Failing to plan is planning to fail. An organization must effectively put into writing a plan of action, complete with mandate, vision statement, and goals. For organizations with limited scope of purpose, for example petitioning for a new elementary school building, a vision statement may be less important then a schedule and clearly spelled out methodology. But in either case, goals should be clearly spelled out and measurable objectives based on those goals should be decided upon. It would be beneficial here to distinguish between goals and objectives.
Goals are the broad, abstract ideals of a project.
Objectives are specific, concrete steps in achieving goals. For example, to say that 25 former miners will find work outside of the mining industry within a 12 month span of a particular project is an objective. To say that residents of Industrial Cape Breton formerly involved in the mining industry will have more marketable job skills in the workplace would in this case be a goal. You can measure improved job skills by the number of participants who locate work as a result of the project. At this stage determine how you will evaluate the outcome of the project.