The Failure of Strategic Planning Processes in Australian Nonprofit, Voluntary Organizations

Nonprofit organizations have slowly adopted strategic planning processes, often at the behest of their major stakeholders, and encouraged by academics and consultants, in order to be seen as professionally managed. Although there is a significant amount of research on strategic planning in business organizations, comparatively little data addresses the role of strategic planning in nonprofit organizations, and what exists suggests problems. This paper focuses on identifying the effectiveness of strategic planning in nonprofit voluntary associations in Australia and whether such processes are useful.