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A Powerful Nonprofit Planning Tool 4

Complexity is the subject of the day. You know your organization operates in a complex social environment. Lots of things are happening with the economy, local government, other nonprofits and other elements of the community.

This time around I want to make one more visit to that table showing the seven dimensions of a nonprofits environment. To review, the seven dimensions are cultural, demographic, ecological, economic, legal, political, and technological.

Each dimension has an element of complexity, or the number of elements and their interactions. A town with many different religious and ethnic groups mixing has lots of demographic complexity relative to a community that’s mainly white and Christian. That’s information that you might be able to use in planning, both to look for potential problems and potential opportunities.

Complexity in each of those seven dimensions should raise some questions about your organization’s future. Some of those questions may lead to unpleasant answers, but that is the point of strategic planning. You can see potential issues emerging while there is still plenty of time to head off real trouble.

So, back to complexity questions for a moment. I offered a couple of comments related to demographic complexity. Culture, economics, the natural environment, legal affairs, politics and technology lead to many questions, or that’s the way it should be. Your own organization and its social environment might lead to specific questions.

What complexity questions do you need to ask in each of these areas?

1. Culture
2. Ecology
3. Economics
4. Legal
5. Politics
6. Culture

Now that you have some questions, how will you answer them?
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