Branch and group planning

Having a plan is an essential tool to help your branch or group to achieve your goals.

"People don't plan to fail. Instead they fail to plan."

There are lots of good reasons to work out the details of what you want to do and to organise them as actions in a plan. For example:

To understand what is and isn't possible for your branch or group to do
To keep everything organised and everyone focused on what is to be done
To show members of your MND community that your branch or group is well ordered and dedicated to getting things done
To increase the chances that people will do what needs to be done
To make sure you don't overlook any important details
To save you time, energy, and resources in the long run
To help our Association deliver our strategy and mission

Before you begin please read this introductory document which will outline more of the process.

Your plan does not need to be long and complicated. It just needs to set out what your branch or group is going to do in clear and simple terms:

What needs to happen?
Who needs to do it?
By when?
Anything else? Additional things to know such as what resources are needed or who needs to know what you’re planning to do?

Please find below a few tools which can help you get started. You don’t need to use them all, just choose the ones you think will help you the most.

Planning documents

Use the plan template as the basis for your conversations. There is also a description of each area, which we hope will help in your planning.

Use the SWOT analysis form to identify your branch or group's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Use the risk analysis form to identify risks and to highlight and prioritise key issues.

Use the review document to highlight areas your branch or group excels in and those you could improve on.

Use the planning questions document to look at a number of areas when thinking about your plan.

Use the planning discussions template to highlight the topics and areas you would like your plan to focus on.

Use the fundraising planning document to look at your methods of fundraising and what training in this area new volunteers could benefit from.

Use the fundraising calendar as your working plan and something to refer to throughout the year to measure your progress.

Use the five whys to help navigate a solution to a problem.