It does not have to be hard to write quality goals and objectives. Whether for grants, strategic planning or program design, there are some easy steps to follow for success.
There are a few steps you can take now, to ensure you will write quality goals and objectives that are usable, easily understood and can be measured and tracked.
The first thing to remember is that all goals and objectives should be SMART.
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Specific
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Measurable
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Attainable
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Relevant or Realistic
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Timely
In order to write quality goals and objectives, you must be clear about the difference. A goal is the big thing you are trying to accomplish. Objectives are the things you will do to help you get to your goal.
Objectives Should Tell:
- What are you going to do to accomplish your goal/s?
- Be stated in action terms: increase, decrease, etc.
- Define the population to be served.
- Be measurable and include a timeline.
Sample Generic Goal:
We want to serve more animals with our low-cost spay/neuter program.
Sample Specific Goal:
We want to serve 8% more dogs and cats in Jones County with our low-cost spay/neuter program during FY 2018.
We have defined the goal, now how are we going to accomplish this goal? We will accomplish this through our objectives.
Sample Generic Objectives:
- We will advertise our low-cost spay/neuter program
- We will do community outreach events
- We will do community educational programs/events
Sample Specific Objectives:
- We will work with local media to begin a radio/newspaper campaign in Aug. 2018 for a minimum of 6 months for our low-cost spay/neuter program
- We will create a FB/Twitter campaign in August that will be ongoing
- We will hold 1 community outreach events quarterly, beginning in the Summer of 2018 to help bring awareness to our low-cost spay/neuter program. Each event will be held in a separate section of the county to increase exposure.
- We will hold/participate in a minimum of 6 community educational programs/events annually to help educate, inform and empower the community on our programming beginning in Sept. 2018.
Do you see how different these are? We covered a lot of this in our workshop in WY this week. Hopefully this will come in handy for you soon too!
If you write quality goals and objectives well you will have your plan moving forward for your programs, projects, an organization as a whole. You should be able to use these same goals and objectives for grant writing, messaging, reporting, strategic planning, as well as program and project design.
Folks are always asking for examples of how to write various pieces of proposals, plans, etc. and I thought it would be helpful for you to see some goals and objectives you continue growing for good! Here are some other articles and videos that might be helpful:
- Using Different Writing Styles Effectively
- Proactive vs Reactive Program Designs
- Strategic Planning: Understanding the PROCESS and the PRODUCT
You may also find some Upcoming Events to attend or helpful information in our Free Stuff section. As always, Keep Growing for Good!
– Mandy
