Strategic planning

A clear strategic plan is central to the process of working effectively as an NGO support provider (NSP). NSPs have to make choices about a range of strategic priorities depending upon the nature of their work:

what geographical areas to work in
which aspects of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and impact mitigation to address
how many and which types of NGO and CBO to support
which populations to prioritise
what working methods and approaches to prioritise
how to position themselves in relation to other programmes.

In some cases pre-existing parameters may determine strategic priorities, such as the level of funding available, geographical remit, organisational mission, donor requirements and government priorities. Within these parameters, NSPs’ initial strategic plans usually involve three processes, mostly recorded as governing documents, which are designed to keep their work strategically focused.

A detailed situation assessment of the ‘landscape’ or context within which the NSP will work, focusing on the essential features of the local HIV/AIDS epidemic, the national or regional response, and questions of capacity in the NGO/CBO sector.
A strategic summary of the aims and objectives of the NSP and the means by which these will be achieved. These are often in the form of a logical framework (log frame) for the programme which sets out the chosen purposes, assumptions, priorities, targets, activities and indicators of success.
A record of the enabling structures and systems for the NSP, including descriptions of the governance and organisational structures, roles, responsibilities and capacity of the NSP, one or more workplans, and the evaluation plan.

Most NSPs also review their strategic planning at regular intervals (six-monthly, annually, or less frequently) to take account of a range of changing circumstances, such as:

developments in the national or regional HIV epidemic
developments or paradigm shifts in donor funding and requirements
changes in other NGO/CBO support and government programmes
new national or regional research, not available to previous assessments
intelligence provided by the partner organisations supported by the NSP itself; for example, from a range of participatory community assessments
the results of monitoring and evaluation of the NGO/CBO support programme as a whole, as well as of the work of the supported partner organisations.
Changes within the NSP, such as staffing, leadership, evolving skills etc etc