How to Write a Business Plan for Non-Profits
Nonprofit business plans are similar in many ways to for-profit business plans. Business planning for nonprofits, however, includes a greater focus on the need for a nonprofit's services and its plans for funding its activities via grants, donations and charitable work.
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Instructions
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Writing a Nonprofit Business Plan
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Split your nonprofit business planning into five major headings: Services, Needs Analysis, Organization, Marketing and Financials. The sections will appear in the finished business plan in approximately this order. A sixth section, the Executive Summary, will be placed first in the finished business plan. Since the Executive Summary is a one-page overview of the entire plan, however, it is simpler to write the summary after the plan is finished.
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Discuss the services and/or products your nonprofit offers. First, describe each service and/or product. What does it do? Who is responsible for making it available to your target audience? How is the service implemented or product offered? When and where are services and products available to the public?
Next, discuss why each product or service matters. What needs do the product or service fulfill? Why are they necessary, and in what ways is your nonprofit uniquely equipped to meet these needs?
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Write about the results of your needs analysis. Who is your target audience? Where do they live? How many are there? What other, similar services are available, if any? How does your nonprofit fill a gap in other services or provide a service that doesn't exist in the community? Include the results of any surveys, interviews or other research in this section.
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Prepare a section on the nonprofit's organization and management. Is the nonprofit a corporation, association, partnership, or is it arranged in another fashion? Has the nonprofit received tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3) or another federal tax provision?
Write about the people who work for your nonprofit. If the nonprofit is small, you may want to include all of them; if it is larger, you may wish merely to discuss the major players, such as the executive director or program manager. Describe the nonprofit's management structure, if any, and provide job descriptions for the key individuals. You may also wish to discuss the nonprofit's board of directors in this section, particularly if their talents or experience are relevant to the nonprofit's goals.
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Lay out your marketing strategies. How will you reach your target audience? What forms of advertising or public relations strategies will you use? Write a basic marketing and public relations plan and insert it here. You may also wish to discuss the nonprofit's location if it is critical to marketing.
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Add financial information. Attach a copy of the nonprofit's actual or projected annual budget. Will you get funding for the nonprofit's activities from grants, loans, fees or other sources of revenue? How will you ensure the nonprofit operates within its budget? Do you have a backup plan if money gets tight? Discuss these topics here.
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Finish your drafting by writing a one-page Executive Summary. The Executive Summary should briefly summarize the nonprofit's mission and goals; its board of directors and staff; a description of its services, programs or products; its funding sources; and any market research.
If the business plan is going to be submitted to a particular donor, briefly discuss what the proposed donation will do to help the nonprofit meet its goals. You may wish to draft several versions of the Executive Summary, tailoring each one to a specific donor or lender, as well as a "general" Executive Summary for internal use.
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