The Power of Nonprofit Repositioning: An Alternative to Scenario Planning

Writing for the National Council of Nonprofits in July of 2025, Steve Zimmerman argues that given the level of uncertainty and the multiplicity of external threats nonprofits are experiencing, scenario planning is a bad fit — and proposes a better path through scenario positioning, which involves four steps:

• Analyzing the organization’s current context 
• Understanding the community demand and supply of services
• Identifying levers to activate
• Preparing a process

This new approach should address the vulnerabilities organizations and their communities face, while simultaneously centering the mission, providing a focus on purpose.  This focus, with a dedication to agility, opens the “opportunity” doors that may otherwise be ignored amidst fears of loss — the very doors that provide new paths to success. It may resemble scenario planning, but is more overarching and prepares leadership to act quickly when clarity arrives. 

You can read the blog post here.