Purpose & Strategic Importance
Strategic planning is not only about producing a plan — it is about understanding where the National Society stands today, where it needs to go in the future, and how to turn data into meaningful analysis.
This requires asking the right questions, reviewing existing information, gathering new data, and involving people across and beyond the organisation.
Consultation and data collection are also an opportunity to build ownership. When volunteers, staff, members, communities, and partners see their perspectives reflected in the strategy, they are more likely to support and implement it.
Activities & Decisions
- Activity – Framing the right questions: Define what the National Society needs to understand about itself, its environment, and its future so that data collection and consultation support informed strategic choices.
- Activity – Using data wisely: Review existing information such as financial reports, evaluations, statistics, and studies to establish a credible starting point and identify gaps.
- Activity – Assessing organisational capacity: Use assessments such as OCAC or BOCA to understand organisational strengths, gaps, and capacity constraints that will shape feasible strategic choices.
- Activity – Mapping and engaging stakeholders: Identify key stakeholders — including volunteers and members, branches, technical teams, communities, public authorities, and partners — and clarify how and when they will be engaged.
- Activity – Engaging volunteers and members: Gather perspectives from volunteers and members to understand motivations, expectations, and engagement trends.
- Activity – Engaging branches: Engage branches to capture operational realities, local priorities, and implementation considerations.
- Activity – Engaging technical teams: Involve technical teams to contribute sectoral expertise, programme experience, and operational insights.
- Activity – Engaging communities: Consult communities to understand needs, priorities, and perceptions of the National Society’s relevance and impact.
- Activity – Engaging public authorities: Engage public authorities to understand policy directions, coordination dynamics, and enabling or constraining factors.
- Activity – Engaging partners: Consult partners to explore complementarities, expectations, and opportunities for collaboration and resource mobilisation.
- Activity – Bringing stakeholders together: Create opportunities for collective discussion to compare perspectives, surface convergence and divergence, and build shared understanding.
- Activity – Checking alignment with Movement policies: Check consistency with Strategy 2030 and key Movement commitments to ensure alignment with shared principles and directions.
- Activity – Exploring the future: Analyse trends, risks, and uncertainties to understand how the operating environment may change and what this implies for future strategic choices.
- Activity – Synthesising and sharing insights: Bring together data and perspectives into a coherent picture of the National Society’s situation, and share insights back with stakeholders to reinforce ownership and transparency.
Results
Outputs
- Stakeholder mapping and engagement plan
- Consultation inputs from volunteers and members, branches, technical teams, communities, public authorities, and partners
- Reviewed organisational data and assessments (e.g. OCAC/BOCA)
- External data and evidence compiled
- Stakeholders brought together for collective discussion
- Confirmation of alignment with Movement policies
Outcomes
- Shared understanding of the National Society’s current situation and capacities
- Increased ownership and trust among stakeholders through participation
- Clearer picture of risks, opportunities, and future trends
- Stronger alignment between stakeholder perspectives and Movement directions
Impact
- Synthesised and shared insights that inform credible, inclusive, and forward-looking strategic choices
- Strategic priorities that are grounded in evidence, responsive to people’s needs, and feasible for the organisation
Metrics & Learning
Enabling Resources
- Strategic questions documented and approved (Yes/No)
- Stakeholder mapping completed and validated (Yes/No)
- Data protection, ethics, and safeguarding guidance in place (Yes/No)
Inputs
- # consultations conducted (by stakeholder group)
- % of planned data sources reviewed
- # staff and volunteer days dedicated to consultation and data collection
Processes
- % of stakeholder groups engaged as planned
- % adherence to the agreed consultation timeline
- % branch or regional participation in consultations
Outputs
- Consultation summaries produced and shared (Yes/No)
- Organisational assessment results compiled (Yes/No)
- # synthesis briefs prepared for leadership and governance
Outcomes
- % of stakeholders reporting their input was heard and reflected
- Evidence confirmed as informing strategic discussions (Yes/No)
- # key risks, opportunities, and future trends identified
Impact
- % of strategic priorities explicitly linked to evidence and consultation inputs
- Stakeholder confidence in relevance and feasibility of strategic choices (survey)
Learning & Adaptation (cross-cutting)
- adaptations made to consultation or data collection methods
- evidence gaps identified and addressed during the process
Learning Questions
- How does participation vary across branches or stakeholder groups, and what explains that variation?
- Which consultation methods produced the most useful insights for strategic decisions?
- Which data sources most influenced strategic choices, and which added limited value?
- Where should consultation or data approaches be adapted in future processes?
Enabling Resources
People
- Roles
- Strategic Planning Coordination Team – Designs and manages consultations and data collection; prepares tools; coordinates inputs; ensures inclusion, ethics, and synthesis.
- Branch Focal Points and Volunteers – Organise local consultations; gather community and branch-level input; support feedback loops.
- Technical and PMER Leads – Advise on indicators, data sources, sampling, and analysis; link consultations to monitoring systems and past evaluations.
- Facilitators / Enumerators (if used) – Support neutral facilitation and data collection under National Society supervision, following safeguarding and data protection requirements.
- Competencies
- Stakeholder engagement and facilitation
- Data collection and basic analysis
- Ethical practice, safeguarding, and confidentiality
- Synthesis and communication of insights
- Culture: People-centred and inclusive engagement; openness to evidence and challenge; respect for diverse perspectives; commitment to feedback and transparency.
Governance
Clear approval to engage stakeholders; guidance on data protection, ethics, and safeguarding; agreement on how findings will be shared, validated, and used by leadership and governance bodies.
Data
Internal organisational data (financials, HR, volunteer and programme data, evaluations); Movement assessments (OCAC/BOCA); external statistics and research; qualitative data from consultations and community feedback.
Tools & Technology
Stakeholder mapping templates; survey, interview, and focus group tools; consent and safeguarding scripts; basic data management and analysis tools; digital platforms for online or hybrid engagement.
Facilities & Equipment
Meeting and workshop spaces; field logistics for consultations; hybrid meeting equipment; secure storage for notes, recordings, and datasets.
Implementation Notes
The opportunities and limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers opportunities to automate certain tasks in strategic planning, freeing up resources for work that requires human input. You may consider using AI tools especially in this phase of a Strategic Planning process. AI tools are evolving quickly, and while their full potential is still emerging, it is important not to assume they can solve every problem or replace tasks that require human insight.
- AI is generally useful for:
- Carrying out data collection
- Summarising information (e.g. who is doing what in a specific field)
- Transcribing recordings of meetings or survey responses
- Synthesising data to create summary background documents
- Helping write indicators for the implementation monitoring framework
- Supporting monitoring processes, for example analysing data to track progress against targets
- AI is less effective when:
- Judgement, experience, or political sensitivity is required
- Multiple factors must be weighed or political dimensions considered
- Standardised responses are not appropriate
AI is also unlikely to build the sense of understanding and ownership that comes from participatory processes connecting volunteers, members, and staff to the strategy. Any computer-generated outputs should always be checked by a person to ensure they align with Red Cross Red Crescent values, language, and context.