Non-profit business planning: Key Consideration
Unlike other businesses, a non-profit organization is not concerned with profit, but it is very concerned with service.  Service to a specified clientele is a given in all non-profit organizations, therefore, define who will benefit from your non-profit organization.

Why write Business Plans?
Whether yours is a for-profit or non-profit business, a Business Plan is a valuable, often essential tool. 

Start Business Planning: When to create your plan:
1. Starting a new venture (organization, product or service)
2. Expanding a current organization, product or service
3. Buying a current organization, product or service
4. Working to improve the management of a current organization, product or service

1.0 Overall, the contents of a business plan typically aim to:
1. Describe the venture (new or current organization, product or service), often including its primary features, advantages and benefits
2. What the organization wants to do with it (buy it, expand it, etc.)
3. Justification that the plans are credible (eg, results of research that indicate the need for what the organization wants to do)
4. Marketing plans, including research results about how the venture will be marketed (eg, who the customers will be, any specific groups (or targets) of customers, why they need the venture (benefits they seek from the venture), how they will use the venture, what they will be willing to pay, how the venture will be advertised and promoted, etc.)
5. Staffing plans, including what expertise will be needed to build (sometimes included in business plans) and provide the venture on an ongoing basis
6. Management plans, including how the expertise will be organized, coordinated and led
7. Financial plans, including costs to build the venture (sometimes included in business plans), costs to operate the venture, expected revenue, budgets for each of the first several years into the future, when the venture might break-even (begin making more money overall than it has cost), etc.
8. Appendices (there are a wide variety of materials included in appendices, eg, description of the overall organization, its other products and/or services, its current staff, etc.)

 1.1 A note about for-profit versus non-profit business plans:
Non-profits have “sales”, “markets”, “competitors”, etc, too. When reading about for-profit business plans:
1. Substitute “balance sheet” for “statement of financial position”
2. Substitute “profit and loss statement” for “statement of financial activities”.
3. Substitute “customer” for “client”
4. Substitute “investor” for “funder”
5. Substitute “product” for “program” or “services”
 
2.0 Business Plan Outline (General)
Executive Summary: overview of most important points of business plan and selling your business.

Company Description: mission statement, company overview, industry briefing, corporate history, legal structure.

Products & Services: description, R & D, pricing, delivery, production.

Marketing & Sales: market definition, customer profile, competitive & SWOT analysis, strategy, sales & promotion.

Operations: Legal & government issues, staffing, suppliers, alliances, policies, risk assessment, facilities, location, insurance, milestones.

Management: key job descriptions, responsibilities, management team, organizational chart, advisors.

Financials: Profit & loss, cash flow, balance sheet, financing, debt schedule, use of funds and assumptions, break-even analysis.

2.1 Business Plan Outline Extras
Extra information can make your business plan more in-depth and detailed for higher levels of funding and a greater complexity of investors. However, inclusion will depend on the needs of your particular organization – do not include extraneous information if your plan does not require it. Here’s a brief description of some of the extras that can be added to your business plan outline:

1. SWOT Analysis: As part of your competitor profile, adding a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis can show your investors you understand the competitive landscape and your business can operate within that environment.
2. Porter’s Five Forces: Michael Porter’s 5 forces framework is a standard business tool used by companies to evaluate an industry’s key forces. This is an important extra to add to your business plan outline especially if you are a start-up or an existing business entering a new market.
3. Glossary: If your business plan audience is not well-versed in your industry jargon, a glossary adds value to your overall plan. If you are writing a biotech business plan on gene therapy agents, determine the level of knowledge your target audience has on the subject.
4. Publishing Value-Adds: These are simply publication elements to improve the readability and presentation of your plan. This can include: a cover page with logos, graphics, charts, and table of contents.

 2.2 What to Put in Your Business Plan Appendix?
Additional information to strengthen the effectiveness of your business plan should include all relevant of the following:

legal documents
market studies
resumes
customer testimonies
photographs & maps
distributor/supplier list
articles
owner’s personal financial statements
tax statements
advertising materials & brochures
credit reports

Need to write a business plan?  Download a free Non-profit Business Plan template here.

2.3 Additional resources and credits
i) http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/bus_plan/bus_plan.htm – Free Management Library, excerpts taken from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, © 1997-2008

ii) http://www.nonprofitexpert.com/business_plan.htm – The Plan For Business Plans, © Wolfsons, Inc., 2000-2008

iii) http://www.bplans.com/nonprofit_business_plan_templates.cfm – Bplans.com