Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Someone who is starting a new nonprofit to help people age in place asked me for a copy of our Aging in Place in Darien plan. Since the plan has not yet been approved by our board, but since I would like to provide some guidance, I've decided to post a template for a nonprofit business plan. This is how we structured ours. But other organizations can use other formats.

Please keep in mind that the most important part of writing a business plan is the planning itself -- asking the hard questions, thinking about them, discussing them and reaching consensus. Then, you need to find someone who can write clearly to capture the consensus. An outline or template is a good beginning, but it takes a lot of work to fill in the blanks. The process can take up to 60 hours, including the writing, editing and financial projections.

If you need help developing your business plan, I would welcome the opportunity to consult with you. Feel free to contact me at: upstartwyn@gmail.com.

Here is the outline/template.

ORGANIZATION NAME
Mission:

Contact:
Title:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Web site:


Overview

Beneficiaries, Value and Competitive Advantage

Opportunity to Make a Difference

Research Results

History and Accomplishments

Standing Committees


Business Model
• Member Benefits :
• Communication –
• Fundraising –

Organization and Operations

Board of Directors

Competitive Analysis

Marketing

Advisory Board

Source of Funds and Fundraising
Financial Projections

Three Year Budget Projections
Assuming Current Configuration - Prudent Budget
Expenses Assumptions Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Writing a Business Plan for Aging in Place

I presented the first draft of the business plan for Aging in Place in Darien to the Strategic Planning Committee, and they loved it. Going through the planning process and then reading an actual draft of the resulting plan helped us all sort through our thoughts and goals, ask ourselves more questions, then really focus on how to make everything extremely clear for us and for a potential board of directors and funders.

I'm now editing.

The process of business planning has so much value. I wish more people understood this. One person on our committee is a member of SCORE (a volunteer group that helps entrepreneurs with their plans for free). Interestingly, he said, "I hope you charge a lot when you do plans for business owners. This has real value. It's an outstanding plan."  (I'm donating my time to Aging in Place as my own form of personal outreach to the community. I also sit on the Advisory Board.) But I was struck by the comment. I told him that many entrepreneurs think I charge too much for my service. He said they don't understand what I can do. But maybe nonprofits with grant money for business plans will.

Basically, I get people to think and to explain all facets of their their business. I take that and write it all down in a way that tells a clear story of the true value of the company. The resulting document becomes a road map for achieving goals and a marketing document to attract investors -- or in this case --  funders.