Planning is key to the success of any grant application. Start by identifying the need within your agency or the community you serve, then come up with measurable goals and steps to address it, as well as the products and services that will help you achieve those goals.

Your strategic plan can be a formal or informal process. A formal process includes multiple stakeholders closely examining data and constructing a formal document outlining the plan.

Your city, county or agency may already have a formal strategic plan in place that you can draw on to draft this document. An informal process may consist of having stakeholders identify a list of needs for the upcoming year.