A campus master plan cannot predict the future of a campus, but it can provide a valuable and productive road map for future development. This article suggests that such a road map might best meet an institution's needs and resources when it is linked to the reasons it decided to plan in the first place. Identifying the reasons for planning requires a clear understanding of the planning purpose and outcome expectations, and doing so enables an institution to focus planning resources and efforts in a productive, timely, and cost-effective manner. In this article, the author discusses 10 reasons why colleges and universities undertake campus master planning and offers ways to align the campus master planning effort to best address them. (Contains 1 figure and 11 notes.)