilitators will guide your leaders through an objective process to address your association’s key goals, develop critical organizational, marketing and delivery strategy.

The final Strategic Plan written for your review and approval is structured to provide staff with the freedom to determine the best means of implementation and help volunteer leaders avoid the necessity of micromanagement. This document is not simply a statement of tasks, but a clear description of the association's business strategy and the conclusions on which this strategy is based.

The modern association understands that the essence of strategic planning is not a document, but a process of continual evaluation and discussion of the association’s goals, threats and opportunities.

Association Laboratory Inc. has the experience and capabilities to act as an objective, knowledgeable partner in this process.

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