Epiphany Planning & Development

I love Main Street programs.  I love them because they have templates for planning.  Main Street programs have the luxury of taking what has been proven to work in other areas and translating it into their own area.  It seems fool-proof.  Seems.

Recently, while talking with a friend in Virginia the conversation turned to a failed Main Street program.  Just that terminology alone is misleading.  Main Street did not fail, community implementation failed.  Obviously, the failure to implement a good plan in any downtown and/or community, not just a Main Street one, has a very unhappy ending.  The question is ‘if you know what to do to succeed, why not do it?’  That answer is complex but in the majority of communities has common factors contributing to their downfall.  Today’s focus is on just one, planning.

Failure to plan is the base of everything that can and will go wrong, particularly when it comes to fundraising.  Fundraising is about raising actual funds, not just covering costs.  Raising funds involves building donor relationships, building bonds with sponsors, engaging the board in leadership giving and recruiting, etc.  Clearly these tasks cannot be done in just a month or two.

Fundraising also involves showing both a value proposition as well as a return on investment (ROI) on all efforts.  Again, this takes an investment in planning and reporting.  Fundraising requires leadership and engagement, again, a plan helps empower these efforts. 

If your organization is struggling with funding, honestly access if you are addressing the factors above.  It is true, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.