Adaptive Impact Planning: A Short Take

The phrase ‘organizational planning’ conjures images of calendars, excel spreadsheets, and abandoned binders on a shelf. Largely synonymous with strategic planning, organizational planning has had a bad reputation, since the 1980’s, for producing a final product that can quickly become irrelevant in the relatively recent past, the fundamental aspects of strategic planning - planning and strategy in the context of the organization - have ceased to be the most important aspects of our work as a whole in the nonprofit, arts & cultural, or education sectors. In more contemporary times, innovation and response to changing circumstances (be it a global health crises, influx of philanthropic dollars, citizen civic action, or the like) is quick and unpredictable, data is inexpensive and overwhelmingly plentiful, and there are more ways to communicate than ever before. In response to the complicated question of how to best prepare a mission-driven organization for the unknown — without compromising on mission, vision, and values — Bridget Woodbury proposed the Adaptive Impact Plan (AIP). She theorizes that an AIP would be created through a deliberate planning process that addresses the reciprocity between mission, vision, values and priorities. This process involves reviewing community constituencies and activities in relation to an organization’s mission, vision, and values and then using that to select strategic priorities that guide decision-making.