June 1, 2010
Filed under: BVA
Two years ago, the Chicago Mosaic School (CMS) approached the Arts & Business Council (A&BC) desperate for assistance in creating a marketing plan. After a meeting with A&BC’s program staff and CMS’s Executive Director and Administrative Director, it was clear that CMS needed much more than a marketing plan. Even though CMS was able to boast about having the highest-level faculty in the country and being the only nonprofit mosaic fine art school in North America, it lacked a formalized and sustainable organizational structure. CMS, established in 2005, was founded and operated by a small volunteer staff of artists who had no experience in managing an organization.
Through the Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA) program, A&BC matched CMS with a volunteer consultant team and recommended developing a business plan. Initially, CMS was hesitant to this idea because their focus was on increasing their class sizes. Over the course of the project, the Business Volunteers helped CMS understand the value in refining the organization’s mission and vision, writing staff job descriptions, addressing accounting issues and establishing strategic priorities before embarking upon a marketing plan. At the end of the project (totaling 95 hours of pro bono consulting work valued at $9,500), CMS had a business plan that clearly described the identity and purpose of the organization as well as the roles and responsibilities of those involved.
“Before we had a scattered vision, but this process helped us focus. It helped us address what we needed to let go of and pare down our priorities. This process was surprisingly re-motivating because it broke everything down into do-able, manageable pieces. I was starting to feel very overwhelmed, but it helped me become energized again.” said Karen Ami, Executive Director of CMS.
Both, the Business Volunteer team and the CMS staff were pleased with the successful completion of the project. However, the true testament to a successful project is if the client can implement and sustain what they have learned through the process. Since finishing the business plan nearly a year ago, CMS continues to exercise sound financial practices and make mission-driven decisions. Their business plan even informed the decisions they made for re-launching their website.
In hindsight, CMS realized how necessary it was to conduct a business plan before developing a communication strategy. CMS is moving on to the next phase of its development and has recently submitted a new BVA project proposal for a marketing plan, and this time they’re ready for it!
If you’re interested in getting your own team of Business Volunteers, please contact Katie Kurcz, BVA Program Manager, (312) 372-1876 ext 229. If you’d like to become a BVA, apply online today!