Strategic FUEL for Nonprofits

Most nonprofits approach strategic planning in ways that take too much time and effort, focus on the wrong issues, and set up the plan to be something that gathers dust on a shelf rather than being implemented. If you want a different approach, you’re in the right place. 

In Strategic FUEL for Nonprofits, you’ll learn how to lead a strategic planning process that delivers a great strategy and creates an organization that can drive strategic change and continually refresh its strategy.

Reviews

  • “A must-read for anyone leading a nonprofit organization. This is a roadmap to make strategic thinking part of the everyday work you and your team do, instead of something you just revisit every 3-5 years.”

    — Amir Ali, Executive Director, MacArthur Justice Center

  • "As much as we might want a strategy to be ‘done’ and crossed off our to-do lists, it must constantly evolve to deliver value. This book offers an insightful framework for elevating your organization’s approach to strategy and keeping it relevant.”

    — Clarence Wardell III, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Gates Foundation

  • “Good strategy for uncertain environments, I’ve always suspected, should be more ‘search algorithm’ than ‘itinerary.’ In this book, Charles provides a compelling plan for organizing around that principle, full of hard-won wisdom on how to rally your team to make it happen.”

    — Paul Niehaus, Ph.D., Founder, Give Directly

The Elements of Strategic FUEL

About the Author

Charles Moore is a trusted advisor and consultant to nonprofit leaders.

Charles was trained in the art and science of strategy during two stints at McKinsey & Company and continues this work as CEO of Thrive Street Advisors. He has supported dozens of organizations in developing strategies and improving performance.

As an executive coach, Charles has worked with over 80 nonprofit executive directors and business executives on their challenges in leading effectively and driving strategic change. His clients have worked for some of the world’s leading organizations like Amazon, Google, Capital One, Hilton Hotels, and the U.S. Senate.

Charles has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including Father’s Uplift, EdFuel, and SchoolTalk. He has taught Change Management as an adjunct faculty member at the Georgetown Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership.

Charles holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard and earned an MBA from Stanford, with a certificate in Public Management. He also holds a master’s degree in Education from Stanford.

Charles lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Erin, and two kids, who are continually charged up.

 

My Love/Hate Relationship with Strategic Planning

I hate spending time on analysis that does not matter, which led me to develop tools to identify what analyses do matter. 

I hate doing external stakeholder interviews and employee surveys and thinking, “This organization is spending a lot of money to have me do something they should do for themselves on a regular basis.” So, I wrote this book to help you build internal capabilities and robust ongoing routines. 

I hate developing a strategic plan for an organization and knowing that they’ll be stuck in three or five years because they don’t have the team capacity to keep the strategy fresh. That’s why this book is built around Strategic FUEL and urges you to focus on building strategic capabilities from the start of the process. 

When an organization is so in tune with clients, employees, and external stakeholders that it continually meets their needs, I love it. 

When an organization has the ability to continually reflect on and adjust its strategy such that they don’t need my help, I love that.

When their strategy is so embedded in their day-to-day work that they don’t even need a process called “strategic planning,” that’s when I absolutely love strategic planning. 

This book is my strategic planning love letter to you.

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Contents

  1. Strategic FUEL: How Does Your Organization Stack Up?

  2. Strategic Planning Objectives & Agreement Template

  3. Outlining Roles for Strategic Planning

  4. Creating an Effective Strategy Working Group

  5. Tiger Team Charter Proposal

  6. An Example Set of Organizational Routines

  7. What to Read to Learn More About Strategy

 

Let’s Talk about Strategic FUEL: Workshops and Training Opportunities

As a strategic leadership expert, Charles delivers engaging and transformative keynotes and workshops designed to empower leaders at all levels. With a passion for helping organizations navigate change, drive innovation, and achieve their goals, Charles shares practical insights and proven strategies that inspire action and deliver results.

Example Workshops and Training Seminars

  • This workshop will help leaders, especially new managers, clarify their leadership values and align their management approach with those values and organizational goals.

  • A strategic team is built by its tactics—what it does day in and day out to execute effectively. Learn how to create routines that keep your team focused, aligned, and moving forward.

  • Learn the skills and mindset shifts leaders need to advance from middle management to strategic leadership positions and thrive once they get there.

  • This workshop equips leaders with practical techniques to empower their teams, foster growth, and drive performance through effective coaching conversations.

  • This workshop helps leaders understand how to approach strategic communication in ways that build and maintain alignment with their teams, partners, and stakeholders.

Example Speaking Topics

  • Through the Strategic FUEL framework, we’ll explore the necessary shifts that allow teams to transition from simply having a strategic plan to being genuinely strategic—fostering rapid learning and adaptive strategies.

  • You’ll learn the qualities and actions that allow strategic leaders to guide their organizations through periods of change and transformation.

  • Prioritization is hard. We’ll work on approaches that enable true focus on what matters most.

  • Strategic planning is a political process, but that doesn’t mean it should be derailed by parochial decision-making. We’ll talk about approaches to drive logic-based decision-making.

You can reach me directly at charles@thrivestreetadvisors.com.