What is a Bridge Plan - How You Can Stretch an Existing Strategic Plan to Fit Your Needs?
I truly believe that Strategic Plans in general need to be custom created for clients – maybe you need an evergreen plan that can be a guide for 10 years, or a plan based on a 20 year vision with really concrete details in the short-term, or maybe your plan has good bones and you need to bridge the time between now and when you want to revisit everything. People call us with all sorts of situations, from a new $10M gift that needs a plan to spend it, or a devastating loss in funding that needs a new strategy for programs. Regardless of your situation – there is a right plan fit. Lately, I must have chatted about Bridge Plans at least once a week, responding to calls from leadership about how and why to invest in strategic thinking right now in the wake of all of the uncertainty going on.
We are nearing the finish line on our latest one for the Children’s Museum of Richmond who came to us with a solid strategic plan that we created in 2022 with goals that were still absolutely relevant - things like "Play Outside the Walls" to extend their reach into Richmond communities and "Play for Everyone" to ensure access across all neighborhoods. They wanted to make space for staff to tackle today and also give space for future innovation.
What Exactly is a Bridge Plan?
A bridge plan stretches an existing strategic plan for several more years by keeping the goals that still resonate while refreshing the strategies to get there. It's perfect when your organization's destination is still the right one, but the path to get there needs updating. This approach makes sense in several scenarios: when your goals remain relevant but you've faced unexpected barriers; when you need to refresh stakeholder thinking and achieve new buy-in; or when significant new information, like funding changes or unexpected opportunities, requires strategic adjustments without starting from scratch.
With CMOR, we kept their five core goals but worked with their entire staff team to develop new strategies, using existing data from membership surveys, visitor feedback, and staff input they'd already collected.
Why Bridge Plans Make Sense Right Now
Let's be honest - we're operating in a time of significant uncertainty. The federal funding landscape continues to shift, philanthropic giving is just weird right now while folks wait for the world to settle, and economic instability makes long-term planning less strategic than normal. For nonprofits, higher education institutions, and small companies, committing to a full 3-5 year strategic plan right now can feel overwhelming. A bridge plan offers a practical alternative - extending your planning horizon by 1-2 years while keeping what's working and adapting what isn't.
The Benefits and Trade-offs
The benefits:
You're re-engaging your community for consensus and buy-in around work that still matters. You're extending relevant goals rather than abandoning progress you've already made. And you're being realistic about capacity and resources during uncertain times.
But there are trade-offs:
This type of project typically means more limited stakeholder involvement compared to a full strategic planning process. You might not get the comprehensive community input or the extensive visioning work that comes with starting fresh.
The key is knowing when each approach is right for your organization.
When a Bridge Plan is Your Best Bet
You might be a good candidate for a bridge plan if:
Your current goals still align with your mission and community needs, but your strategies feel outdated
You've faced unexpected barriers that prevented the full implementation of your existing plan
Significant changes in funding, leadership, or external conditions require strategic adjustments
Your stakeholders still believe in the vision but need refreshed engagement around how to achieve it
Economic uncertainty makes a full strategic planning investment feel premature
Getting It Right
While the concept of a bridge plan might seem straightforward, the execution is where the magic happens. Successfully stretching an existing plan means knowing which elements to preserve, which to adapt, and how to engage stakeholders in meaningful ways around refined strategies. For the Children's Museum of Richmond project, they didn't need a complete strategic overhaul - they needed thoughtful guidance to extend and refresh work that was already making a difference in their community. Working with their entire staff team and leveraging data they'd already collected, we were able to breathe new life into solid goals.
If you're reading this and thinking your organization might benefit from a bridge plan approach, it's worth exploring. Maybe your strategic plan feels stale, but your goals still inspire you. Maybe external changes have made your current strategies feel unrealistic. Or maybe you're simply not ready for the full investment of comprehensive strategic planning but know you can't maintain the status quo. We’d love to chat and create a custom solution to your situation.