The Denali Commission views a community plan as the Community's essential development tool. Community plans demonstrate the community's goals and ability to focus on its future. The plan follows the belief that rural Alaskan communities have the right to maintain their cultural heritage and close relationship with the land while protecting their economic and human potential.

The Denali Commission requires communities to provide a copy of their community plan when submitting funding requests. This essential tool will provide the following: (1) the plan provides a current economic, social, and infrastructure summary of a community (2) the plan will help communities discover their assets and (3) the plan provides a prioritized list of projects for which the community is seeking funding assistance. The plan also explains how the community intends to sustain its existing infrastructure as well as any additional infrastructure. (Funders discourage wish lists that change according to funding availability.)