Strategic Planning

Basic Training on Conservation Trust FundsCape Town, South Africa March 31 – April 2, 2009

A Strategic Plan…

translates a fund’s broad vision and mission statements into specific goals, objectives and activities over a long-term (5-8) year period).

Amazon Region Protected Areas Program - ARPA

Ten Year Objectives (2002 – 2012):

Protect 500,000 Km2 (50 million hectares) of the Amazon in a representative and well-managed system of protected areas.

Establish an endowment fund to cover long-term recurrent management costs.

Key Strategic Issues•Linkages to national and regional environmental plans and strategies•Program themes and focus: strategic impact, science-based priorities, feasibility

•Criteria for eligible grants and beneficiaries

•Operational and Program Needs and Costs•Time-line – phased approach•Financial planning and fundraising strategy

Criteria for “Ridges to Reef” Program Selection

• Programmatic leverage / scalability. Conservation programs should tackle ecological threats at a scale which is relevant for the long term.

• Capacity. Organizations “on the ground” should possess the skills, influence and means to implement the conservation programs in question.

• Issues of urgency / importance. The programs should address urgent and important problems; the magnitude of the envisioned program should match the magnitude of the problem.

• Efficiency. Programs should have the potential to leverage relatively small funding to achieve a disproportionately significant impact.

Strategic Plan is guided by:

• CTF’s Vision, Mission Statement, Legal statutes

• Prepared by staff and technical experts

• Wide stakeholder consultation, often facilitated by strategic planning consultant

• Adopted by Board

Tools for Strategic Planning

• Logical framework approaches at the overall program level to identify impacts and indicators

• Results chain exercises to identify actions to achieve desired outcomes

• Financial planning linked to program management planning