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Lean planning plus teamwide risk ownership means fewer fires and faster pivots—here’s the framework to reorient your focus
For nonprofit leaders grappling with the urgent vs. important dilemma (described in my previous post), the key is to embed long-term resilience practices into your routine, even in small ways. You don't resolve this issue overnight; instead, you develop habits and structures that gradually shift the balance. Here are some strategic steps and guidance, in line with our approach at Risk Alternatives, to help break the cycle of short-term thinking.
Traditional strategic plans often collect dust. Instead, adopt a Lean Strategic Planning (LSP) approach that keeps strategy dynamic and front-of-mind. LSP involves short, frequent planning and review cycles rather than one big plan every few years. For example, commit to quarterly strategy reviews and risk updates with your team. This lets you pivot when conditions change without abandoning your long-term direction. By reviewing progress and emerging issues every quarter, you ensure that long-term goals are continually revisited, rather than being discussed only at a biennial or annual retreat. LSP also emphasizes integrating risk management into strategy. Each goal comes with an eye on the risks and early warning indicators around it. The benefit is a plan that lives with your organization: it evolves in real time and guides day-to-day decisions, so you’re not just reacting to events, you’re anticipating them.
One reason nonprofits default to immediate needs is that a tiny group (often the executive director and a few senior staff) carries all the burden of foresight. Expand the circle. Our Foundations for Growth (FFG) framework trains organizations in Lean Risk Management so that identifying and addressing risks becomes everyone’s job, not just leadership’s. Begin by conducting a collaborative risk inventory session with staff and board members. This session will involve brainstorming potential risks and opportunities across various areas, including programs, finance, and operations. From there, develop a simple risk register that prioritizes the most important risks and assigns an “owner” to each. Then begin meeting periodically to track countermeasures to those risks.
This may sound technical, but it’s simply a process to bring long-term thinking to the forefront. By involving team members in this process, you create inclusive ownership of the organization’s future. People at all levels start flagging issues and proposing solutions early, rather than waiting until a problem explodes. Decentralizing decision-making and fostering open communication through frameworks like FFG empowers your team to take initiative and share responsibility for resilience. It also frees leaders from having to shoulder everything alone.
Over time, you’ll notice a culture shift: staff move from a reactive mindset (“I just do my job and react to problems as they come”) to a proactive mindset (“I scan for potential issues and opportunities to improve”). That cultural change is the ultimate antidote to short-termism.
In practical terms, make sure there is dedicated time for long-term thinking on your calendar and treat it as sacred. This could mean a monthly strategy hour in management meetings or quarterly board sessions focused solely on forward-looking questions. I actually advise nonprofit leaders to build toward having a monthly half-day or whole-day session focused on working on the organization, rather than simply in it. It’s tempting to cancel these when urgent matters arise, but resist that temptation.
One useful tactic is to tie strategy discussions to real data. Review your key performance indicators and trends regularly, so you can spot ahead-of-the-curve problems such as a funding source that’s tapering off, or a program outcome that’s declining, before they become crises.
Some nonprofits create a dashboard for long-term health by tracking metrics like cash reserve level, staff turnover rate, client outcomes over time, etc., which the board and leadership review periodically. By institutionalizing these practices, you normalize thinking about sustainability even amid daily chaos. Over time, your team will get more comfortable balancing immediate needs with strategic imperatives because both are always on the table.
Breaking the urgency cycle can be tough, so use all the support you can find. This includes external resources and internal policies that give you a bit more breathing room. For example, work with funders and partners to secure flexible, long-term support, and don’t be afraid to ask a loyal donor to consider a multi-year general operating grant, or to allocate part of their gift to a “resilience fund” for capacity-building. Many funders are increasingly open to these conversations post-2020, as shown by the trend in higher trust and flexibility that I have mentioned in earlier posts in this series. You can also team up with peer organizations to share resources or bulk-purchase services, easing short-term cost pressures.
Internally, build slack where possible: cross-train staff and volunteers so that if one person is swamped by immediate demands, someone else can backfill routine tasks and free them for strategic projects. The goal is to create margin of safety in your operations. Resilient nonprofits deliberately maintain a bit of capacity in reserve, whether money, time, or people, precisely so they can afford to think ahead. Even if you can only free up a small amount of that reserve at first, protect it fiercely.
Finally, approach this whole challenge as a journey of continuous improvement rather than a one-time fix. Every quarter, evaluate:
Are we getting better at balancing immediate vs. long-term needs?
What pulled us off track this period?
What can we adjust in our routines or plans to prevent that?
Celebrate the small wins when you successfully avert a crisis thanks to foresight, or when you notice staff proactively solving problems before they become urgent. Those are signs of building resilience. Incorporate lessons learned into your processes – in essence, learn as you go and evolve. As our Lean Strategic Planning philosophy highlights, you don’t just set a plan and forget it; you iterate on it continuously. Over time, this creates an organizational culture that is nimble, forward-thinking, and less prone to panic. That’s exactly the kind of culture that manages short-term necessities while keeping an eye on the horizon.
In sum, the tendency to prioritize immediate needs over long-term sustainability remains a defining challenge for nonprofits in 2025, even more so given the volatile funding and policy climate. However, it’s a challenge that can be met. By acknowledging the problem and taking proactive steps like the ones above, nonprofits can start breaking out of the tyranny of the urgent. The payoff for doing so is huge: organizations that invest in sustainability bounce back from setbacks stronger and seize opportunities faster. They are the ones that not only survive uncertain times but also thrive in the years ahead. With the right strategies, you can serve your mission today and be ready for what comes next, which is the very essence of resilience.