This research is a cross sectional exploratory study. It looks at the process of formulating strategy within community organisations. The alignment of strategy and mission is of central concern. Without this alignment, government funded growth threatens to turn community organisations into agents of the state. This development would mean the loss of the mediating function they currently serve. Community organisations are seen as more flexible than government bureaucracy and closer to the
community. As such they serve as a source of innovative community services and as a means of alerting government of emerging community needs. Strategic planning has the potential to align growth with mission. This thesis asks firstly, What is the state of strategic planning in the community sector? What impedes or encourages it?, and secondly, How do community organisations formulate successful strategy? Does the formulation of strategy serve to reinforce their sense of mission?