How to choose practical priorities for your charity

A list of worthwhile ideas is a useful starting point. The next step is making the choices explicit. Instead of starting with ‘we need a new strategy’, ask what the strategy needs to help you decide: which activities to strengthen, what to improve or which opportunity to investigate.

Write the question in one sentence. Identify who needs to decide, whose views would help and when a decision is needed. If there are several connected questions, separate the immediate choice from the longer-term ambition.

For each possible priority, describe who it is intended to benefit and what would change for them. ‘Run more activities’ describes an action. ‘Understand whether local people need another weekday activity’ gives the team a question to investigate before committing.

Bring available evidence into view and label assumptions. An idea may be promising while demand, capacity or costs remain uncertain. Record the information needed instead of presenting an assumption as an agreed fact.

Discuss each option against your purpose, its likely contribution, urgency, effort and dependencies. Consider what makes it uncertain and what a proportionate first step would be. A simple comparison can make disagreement easier to discuss; an unexplained score can hide it.

• Purpose: how does this contribute to the organisation's work?
• Evidence: what do we know, and what are we assuming?
• Capacity: who could carry the work, and what would need to pause?
• Dependencies: what must happen before further commitment?
• Review: what information would make us continue, change direction or stop?

A priority needs a place in the work people can actually carry. Name the time, skills and information the first stage would require. If every existing commitment stays in place, ask where the additional capacity would come from.

Choosing a priority does not mean agreeing every later step. You may first agree to gather information, test an assumption or explore an option, with a further decision before committing more time or money.

This example is fictional and does not describe a Charity Egg client or engagement. A community charity is considering wider weekday use of a room. Its immediate priority could be to understand the opportunity, rather than announce a new programme.

The first step might be to review the timetable and ask current users about constraints. The next decision would consider available times, likely demand, operating responsibilities and costs. The team would name who gathers each input and when it returns to the question.

Try completing this sentence: ‘Our next priority is ___ because ___; the first decision is ___; the person taking it forward is ___; we will review it when ___.’ If a part is difficult to complete, identify what needs clarification.

Keep the proposed priority, reasons, first action and review point together. This is a practical starting exercise, not a substitute for your organisation's own decision-making. A fuller strategy can build on those choices and connect them to a delivery plan.