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Boston, MA 02116
866-568-0590
support@clearpointstrategy.com
We analyzed over 20,000 strategic plans. Get a copy of the full report.
For cities, counties and county agencies
Strategic planning software for local government
ClearPoint is where cities and counties turn the plan the council adopted into owners, updates and a council packet that builds itself.
Every city runs on a plan, and every plan is a promise: roads, water, transit and parks. That work is spread across every department and tracked in scattered spreadsheets. With ClearPoint, every department works from one plan, in sync. An off-track measure, average EMS response time, gets a new initiative and comes back on track. The council report builds itself from live data, as a PDF or PowerPoint. The public dashboard shows residents the progress behind every promise, on desktop and phone, for any city and any plan.
01The plan
02Departments
03Decisions
04Council reports
05Public dashboards
150+ local governments have run their plans on ClearPoint · over 20,000 strategic plans
Results
100 → 25 hours
to build each council report
City of St. Albert, AB
about 70,000 residents
about 70,000 residents
11 departments
on one plan, live to residents in 13 months
City of Bartlett, TN
2 → 100+ users
over a decade, on a strategy team of two
City of Durham, NC
283,000 residents
283,000 residents
Small city, mid-size city, large city. Same plan, same packet, same dashboard.
What is strategic planning software for local government?
Strategic planning software for local government is where a city or county holds its adopted plan and runs it: priorities, the objectives and measures under each, a named owner in every department, regular updates, the council packet and a public dashboard. Unlike a document or a spreadsheet, it keeps the plan current between retreats.
Comparing options for a city or county? See how the tools compare ›
Performance management
Performance management for cities and counties
Performance management software for local government tracks the measures behind each council priority, names an owner for every one and reports results on a fixed calendar. In ClearPoint, the same measures feed department scorecards, the council packet and the public dashboard. You update a number once. Everyone reads the same one.
Two kinds of software share this name. HR tools run employee reviews. City performance management follows the services residents feel: response times, pothole repairs, permit turnaround, water quality.
Measures
Each measure sits under the council priority it serves, with a target, a status rule and a named owner. The median city or county on ClearPoint runs 28 plans, 522 measures and 191 initiatives (September 2026).
Scorecards
Each department runs its own scorecard on the citywide plan: Balanced Scorecard, OKRs or your own framework. Plans with 4 to 8 measures per objective complete 15.1% of their initiatives, against 10.1% for plans with 3 or fewer. That range guides how we set up your scorecards.
Council reporting
Owners update on a reporting calendar, by email reply or in Microsoft Teams. The council packet is generated from the same measures. City of St. Albert cut report creation from about 100 hours to 25.
Public dashboards
Residents see what the council sees. Durham and Fort Collins publish live public dashboards from their plans, built to WCAG 2.1 AA.
82% of licensed local governments logged in within the last 30 days; 83% run at least one automated workflow (September 2026). We name an owner for every measure before your first reporting cycle.
Source for 15.1% vs 10.1%: ClearPoint anonymized platform data, plans run on the platform 2017–2024. Objectives: 52,247 in 318 organizations. Initiatives: 90,305 in 315 organizations. Plan structure: 4,184 plans with at least one objective and one initiative. We see the structure of plans, never their content.
How it works
How does a city keep the plan alive after the council adopts it?
Four people keep your plan alive: the city manager, the department head, the strategy and performance lead, and the analyst. Watch one quarter through each of their eyes.
The numbers behind it
Across 52,247 objectives in 318 organizations, 77% have no named owner. In local governments alone, 75.6% do. Initiatives with a named owner are completed 2.5× as often (21.5% vs 8.7%).
City manager
Department head
Strategy & performance lead
Analyst
Chapter 1, city manager: Harbor View Strategic Plan landing page — Community, Service Excellence, Infrastructure priorities with objectives, measures and initiatives; Explorer map; Teams question "what are our 3 most pressing issues in public works?" answered from the Public Works & Utilities scorecard. Chapter 2, department head: Public Works & Utilities scorecard, Dependable Water & Sewer Infrastructure, measures dashboard, SWOT analysis. Chapter 3, strategy & performance lead: Quarterly Performance Update Q2-2026 workflow, council packet, public dashboard. Chapter 4, analyst: Water Main Breaks per 100 Miles Q2-26 value 19 written back from Teams by Jordan Blake.
01 · City manager
The adopted plan stalls by June.
How does the city manager see where the plan stands?
Priorities, objectives, measures and initiatives sit on one screen, as the council adopted them, with a live status on each. Ask ClearPoint AI in Microsoft Teams what is most pressing and the answer comes straight from the scorecard.
City of Durham, NC runs its citywide plan and every department business plan in ClearPoint.
02 · Department head
Three in four objectives have no named owner.
How does every department own its part of the plan?
Each department runs its own scorecard: objectives linked to the measures and initiatives behind them, rolled up to the citywide priorities. Anything without a named owner is flagged until someone claims it. ClearPoint AI drafts a SWOT from the live numbers.
City of Bartlett, TN reports 11 departments to council from one plan.
03 · Strategy & performance lead
The council packet takes two weeks.
How does the council report build itself?
A reporting workflow collects every department’s update on schedule. The packet is generated from the live plan in your branding, as PDF, PowerPoint or Word, with a summary drafted by ClearPoint AI. One toggle publishes it to a public dashboard built to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Fort Collins, Coral Springs and Germantown, three Baldrige cities, publish their results on ClearPoint.
04 · Analyst
Six departments, one inbox, no replies.
How do updates come in without chasing people?
Numbers arrive on a schedule from the systems you already use. Owners reply to a reminder email or answer ClearPoint AI in Microsoft Teams, and the value is written back to the plan. No login needed.
"ClearPoint really reduced our overall time for the process - about 75%."
30 years of method, built in
Built for the way a city plans
The method comes from 30 years of helping organizations execute strategy, alongside the creators of the Balanced Scorecard. It is built into the setup and the Playbooks.
Playbooks for local government
Guided conversations with ClearPoint AI build a department plan, a SWOT or a risk assessment in your terminology. Comprehensive plan, departmental plans, capital plan: one structure, your words.
Set up with you, live in 3 weeks
The ClearPoint team loads your adopted plan, maps departments and owners, and sets the reporting calendar. Your first scorecard is live in three weeks.
Help from people, when you need it
Strategy sessions on request, live sessions, and a drop-in demo. The questions a Playbook asks are the ones our team has asked in strategy sessions for 30 years.
Join a drop-in demo ›Where the method comes from
Founded by Ted Jackson and Dylan Miyake, who worked with Robert Kaplan and David Norton — the creators of the Balanced Scorecard — and have spent 30 years helping organizations execute strategy.
What you get
One platform for the plan, the departments, the packet and the public page. Every capability below is included in every local government account.
Strategic planning
Turn the adopted plan into objectives, measures and owners.
Reporting
Board and council reports in minutes, not weeks.
Public dashboards
Show residents and stakeholders progress, no spreadsheets.
ClearPoint AI
Drafts updates, summarizes status, answers questions.
Scorecards & OKRs
Balanced Scorecard, OKRs or your own framework, one system.
Performance management
Targets, status and accountability every reporting period.
Projects & initiatives
Milestones, budgets and status tied to the strategy.
Dashboards
Live dashboards leadership actually opens.
Integrations
Excel, Power BI, ERP and 100+ data sources.
ExcelPower BISnowflakeSQL ServerTableauJirayour ERP and budget system through the APIAll integrations ›Where ClearPoint fits in your municipal software stack (ERP, budgeting, permitting)
Your ERP keeps the books. Your budgeting system builds the appropriations. Permitting, work-order and 311 systems log the daily work. ClearPoint holds the plan the council adopted and the measures that report on it. It reads their numbers through Excel, Power BI, Snowflake, SQL Server or the API, so nobody retypes a figure for council.
What 150+ local governments taught us
What does the data say about city plans that get done?
ClearPoint has run over 20,000 strategic plans. The patterns below come from anonymized plan structure in local governments. We see how a plan is built, never what it says.
75.6%
of objectives in local government plans have no named owner.
ClearPoint platform data: 15,186 objectives in city and county plans, September 2026.
2.5×
as likely to be completed when an initiative has a named owner.
21.5% of initiatives completed with a named owner, 8.7% without. 90,305 initiatives in 315 organizations, September 2026.
28
plans
522
measures
191
initiatives
run by the median city or county on ClearPoint.
Licensed local governments on ClearPoint, September 2026.
01Ownership gap
02Owner effect
03Median city
Those patterns shape how we set up your plan and what ClearPoint AI flags in it: an objective without an owner, a measure nobody updated, a priority with no initiative behind it.
Source: ClearPoint anonymized platform data, plans run on the platform 2017–2024. Objectives: 52,247 in 318 organizations. Initiatives: 90,305 in 315 organizations. Plan structure: 4,184 plans with at least one objective and one initiative. We see the structure of plans, never their content. How we read the data ›
Cities that run their plan on ClearPoint
Fort Collins · Coral Springs · Germantown
3
Baldrige Award cities
One way of reporting across all three
"Standardization of the material is key, as far as having people be able to read and review all the content in these reports."Read the story ›
City of Durham, NC
2to100+
users on the plan
Re-selected after an RFP
Citywide plan and every department business plan. 283,000 residents, a strategy team of two.
Read the story ›
City of St. Albert, AB
100to25
hours on reporting
Report creation, about 75% faster
"ClearPoint really reduced our overall time for the process - about 75%."Read the story ›
Your dashboard should look like your city.
Two live public dashboards, published from the same plan the council sees. No two look alike.
What your procurement and IT teams will ask
SOC 2 Type IITX-RAMP Level 1SAML 2.0 SSOAES-256 + TLSUS hostingWCAG 2.1 AA + VPAT
Procurement documents in the Trust Center: SOC 2 report under NDA, VPAT, DPA, W-9. Your data is never used to train AI models.
Week 1
Your adopted plan loaded, departments and owners mapped
Week 2
Data connections and the reporting calendar
Week 3
First scorecard live, first update cycle run
3 weeks
to the first live scorecard
1 call
to scope what you want to see
Is it too complex for our department heads?
The setup is done with you, and the people who update never see the admin side. Most contributors reply to an email or to Teams.
What happens after an election or a new city manager?
The plan, its history and its owners stay in one place. A new administration edits priorities; nothing is rebuilt.
Do we need IT to run it?
ClearPoint is hosted in the US and administered by your strategy team. IT reviews the SOC 2 report and enables SSO.
Questions cities and counties ask before choosing
What is the best strategic planning software for a city or county?
It depends on who reports on the plan and to whom. Look for a named owner on every objective, updates without a login, a council packet built from live data, and a public dashboard. Our guide compares the options for local governments ›
What is the best performance management software for local government?
The best fit ties every measure to a council priority and a named owner, then builds the council packet and the public dashboard from the same data. In a demo, ask to see an update made without a login, a reporting calendar the software runs for you, and a public page built to WCAG 2.1 AA. Our guide compares the options for local governments ›
Is government performance management software the same as employee performance review software?
No. Employee performance software runs reviews, goals and feedback for HR. Government performance management software tracks how services perform against the council's priorities, and ClearPoint is built for that job.
Is ClearPoint an ERP or a budgeting system?
No. ClearPoint holds the strategic plan and its performance data. It connects to your ERP, budget and permitting systems so the plan reports from them.
Can ClearPoint run performance management for a city?
Yes. Targets, status rules and accountability run every reporting period on the same plan. See performance management ›
What are the stages of performance management in local government?
Four stages repeat every year. The council sets priorities, departments set measures and targets, owners report on a fixed calendar, and the results shape the next budget and plan. ClearPoint runs the reporting stage for you: reminders go out, updates are written back and the council packet is generated.
What software does a city or county government use?
Most run an ERP for finance and payroll, a budgeting system, permitting and work-order tools, and a 311 or CRM system for residents. Strategic planning and performance management software sits above them and reports on the plan with their numbers. See local government software by category ›
How long does it take to go live?
Three weeks to the first live scorecard. The ClearPoint team loads your adopted plan and maps departments and owners with you.
Does it work for a county or a county agency?
Yes. Counties, county agencies and special districts run their plans on ClearPoint alongside cities. The structure follows your organization chart.
Is the public dashboard ADA compliant?
Public dashboards are built to WCAG 2.1 AA, and the VPAT is available in the Trust Center. ADA Title II deadlines fall in April 2027 and April 2028 depending on jurisdiction size.
Can department heads update without logging in?
Yes. They reply to a reminder email in plain English or answer ClearBot in Microsoft Teams, and the update is written back to the plan.
What happens to the plan after an election?
Nothing is rebuilt. The plan, its history and its owners stay in place; the new administration edits priorities and the reports follow.
Book a free demo
See your city's plan in ClearPoint
A strategic planning expert for cities and counties reviews your needs, loads your plan, your data or your use case into ClearPoint, then walks you through it.
- 30 minutes
- Your plan, loaded before the call
- You pick the time
What happens next
- Pick a time that works for you
Two short steps, then choose a slot on the calendar. No back-and-forth emails.
- Your expert scopes the demo
A strategic planning expert who works with local governments reviews your request and asks what you want to see.
- You see ClearPoint with your data
Your plan, measures or use case is loaded before the call, so the 30 minutes run on your city. Nothing to share yet? They show you a city like yours.
150+ local governments have run their plans on ClearPoint
4.6/5
on G2 · 179 reviews
20,000+
strategic plans
3 weeks
to your first live scorecard
Updated September 2026
Book your free 30-minute demo
Fill in the form, then pick a time on the calendar.
We only use your details to set up your demo. Privacy policy
In their words
“Quarterly reporting took more than 120 hours across teams. With ClearPoint, we were able to reduce that time by 80%, saving us weeks every quarter!”
Octavius M.Assistant to the City Manager“After the demo, we sent our strategy docs—they handled the rest. Up and running in 2 weeks.”
Brandie H.Director of Strategy“Before ClearPoint, we were drowning in spreadsheets and PowerPoints.”
Darren E.Director of FinanceInstant tour
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