The Problem
Why Traditional Strategy Falls Short
Most nonprofits know they need a strategy, yet strategy often ends up as a 40‑page document
that nobody reads and nobody wants to update. It’s full of five‑year goals and indicators but offers
little help when the world changes and the organization needs to pivot quickly.
01
Slow & Heavy
Takes months to produce, consuming time and energy the team doesn’t have.
02
Hard to Change
Once approved, it’s set in stone — quickly becoming obsolete as the world shifts.
03
Delivery‑Focused
Prioritizes Program A, B, C over organizational learning, innovation, and change.
As the environment shifts — funders move priorities, community needs evolve, new
technologies emerge — organizations adapt in practice but rarely update the strategy. In effect, many
nonprofits operate without a real strategy, just a historical document.
The Core Idea
Three Simple Layers
Agile Strategy is built for nimble, reflective organizations that want strategy
and day‑to‑day practice to stay tightly connected.
Layer 01
Strategic Direction
Your long‑term north star that rarely changes.
Layer 02
Strategic Signals
The evolving insights, opportunities, and threats that shape what you do next.
Layer 03
Strategic Sprints
Short, focused projects that move you forward in 2–3 months.
This three‑layer architecture replaces static, waterfall plans with a system you can update
in small moves — without rewriting everything.
Layer 01
Strategic Direction
Strategic Direction is the evergreen part of your strategy. It sets the long‑term course
and includes a small number of powerful elements:
Vision & Mission
One or two sentences about the change you want to see in the world and why that change
matters.
Core Strategic Insight
The opportunity you originally saw that others missed — a gap, a different way of
working, or a unique path to impact that makes your organization distinct.
BHAG
A Big Hairy Audacious Goal — a bold, long‑term ambition that pulls you into 10x
thinking rather than incrementalism.
Economic Drivers
A few key ratios or metrics that tell you whether you are economically healthy, sustainable,
and able to scale your impact.
Values
The core principles that guide your choices and trade‑offs — what you stand up for
and refuse to compromise on.
These elements should not change every quarter. They form the anchor against
which you assess new ideas and decisions.
Layer 02
Strategic Signals
Strategic Signals are the dynamic, evolving part of your strategy. They capture what’s
changing and what you’re learning:
📡
External Shifts
Policy changes, funder moves, new community needs, technological developments, partner opportunities, and
emerging risks.
💡
Internal Learnings
New strategic insights that build on your core insight — new ways of working, patterns you’ve
noticed, or unexpected benefits opening fresh possibilities.
🧪
Ideas for Pivots & Experiments
Early hypotheses about changing direction, testing new models, or running strategic experiments that could
significantly alter how you work.
You update your Strategic Signals as you learn. They are the bridge between your
unchanging Direction and your short‑term Strategic Sprints.
Layer 03
Strategic Sprints
Instead of multi‑year programs with fixed workplans, Agile Strategy organizes strategic
work into time‑boxed projects lasting one to three months. Each sprint should have a small team of two to
four people, be clearly time‑bound, and be explicitly linked to your Direction and Signals.
Manage sprints visually — like a Kanban board:
A free‑flowing list of potential strategic sprints
20–30 ideas are fine — this is where creativity lives
Max ~3 active sprints per quarter
Focuses energy and prevents overwhelm
Finished projects with key learnings
Insights carry forward into the next cycle
Over time, sprints build on one another: explore a new approach, then pilot it, then integrate it
into core programs. This creates an ongoing staircase of change.
The System
A Living, Agile Strategy
Agile Strategy transforms strategy from a static document into a living system of orientation,
sensing, and action.
⚓
Direction
Keeps you anchored
📡
Signals
Keeps you alert
🚀
Sprints
Keeps you moving
Updating your strategy can be as simple as dragging a card on a board, adding a new signal, or
starting a new sprint — without dismantling a 50‑page plan. For nonprofits navigating uncertainty,
this is not about planning harder; it is about learning faster.
Tool
1‑Page Agile Strategy Canvas
A one‑page canvas to design and run Agile Strategy — borrowing the clarity of
canvases like the Mission Model Canvas and Lean Canvas, tailored for adaptive nonprofit strategy with short
sprints.
Strategic Direction — Evergreen
Vision
Mission
Core Strategic Insight
BHAG
Economic Drivers
Values
Strategic Signals — Dynamic
External Opportunities
External Threats / Risks
Internal Strategic Insights
Strategic Sprints — Action
Doing
Max 3 current sprints
Done
Completed + learnings
On a single page, this canvas keeps long‑term purpose, real‑time awareness, and
short‑term action in one view — making strategy visible, flexible, and genuinely usable for your team.