Just wrapped up a dynamic and engaging Board retreat in beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with the dedicated Board members of Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative - PRTC and CDG. It was a privilege to facilitate conversations centered on strategy, governance, and future growth. Grateful for their commitment to thoughtful leadership and impactful service!
Healthy Boards not only plan for the present, they explore possibilities for the future with curiosity. It was a pleasure to facilitate a long-range planning retreat with the dedicated Board of Directors of Walden School, an independent K-12 school in Louisville, KY. Thoughtful, mission-driven leadership like theirs is the foundation of lasting impact. Grateful for the opportunity to support their commitment to excellence and innovation in education! 🌟📚
Alley Cat Advocates (ACA) provides for the humane treatment of unowned cats in the metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky area. They performed 6,886 Spay/Neuter Surgeries in 2024, in addition to the quality and compassionate care they provide daily for community cats. It was a joy to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with their Board and staff team. I am grateful for the opportunity to support their vision and help shape the future of this impactful organization. 🐱💙
Most of us like to believe we know where we’re headed. Nonprofits, in particular, are mission-driven, focused, and goal-oriented. But let’s be honest: we don’t have a crystal ball. The world is unpredictable—funding can shift, policies can change, and crises can turn plans upside down overnight.
Enter: scenario planning.
While often associated with strategic planning, scenario planning is also a powerful standalone tool that nonprofits can use to navigate uncertainty, test assumptions, and make more resilient decisions.
Let’s explore what scenario planning is, why it’s useful, and how your nonprofit can start using it today.
What Is Scenario Planning?
Scenario planning is a method of imagining different versions of the future so your organization can prepare—not predict, but prepare.
It’s not about guessing exactly what’s going to happen. It’s about exploring what could happen—and thinking through how your organization might respond if it does.
This isn’t science fiction or wild speculation. Scenario planning is structured, strategic, and practical. It gives you a way to explore uncertainties and build contingency plans, so you’re not caught off guard.
Why Use Scenario Planning?
Many nonprofits think of scenario planning as a subset of strategic planning, and yes—it’s often included in that context. But you don’t need a multi-year strategic plan to benefit from it. In fact, scenario planning is often most helpful while implementing your strategic plan or during times of rapid change, when long-term planning feels impossible.
Here are a few reasons to use scenario planning as a standalone:
You’re facing major uncertainty: Economic downturns, elections, climate events, or funding disruptions can all create conditions where scenario planning becomes essential.
An unexpected opportunity arises: Should you expand services? Hire more staff? Launch a capital campaign? Scenario planning can help you assess the risks and implications.
You want to build organizational resilience: Thinking through different futures helps teams stay nimble and less reactive.
What Scenario Planning Looks Like in Practice
An external facilitator can be an important partner who creates a structured process that allows you and your team to fully participate in imagining and creating the plans that will guide the future of your organization. For me, a few critical steps include:
Step 1: Identify Your Driving Forces
What are the major uncertainties or trends that could affect your work? Examples might include:
Funding levels
Program enrollment
Staffing availability
Step 2: Create a Few Key Scenarios
Pick 2–3 distinct, plausible futures.
Step 3: Explore Impacts and Responses
For each scenario, ask:
What would we need to stop, start, or adjust?
What programs or services are most at risk?
How would we communicate with stakeholders?
What’s our financial contingency plan?
Step 4: Identify Common Threads
Are there actions that show up in all or most scenarios? Those are your high-leverage moves—things you can start doing now to prepare, regardless of which future unfolds.
Scenario Planning ≠ Worst-Case Planning
A common misunderstanding is that scenario planning is just “worst-case planning.” But it’s more balanced than that. You’ll explore a range of futures—optimistic, pessimistic, and somewhere in between.
The point isn’t to be gloomy. It’s to be ready.
Benefits Beyond the Plan
Even if none of your scenarios happen exactly as you imagined (and they probably won’t), the process still has big benefits:
Improves decision-making by encouraging big-picture thinking
Builds team alignment around possible risks and opportunities
Boosts resilience by creating a culture of adaptability
Reduces panic because you’ve already talked through "what if" situations
Plus, you’ll walk away with a playbook—not just for reacting, but for responding intentionally when change comes.
Planning in the Real World
When the path ahead is foggy, shifting, or completely unknown, scenario planning becomes your flashlight.
It helps you stay alert, responsive, and aligned—even in unpredictable conditions.
So don’t wait for the perfect moment or a formal planning cycle. Use scenario planning anytime your nonprofit needs to pause, think, and prepare for what might come next.
Because in today’s world, readiness is a critical companion to vision.
If you would like to discuss scenario planning for your organization, please reach out to us using the button below.
Coalitions thrive when members are informed, engaged, and inspired to work together. Thank you to Children’s Advocacy Centers of Kentucky (CACKY) for asking me to facilitate their strategic planning retreat and planning process. CACKY is the statewide coalition of CACs dedicated to helping every child impacted by abuse. CACKY connects local CACs and partners with the tools, resources, and support needed to provide a comprehensive response to child abuse.
Last year, CACs in Kentucky served over 7,300 children from all 120 counties across the state. Children who receive services from a CAC are more likely to receive the medical and mental health services they need to help them heal from their abuse. Kentucky CACs provide over 12,000 mental health sessions to clients and non-offending caregivers each year. I am inspired by the bold goals and strategies this amazing group set in motion!
Locally-owned businesses are one-of-a-kind enterprises that are vital to the unique character of a community. Spent a great day with the Board of Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA) facilitating their strategic plan. I encourage you to learn more about LIBA’s mission to cultivate the unique community character of the Metro Louisville area by promoting locally-owned, independent businesses and to educate citizens on the value of purchasing locally.
Children who have been abused or neglected have many different people come in and out of their lives. CASA volunteers, however, stay involved and present for the child for the duration of their court case. CASA of the Wilderness Trail trains and supports community volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children within the Family Court system. It was a privilege to continue my work with CASA programs across the country by facilitating a strategic planning retreat for this incredible organization.
Pets4Life Louisville provides animal wellness resources and information to under-served pet families. Programming is modeled after the Humane Society of the United States’ Pets for Life initiative. I enjoyed the opportunity to spend yesterday with the Pets4Life Louisville leadership team facilitating a strategic planning session. Check them out Louisville friends!
CASA of Midwest Kentucky supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused, neglected, and dependent children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes. They are on an exciting path to advance their mission over the next few years and I thoroughly enjoyed facilitating their strategic planning retreat this week.
Since 1984, CASA of the River Region has trained and paired volunteers to be the voice for abused and neglected children in Family Court. It was an honor to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with the talented leaders of this organization yesterday. I encourage you to learn more about CASA, find your local program, and explore how you can change a child’s story.
The ecosystem around our organizations changes rapidly, and Boards that routinely survey that landscape and plan thoughtfully for the future are best positioned to excel. It was energizing to facilitate a strategic planning retreat this week in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina with the talented leaders of NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association. NTCA proudly represents more than 850 independent, family-owned and community-based broadband companies that are building and delivering connectivity and essential services in rural and small-town communities across the U.S.
The mission of ACE Mentor Louisville is to engage, excite, and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction through mentoring and continued support for their advancement into the industry. It was a privilege to facilitate their strategic planning retreat as these outstanding leaders envision ways to expand and enhance their impact on young people across our community.
Responding to those in crisis requires a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and substance use professionals, individuals, and families. Last week I had the privilege of facilitating a multi-day Board retreat focused on strategic planning with the team from CIT International. I am inspired by their commitment to promoting collaboration and effective training to support communities as well as those experiencing a crisis.
A thoughtful strategic plan includes the ideas and perspectives of Board, staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders. It was a privilege to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with the fantastic team from CASA of the Lincoln Trail this past weekend. CASA of the Lincoln Trail provides trained community volunteers to speak for children in court who are victims of dependency, neglect, and/or abuse. If you want to make a difference in the life of a child, consider becoming a CASA volunteer!
When talented leaders with diverse skills, talents, and perspectives gather to discuss their vision for the future, the energy is infectious. Thank you to the incredible Board and CEO of Great Kids Inc for inviting me to facilitate their recent strategic visioning session. Great Kids makes our world a better place for kids by creating early childhood education curricula and training for home visiting programs who support families.
The cornerstone of an effective strategic plan is a vision that is graphic, inspiring, and attainable. CASA programs and volunteers help change the story for children who have experienced abuse and neglect. It was my privilege to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with the leaders of CASA of the Northern Bluegrass last week.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in a world where mental health is treated the same way we approach other health issues? The Pete Foundation rallies communities to champion youth mental health and wellness through normalizing the topic, promoting education, and providing tools for healthy emotional development. It was a privilege to facilitate the recent strategic planning retreat with the leaders of this incredible organization.
As a facilitator, one of the most rewarding experiences is spending time with a Board that asks “How can I best serve the mission and support the team?” I was honored to spend the day with the Board and leaders of CASA by the Lakes for their strategic planning retreat. CASA by the Lakes envisions a community where every abused and neglected child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and loving home.
It is magical when talented, passionate, and engaged leaders who are committed to the mission gather to plan for the future. Had a wonderful time facilitating a strategic planning retreat with the team from CASA of the Ohio Valley. These amazing leaders and volunteers advocate for abused, neglected, or dependent children within the Family Court systems of Daviess, McLean, Hancock, and Ohio Counties.
You can go home again! I was born and raised in New York, which made this week extra special as I was able to be back in the NY/NJ area to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with the Board and staff leaders of 180 Turning Lives Around. 180 empowers survivors and families affected by domestic violence and sexual assault to find the courage and strength to turn their lives around.