PRINT
EMAIL
PRINTABLE
WEB SITE
AUDIO
VIDEO
Strategic Planning in the Arts: A Practical Guide
The Planning Environment
Strategic planning does not happen in a vacuum. Many organizations initiate the planning process during a period of great change (e.g., financial distress, physical expansion, changes in leadership). The benefits and limits of strategic planning are linked to the nature of the change facing the organization.
 previous |
next |
The way a planning process is implemented will depend, in great measure, on the situation facing the organization when it decides to develop the plan. Only a few arts organizations have the discipline to develop comprehensive strategic plans in a rigorous way during periods of stability. Most organizations only embark on planning exercises when facing periods of great change owing to financial distress, changes to operations (including physical expansion), the loss of a major funder, new senior staff or the decision to pursue a serious stabilization effort.
FINANCIAL DISTRESS
The most common reason why arts organizations turn to planning is the onset of significant financial problems. When there is considerable cash flow pressure, when nothing in the current operations suggests that this pressure will abate, when every conversation revolves around cash shortages, when the fun of involvement has evaporated, and when the Board and staff have no solutions, they frequently turn to planning. (Of course, a careful plan developed three years earlier may have averted the crisis.)
A plan meant to address a fiscal crisis must be comprehensive, but must also be developed with dispatch. These plans accomplish several objectives:
- They force a discussion on the root of the problems facing the organization.
- They encourage a logical, organized discussion of possible solutions.
- They create alignment of the Board and staff around a course of action.
- They result in a document that can be used to attract new Board members.
- They can be used with funders to help show how additional investment in the institution will contribute to long-term stability.
What the plan will not do is solve the cash flow problem. This will only be accomplished if the plan is implemented. This typically takes a great deal of effort by Board and staff. If the effort devoted to creating the plan exhausts the time and energy commitment of the key participants, leaving no resources for implementation, it is certain to have no impact on the institution.
Too often, even when a troubled organization does work hard to create and implement a plan, the focus is placed solely on the short-term fiscal needs. The temptation to solve this most pressing problem is understandable but the longer-term consequences can be significant. There are very few institutions that are saved simply by an infusion of short-term cash. While mounting an emergency campaign is frequently a central part of the strategy for a troubled institution, it can not be the only area of focus. Without addressing methods for increasing both earned and contributed income, and controlling costs, the organization is likely to experience serious cash flow problems yet again when the short-term campaign revenue is depleted. Many organizations have to learn how to reduce expenses. Even more have to learn how to enhance income generation by employing sophisticated marketing and fund-raising techniques. The payoff from these approaches is not achieved in the near-term; the best arts executives will make the effort to ensure that long-term revenue growth is pursued even in the face of daunting short-term crises.
| previous |
next |
