Planning for club development and growth
A strategic plan outlines the direction, goals, and impact of your club. Your strategic plan should communicate your club's values and goals and provide clarity to make decisions for the club that align with the values and goals of the club.
Resources
Strategic planning process
The strategic planning flowchart 130.4 KB) is a quick guide on the planning process. It shows the process flow through:
- purpose – Your ‘Why Statement’
- goals
- strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
- actions
- implementation and review.
To improve strategic planning, involve club members and stakeholders to foster commitment and ownership. You can involve incoming members and include strategic planning as part of your club’s onboarding process.
The planning process is valuable, offering a chance to plan for the club's future beyond daily tasks. During planning, stay open to new ideas and consider both internal and external factors like technology and societal trends. Be ready to adapt the plan as needed for resilience and preparedness.
Use the strategic planning flowchart 130.4 KB) and following worksheets together for effective strategic planning process.
Strategic planning worksheets
The strategic planning process will help you define your club’s purpose and goals and develop a plan to achieve your needs. You can organise workshops with your committee and involve members to complete the worksheets. Once completed, consolidate the information into your own strategic planning document to share with your members.
Purpose worksheet
Understanding your club’s purpose is the first step in the strategic planning process. A strong 'why’ statement helps:
- guide decision-making
- drive member engagement
- focus planning efforts.
A 'why’ statement goes beyond the objectives outlined in your club’s constitution. While these objectives may describe the activities of the club, your ‘why’ statement should speak from the heart. It should capture the essence of your club, tapping into the emotion that draws people to your club and keeps them coming back.
The purpose worksheet 137.7 KB) helps define your club’s purpose and develop your ‘why’ statement, mission, vision, and values.
Goals worksheet
Having ambitious goals inspires and motivates your members, as well as laying the groundwork for achieving incredible results.
The goals worksheet 137.7 KB) will help you categorise goals into:
- doable (immediately achievable)
- stretch (requiring some additional resources or effort)
- possible (long-term and ambitious).
This approach will help your club stay focused and motivated as you work towards achieving your goals.
SWOT
A SWOT analysis examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and is a common tool in strategic planning.
Use the SWOT analysis worksheet 148.2 KB) to outline the steps to build on your strengths, address your weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate threats.
Be honest about your club’s strengths and weaknesses. Many people list strengths too modestly and weaknesses too harshly, so aim for a balanced assessment that accurately reflects your club’s current situation.
Action plan
Action planning outlines what your club will do to achieve its goals, take advantage of opportunities, build on strengths, and address weaknesses and threats. When developing your actions, make sure you consider the funding and resources required.
Set a timeframe and assign a leader to each task to help ensure a logical distribution of tasks
Use the action plan worksheet 145.2 KB) to document your goals, actions, priorities, assigned roles, and budget.
More information
- Check your National and State Sporting Organisations’ resources, and review their strategic plans to ensure that your plan aligns with theirs.
- Use the market research kit to analyse your market, competitors, and customers.
