Author: April Klein, MPH, Senior Public Health Analyst, Workforce Development Initiatives, NNPHI

Strategic planning and financial management are complementary organizational competencies, essential for any health department to deliver Foundational Public Health Services and effectively address community health needs. Health departments should establish a strategic direction for public health in their jurisdictions that considers and aligns community health needs, funder and grant priorities, and existing human, financial, and programmatic resources. This can be achieved through effective strategic planning and grant/financial management processes, documented with an agency-wide strategic plan.

Developing and implementing an agency-wide strategic plan requires agency leaders and staff to collaboratively establish the agency’s mission, vision, and values, set realistic goals, and achieve them through actions and activities carried out by the agency’s divisions and programs. Management of grants and other financial resources can be embedded into strategic planning and goal setting. It is essential to consider how divisions and programs align grant priorities and financial resources with their ongoing and future work in such a way that addresses community health, supports agency mission, and meets funder and grant requirements.

The Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) offers an opportunity for recipient jurisdictions to strengthen strategic planning and financial management organizational competencies within their organization in support of strong and sustainable public health infrastructure. The PHIG National Partners compiled the capacity-building resources shared below, which agency staff can use to implement or plan to implement related activities at their health department.

Resources to Enhance Planning and Financial Management

1. Organizational Strategic Planning Guide
   ASTHO developed the Organizational Strategic Planning Guide to provide health agencies with an overview of a seven-phase organizational strategic planning process. The guide provides a detailed description of each phase, which an organization should complete cyclically to allow them to adapt and refine their plans over time. This allows organizations to remain responsible as their needs and goals evolve.
2. Strategic Plan Template and User/Resource Guide
   PHAB’s newly released Strategic Plan Template and User/Resource Guide can be used alone, or in conjunction with, ASTHO’s Organizational Strategic Planning Guide. It provides users with an easy-to-use framework that aligns with the required elements within PHAB’s Standards and Measures for Initial Accreditation and Reaccreditation.
3. Grants Management 101
   This self-paced training and toolkit from the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center is appropriate for staff of government agencies, school districts, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of Higher Education who need to learn the basics about how to develop and administer federal, state, local, foundation, and private grants. It covers pre-award and post-award grants administration activities as well as grant writing and grant budgeting.
4. FPHS Capacity and Cost Assessment Tool
   The PHAB Center for Innovation, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Center for Public Health Systems, developed the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) Capacity and Cost Assessment to help health departments and health department systems assess their current spending and capacity towards the FPHS, determine the needed investments to fully implement the FPHS, and identify the resources needed to transform governmental public health systems.
5. Building Expertise in Administration and Management Training
   Developed by nationally recognized public health thought leaders at the University of Miami and de Beaumont Foundation, this paid training is a leading online certificate program that imparts to mid-level public health professionals the financial and managerial skills that drive successful public health organizations. Participants will build skills to understand the nature of public health problems, develop a program budget and narrative, procure services to help achieve programmatic goals, execute and manage contracts, and assess the financial health of individual programs and their relevance to an agency’s overall financial health.
6. Plan 2 Plan Strategic Planning Series
   This four-part webinar series from the Region V Public Health Training Center provides agency-based teams tasked with leading public health strategic planning efforts within their agencies and/or communities with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for, develop, and implement strategic planning within their agencies. There is also a paid version that offers continuing education units for $5.00/webinar.
7. Funding Local Subrecipients Toolkit
   Funding subrecipients to implement public health strategies in local communities can complement public health agency efforts and expand community reach. This ASTHO toolkit outlines strategies to help health agencies fund local organizations prepared to drive results. Funding high-capacity subrecipients increases a health agency’s ability to achieve its objectives while also focusing funding on communities where the funds will have the most potential for impact.

Upcoming Opportunities from the PHIG Partners

Grants and Contracts Managers Community of Practice
When: Meets the third Tuesday of every month from 3 – 4 p.m. ET

Hosted monthly by ASTHO, the Grants and Contracts Managers Community of Practice (CoP) meets monthly to bring together grants and contract managers from PHIG recipient jurisdictions to share knowledge, best practices, and resources related to grants management and grants management systems, contract development and administration, and important PHIG performance metrics such as procurement timeliness. The CoP aims to support PHIG recipients in their goals to achieve sustainable infrastructure improvements of grants and contract management within their health departments. If your agency is interested in participating, please contact performanceimprovement@astho.org.

Fundamentals of Strategic Planning Webinar
When: Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
Register Here

Hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center, this webinar is geared toward public health agency staff new to strategic planning. It introduces the fundamentals, covers key steps in the process, and reviews applicable planning tools and activities, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis; Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI) planning tools; and Gantt charts.

PHIG recipients looking for additional resources or assistance related to strategic planning and financial management can request technical assistance from the National Partners through the PHIVE portal.