Writing Your Business Plan

Creating a plan for a nonprofit organization

1 min. read Updated September 25, 2025

Nonprofits can benefit from LivePlan's tools for strategic planning, financial forecasting, and performance tracking. These tools ultimately help achieve their mission by allowing them to evaluate their financial health and capacity easily.

Try our nonprofit plan outline

We can install a plan outline designed specifically for nonprofits in your LivePlan account. This template re-characterizes many sections of the standard plan outline for nonprofit planning and includes customized instructions. Click here to learn more about the nonprofit plan outline.

If you'd like a copy of the free nonprofit outline, please contact us.

Doing your own customizations

If you'd prefer to customize your plan outline to your needs manually, you can always do that instead. You can re-name existing topics, add new ones, or remove them from the outline. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions on specific changes.

More resources for nonprofits

Differences between the standard and nonprofit LivePlan outlines

We're currently beta-testing a nonprofit business plan outline. If you're planning for a nonprofit and would like to be part of this test, please contact us and we'll be glad to install the outline in your LivePlan account.

If you'd prefer to customize the standard outline for a nonprofit, below are the changes to section titles we recommend:

Standard LivePlan outline

Recommended edits for a nonprofit plan

Executive Summary
• Opportunity
   Problem
   Solution
   Market
   Competition
   Why Us?
• Expectations
   Forecast
   Financial Highlights by Year
   Financing Needed

Executive Summary
• Opportunity
   Problem
   Solution
   Who We Serve
   Comparison
   Why Us?
• Expectations
   Forecast
   Financial Highlights by Year
   Funding Needed

Opportunity
• Problem & Solution
   Problem Worth Solving
   Our Solution
• Target Market
   Market Size & Segments
• Competition
   Current Alternatives
   Our Advantages

Opportunity
• Problem & Solution
   Problem Worth Solving
   Our Solution
• Clients/Beneficiaries
   Demographics and Needs
• Competition
   Current Alternatives
   Our Difference

Execution
• Marketing & Sales
   Marketing Plan
   Sales Plan
• Operations
   Locations & Facilities
   Technology
   Equipment & Tools
• Milestones & Metrics
   Milestones Table
   Key Metrics

Execution
• Fundraising Plan
   Marketing Plan
   Fundraising Goals and Sources
• Operations
   Locations & Facilities
   Partners & Services
   Partners & Resources
• Milestones & Metrics
   Milestones Table
   Key Metrics

Company
• Overview
   Ownership & Structure
• Team
   Management Team
   Advisors

Company
 • Overview
   Organization Structure
• Team
   Administration & Staff
   Board of Directors & Volunteers

Financial Plan
• Forecast
   Key Assumptions
   Revenue by Month
   Expenses by Month
   Net Profit (or Loss) by Year
• Financing
   Use of Funds
   Sources of Funds
• Statements
   Projected Profit & Loss
   Projected Balance Sheet
   Projected Cash Flow

Financial Plan
• Forecast
   Key Assumptions
   Revenue by Month
   Expenses by Month
   Net Profit (or Loss) by Year
• Financing
   Program Needs
   Sources of Funds
• Statements
   Projected Surplus & Deficit
   Projected Balance Sheet
   Projected Cash Flow 

Appendix
• Profit & Loss Statement
• Balance Sheet
• Cash Flow Statement

 Appendix
• Surplus & Deficit Statement
• Balance Sheet
• Cash Flow Statement

Standard LivePlan additional content

Recommended edits for a nonprofit plan

Barriers to Entry

Gaps to Fill

Company History

Organization History

Exit Strategy

Contingency

Expected Return

Sustainability

Future Markets

Future Clients

Intellectual Property

Potential Partners

Key Customers

Key Clients

Key Planned Hires

Key Planned Hires & Recruits

Market Growth

Future Needs

Market Trends

Trends in Needs

Partners & Resources

Partners & Resources

Pricing

Fees for Services

Regulatory Requirements

Regulatory Requirements

Risks & Mitigation

Risks & Mitigation

Roadmap

Roadmap

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Validation of Problem

Problem Statistics

Validation of Solution

Solution Statistics

Chart: Cash Flow by Month

Chart: Cash Flow by Month

Chart: Cash Flow by Year

Chart: Cash Flow by Year

Chart: Expenses by Month

Chart: Expenses by Month

Chart: Financial Highlights by Year

Chart: Financial Highlights by Year

Chart: Net Profit (or Loss) by Year

Chart: Net Surplus (or Deficit) by Year

Chart: Revenue by Month

Chart: Revenue by Month

Table: Balance Sheet (With Monthly Detail)

Table: Balance Sheet (With Monthly Detail)

Table: Cash Flow Statement (With Monthly Detail)

Table: Cash Flow Statement (With Monthly Detail)

Table: Personnel Table

Table: Personnel Table

Table: Profit and Loss Statement (With Monthly Detail

Table: Surplus or Deficit Statement (With Monthly Detail)

Table: Projected Balance Sheet

Table: Projected Balance Sheet

Table: Projected Cash Flow Statement

Table: Projected Cash Flow Statement

Table: Projected Profit & Loss

Table: Projected Surplus or Deficit