This paper is intended to help one understand the concept of Strategic Planning, the need for strategy in Not for Profit Organisations / Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and the dynamics of the NGO-based Strategic Planning. It includes a brief history of Strategic Planning, emerging challenges in the NGO sector in India, basic models and steps of a Strategic Planning process, adapting Strategic Planning to the unique needs of NGOs, adopting Activity Based Management concepts for developing operating plans and a look into the Strategic Planning at one of the large All India based NGOs. It also discusses the use of the MacMillan Matrix for Competitive Analysis of Programs in NGOs and other analytical tools frequently used by non-profit and for-profit organizations like SWOT Analysis. It further discusses the details of the development of an Annual Operating Plan to ensure the usefulness of the strategic plan to the organization.