Introduction
Many
organizations have strategic plans, but do they have good ones? Will the plan be used to and referred to
regularly or will it sit on a shelf? As
Arts Administrators, we need to be able to identify strong and weak concepts
plus evaluative components within existing strategic plans to enable us to use
that knowledge when strategically planning in our own organizations. “Many so-called strategic plans are little
more than statements of goals and objectives.
Knowing where you want to go is only half the challenge; you must also
decide how to get there.” (Burns)
The
following is the review of three non-profit arts organizations of various
genres and budget sizes. “One size does
not fit all. Every organization is
unique in its history and culture, and, it is to be hoped, in its mission. Every plan should reflect that uniqueness;
there is no standard model appropriate for every organization.” (Taylor) With that said, good and bad planning is
possible at all budget sizes therefore in analysis section of this paper a
discussion will occur on how techniques from each organizations’ strategic
plans could be combined to create templates for strong, future planning that
would produce a living, breathing strategic plan.
Review
Standards
In
order for a strategic plan to be successful, the plan needs to be a living,
breathing document. To me this concepts
means there are certain criteria that must be present:
- Is the
organization employing qualitative and quantitative measures to gage
success?
- Are the
goals realistic?
- Is the
success of a variety of areas / departments being measured?
- Are
specific people assigned / made accountable through implementation?
If the above subjects are well defined
and evaluated within a strategic plan, with the additional of regular review,
an organization should be successful in building and flourishing.
Organizations
and Reviews
This section
includes a brief description of the three organizations being analyzed and a
review of each individual plan according to the standards outlined above.
Chemung County Historical Society (CCHS)
The
Chemung County Historical Society is a non-profit organization located in
Elmira, NY whose purpose is to celebrate the history of Chemung County. Their organizational budget is $500,000. The mission statement affirms: “The Chemung
County Historical Society seeks to deepen our audiences understanding of the
past and the role of history in our futures. To achieve this the Society uses
diverse and evolving collections to engage audiences through interactive and
dynamic exhibits and educational programs, community outreach and partnerships,
publications and research services. We believe these efforts will provide a
better appreciation of our community and our place in state and national
history.” (http://www.chemungvalleymuseum.org/index.asp?pageId=261)
CCHS
Strategic Plan
The
CCHS Strategic Plan focuses on six main goals each with detailed multiple
strategies. These goals focus on the
areas of (1) Finances, (2) Public Programming, (3) Facilities, (4) Public
Awareness, (5) Collections, and (6) Organizational Development to be addressed
between 2006 and 2010. For each goal
multiple strategies are stated and with the strategies various action steps,
timelines, responsibilities, and sometimes the funding sources are
denoted. While each of these items is
important to have a living, breathing plan the flaw in CCHS’s plan is in the
consistency and detail of these functions.
The
plan outlines a large variety of areas / departments to be developed and while
there are many qualitative descriptors used throughout CCHS’s plan, no measures
are ever identified in any of the strategic action steps. Since general descriptions are only given of
the outcomes they seek to achieve it is hard to gage if the goals are
realistic. As the goals are so general
it is hard to understand what the organization would describe as success. It is also interesting that only some
strategies have funding sources identified.
The next issue
is the consistency of how the timelines are described. Some have very specific due dates while
others state ongoing and still others state done. As this plan is already in progress it causes
wonder as to why all dates prior to 2009 do not have a “DONE” noted by
them. There are responsibilities for
each action step specified but the date question calls into question if these
parties are actually being reviewed and held accountable. At the time the plan was shared their
Executive Director had commented that she was in the process of updating the
plan for accreditation purposes. It
would be best if updating and review was an organizational process instead of
an individual process to ensure continued growth and implementation. The final section, a chart helping to label
priorities, seems to be incomplete.
Overall the
CCHS’s Strategic Plan shows good concepts but poor strategies to track
implementation, success rates, and accountability.
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO)
The
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra is the only professional non-profit orchestra
between Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada.
The organizational budget is $1.4 million. The TBSO’s mission statement is listed
neither on their website nor in their strategic plan outline. As Gregory Kandel in the article Keeping the Plan and the Planning Alive,
“Successful planning begins at mission level and then is re-tested periodically
against mission.” Therefore there is
curiosity over what the organization’s mission statement actually is.
TBSO
Strategic Plan
The
TBSO Strategic Plan Outline identifies five main goals with multiple objectives
for each. These goals focus on (1) being
valued and reaching a wider audience; (2) presenting concerts of high artistic
standards; (3) financial stability; (4) developing and strengthening community
engagement partnerships; and (5) board, staff, and volunteer optimization. The plan was developed to focus on the
2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 concert seasons. The 2010-2011 season will mark TBSO’s 50th
anniversary. TBSO presents their plan in
a chart that for each goal identifies multiple objectives, actions, lists the
responsible individual or individuals, states when the action will take place,
and identifies success indicators for each objective.
The
success factors indicate both qualitative and quantitative measurements. Most success indicators show yearly
incremental increases between three and five percent which seems very
realistic. Where stakeholders are sited,
in most cases TBSO has identified additional involvement of one or two parties
a year. In one case 100% response is
sited; gauging how realistic this could be is hard without additional
background knowledge.
The
goals being addressed are varied and within the objectives multiple departments
are cited. While at first glance it is
hard to see this in the outline, diversity is present and may be clearer in
another section of the plan. The
timelines for these goals are general as related to years in which they will be
accomplished but are specific in citing years where research or planning will
occur as compared to when implementation will happen. Therefore the progression of strategic
planning can be seen across the span of the three years the plan has been
written for. The responsibilities for
the goals and timing are very clear with multiple individuals or groups
involved with most objectives.
Overall,
the TBSO Strategic Plan Outline helps to give the reader a very clear idea of
where TBSO is going and how they will be getting there. While the success indicators are very clear
how the organization as a whole is evaluating the progression of plan is not
identified in the outline. Hopefully how
implementation is being tracked is discussed in another section; otherwise
accountability needs to be more clearly evaluated.
Rockwell Museum of Western Art (RMWA)
The
Rockwell Museum of Western Art is a non-profit organization functioning as a
Private Foundation supported by Corning, Inc.
The RMWA contains the largest collection of Western Art on the east side
of the Mississippi River. The organizational
budget is $2.2 million. The mission
statement states: “To preserve, interpret and enhance the museum collections,
emphasizing American Western and Native American art and culture. To
foster a deeper understanding of these cultures and aesthetic traditions
through dynamic exhibitions and educational activities that attract interest
from a broader public.” (http://www.rockwellmuseum.org/Mission-and-Vision.html)
RMWA
Strategic Plan
The
full RWMA Strategic Plan is over 500 pages long. The organization was not interested in
sharing the full plan and instead provided an overview of their four strategic
goals and a summary statement of the proceeding plan. The strategic plan for the years 2008-2010
focus on four strategic goals: (1) capitalize on the collection, (2) expand
interpretive offerings, (3) grow and diversify funding, and (4) enhance
business operations. The overview of the
four goals (provided in two formats) varies in detailed format of the stated
goals. Goals I and II each have a
statement of intent followed by one strategy statement and then supporting
objectives, Goal III has a statement of intent and then three supporting
strategy statements each with listed objectives. Then Goal IV contains one strategy statement then
five very detailed objectives each with a specific timeline. The plan refers to their measurable
indicators as “Key Business Drivers”.
The
overview of the current plan does have quantitative and qualitative measures
but there are very few. The only
quantitative measures stated are specific attendance goals and then the
qualitative statements of increasing customer satisfaction and financial
growth. In all areas the plan leaves the
reader looking for more detailed information.
It would like to be thought that in 500 pages of text these would be
described more but it is curious that they aren’t qualified in the overview
better. As the goals are fairly general
it also makes one question if they are actually realistic.
There
seem to be a variety of areas / departments that can be assumed while reading
the overview but they are not clearly stated or identified. Accountability is also not clearly identified
in the overview. Also while the plan is
stated to be for 2008-2010, some of the objectives in Goal IV have dates in
2007. While reading the summary of the
past areas of focused in the review section, from personal involvement with the
organization, I know that many of these items have never been accomplished. For example a development employee has never
been employed by the RMWA. Therefore
with lack of clear descriptions and personal knowledge it is hard to believe
accountability is being followed through in the full 500 page version of the
plan. In the summary of past
achievements, it was nice to see that successes that were not in the strategic
plan but happened organically were noticed and created new thinking for future
planning.
In
general, after reading the overview there is concern for the full version
containing the detail needed to be effective if the summarization is highly
lacking the needed elements to create a living, breathing strategic plan.
Analysis
of the Strategic Plans
In
some ways these three plans were very similar and in others very different. For the sake of identifying qualities of a
living, breathing plan, this analysis will highlight the strong concepts from
each of the plans that if combined would be positive elements to apply in the
creation of an organization’s own strategic plan.
Unlike
the other plans, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art started their plan with
their mission statement. Focusing first
on a mission statement helps and organization to keep their reason for being at
the front of their minds, and it aids in planning to build a stronger future
around that mission. All three
organizations had a variety of goals but the goals of the Chemung Valley
History Museum were written in a way that helped to give various areas /
departments the most ownership of the plan and helping to hold each
accountable. The layout of the Thunder Bay
Symphony Orchestra’s strategic plan made it most clear who was accountable for
completing which sections of the plan.
TBSO’s strategic plan was also most precise in identifying when the
objectives of each goal should take place and included a clear timeline for
planning, researching, and implementing new strategies and concepts.
In
the area of successful indicators the TBSO was the only organization to employ
specific qualitative and quantitative measures for all objectives and action
steps. In this area of planning they
really shined. Through reading a clear
picture of progress over a three year time frame was obvious and
pragmatic. The reader could easily see
realistic levels of success being gradually increased each year. As Burns says “Strategic planning is the
process an organization uses to determine its goals and ultimately to measure
its successes.”
The
CCHS was the only organization to discuss how aspects of their plan would be
funded. While this may not be needed in
every strategic plan the use of this aspect did show forward thinking when new
projects were initiated and start-up funding would be needed. While the other two organizations were mostly
building on their existing projects or starting slow implementations of new
projects that would be incorporated, if an organization is to be starting a
large scale project from scratch it is important to acknowledge and
strategically plan for where the funding would be coming from in advance.
While
all of the organization may be open to flexibility and expanding upon
opportunities when they occur, the RMWA was the only organization to include a
review section discussing things that were not planned for but were successes
during their last cycle of planning. It
is nice to see that sometimes things that will help us the most can be found
while working on other plans and it is important and be flexible and take
advantage of these opportunities when they present themselves. Just like in life, we cannot always plan for
everything.
Conclusions
While
none of the plans analyzed were perfect examples of living, breathing plans
there was much to be learned from them, their comparisons, and contrasts. By combining the strong techniques of each a
template could be seen to help guide arts administrators in creating successful
plans of our own.
Bibliography
Burns, Mike. (1994). Off the
shelf: how to ensure that your strategic plan becomes a valued tool. National
Endowment for the Arts, Retrieved from http://arts.endow.gov/resources/lessons/BURNS.HTML.
Chemung County
History Museum.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chemungvalleymuseum.org/index.asp?pageId=261.
Kandel, Gregory. (n.d.). Keeping
the plan and planning alive. National Endowment for the Arts, Retrieved
from http://arts.endow.gov/resources/lessons/KANDEL2.HTML.
Rockwell Museum
of Western Art.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.rockwellmuseum.org/Mission-and-Vision.html.
Taylor, Ed. (n.d.). Trick or
treat (or why plan?). National Endowment for the Arts, Retrieved from http://arts.endow.gov/resources/lessons/TAYLOR.HTML.
Thunder Bay
Symphony Orchestra.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tbso.ca/sustain/index.htm.
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