STRATEGIC PLAN 2008-11: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

by Jeff Livesay, Vice-President/President-Elect

1. Q: Why should we have a Strategic Plan?

A: “Trying to launch a business without a Plan is like taking a trip along a curvy, mountain road without a map, driving at high speeds, while wearing a blindfold. You will eventually arrive at some destination, but it's likely to not be the destination you had in mind and your trip will be anything but smooth.”

-Tim Knox, author of Everything I Know About Business I Learned from my Mama

Planning is a matter of seeing what isn’t there. Planning means making a commitment to doing things in the future that may be different from what we have done in the past, and that is risky.

There is one universal rule of planning: You will never be greater than the vision that guides you. No Olympic athlete ever got to the Olympics by mistake; a compelling vision of his or her stellar performance inevitably guides all the sweat and tears for many years. The vision statement should require the organization's members to stretch their expectations, aspirations, and performance. Without that powerful, attractive, valuable vision, why bother?

Our Vision Statement is this: “As musical ambassadors of goodwill, the Boulder Chorale is a community dedicated to musical excellence and inclusiveness, bound by a common love of the choral art.”

The only way to achieve this vision is to have a plan of action. Indeed, almost all organizations have some form of a Strategic Plan to guide them toward their vision. A Strategic Plan should address current problems while guiding the organization in the direction of its vision. We think the Strategic Plan does exactly this.

2. Q: Who developed the Strategic Plan?

A: The Strategic Plan 2008-11 is the result of 2 years of work of a committee composed of long-standing members and leaders in the Chorale, both on the Board and not.

The members of the Planning Committee are as follows:

JoAn Segal, (Chair, 2007-8)

Jack Biddle, (Chair, 2006-7)

Josephine Bynder (2006-8)

Erin Christensen-Mandel (2006-8)

Paul Haynes (2006-8)

Sue Hintz-Siegrist (2006-7)

Diane LaTourrette (2006-8)

Jeff Livesay (2007-8)

Timothy Snyder (2006-8)

Sharon Soderlund (2006-8)

3. Q: What oversight has there been?

A: The Planning Committee was formed at the request of the Board of Directors during the Transition Meeting in the Summer of 2006, as was announced in the newsletter in July, 2006. The work has been done with input from many non-committee members, and at least one major input from the whole membership over the issue of auditions.

After two years of vision and revision, the Planning Committee presented a Strategic Plan proposal to the Board of Directors at the Board’s March meeting, and requested input and feedback, with a final version of the Plan to be voted on in the next Board meeting. This was reported in the minutes, as well as the newsletter.

Based on the feedback recieved, the Planning Committee made even further modifications to the plan, and on 4-14-08 a final revision of the Strategic Plan was presented to the Board of Directors for discussion and a vote of approval.

Overall, this plan has been revised many times, and is responsive to Board and membership concerns.

4. Q: What specific concerns does the Strategic Plan address?

A: The purpose of the strategic plan is to clarify the Chorale’s vision and mission, and to provide leadership and strategy to the Board of Directors through specific recommendations. Although many aspects were considered, we honed in on three specific areas that we felt were the most important to address:

1. Financial Success

One of our Core Values (indeed, the first one) is a commitment to the Chorale’s solvency and success as a business. It’s true we have been making do financially - some years we have come out a little ahead, and some years a little behind. This was true in ’05-’06 when we lost $4,987, and will probably be true in ’07-’08, but in ’06-’07 we came out $1,623 to the good. In the years where we ended up in the red, we needed to operate using funds obtained by collecting next season’s dues in the spring.

While the organization is financially viable, our true aim is to become financially stable and mature. As a 42-year-old organization, much like a 42-year-old individual, we should have a financial plan for our future. The Strategic Plan envisions our organization with a surplus, which creates room for growth.

Another concern is that funding agencies are increasingly asking us about our plans. So far we have just been able to tell them that we were working on something, and for now that has seemed to satisfy them. However, in the near future this will not be a satisfactory answer. Having a specific plan in place will allow us to continue to access monies from current and potential grantors.

Finally, we need to have a concrete plan in place to ensure that fundraising continues and develops in a planned, accountable, and predictable way. This allows for more certainty in budgeting, which is not a small task for an organization of our size.

This Strategic Plan requires a commitment to implementing a strategy for fund-raising by the Board, as was practiced in several other previous years with much success. The proposed Strategic Plan explicitly states methods to be used in fundraising, specific goals for capital development, and benchmarks to measure our progress along the way.

2. Inclusiveness and Quality

In the past several years, we have turned away many singers, notably women singers, because we simply have not had a mechanism for including them in a mixed-voice ensemble. We have also not responded to a desire from many Women’s Chorale members to sing in a mixed-voice ensemble.

Over the past several years, the Chorale has made great strides in the quality of its musicianship. At the same time, the demand has risen for a large, well-balanced, auditioned chorale to complete major choral works. This is a demand that the 35-person Chamber Chorale is currently not able to meet.

The proposed Strategic Plan addresses these shortcomings by creating a mixed-voice choir that is open to any and all community members, regardless of their gender, or musical background and ability. At the same time, it furthers the Chorale’s mission of musical excellence by creating a large choir with balanced sections of 80-100 auditioned singers, derived from the majority of the current Concert Chorale members.

The Planning Committee also sees a need in the community that is currently not being met – namely, a chorale for children focused on musical development and concerts. Not only will the creation of a Children’s Choir increase the community’s quality of life and include more community members, but by all accounts would increase the Chorale’s revenue, enlarge our sphere of community stakeholders, and contribute to the Chorale’s business success.

3. Organizational Development

The Plan also acknowledges that the Chorale needs to upgrade its infrastructure of staff and space. Currently, many staff functions are performed by volunteers. While this has functioned reasonably well, there is definitely room for improvement and increased integration. Regarding space, our music library fills half of our office, various members keep important Chorale property in their own homes due to lack of storage space, and increased staff would simply not have room to work in our current office. Goal 3 of the Strategic Plan outlines specific ways to support the growth and maturation of the organization.

5. Why now?

A: This plan is timely. If we move quickly, we may be able to control our finances so that we won’t need to spend next season’s dues nor make major budget cuts. If we make adequate provision now, we can correct a lack of inclusiveness for women singers, as well as provide an avenue for increased balance and musical excellence. We will also be able to add a Children’s Chorale to the structure by the fall of 2009, which serves a need that is currently not met by any other local organization. Finally, if we act promptly, we will have the ability to staff the Chorale’s operation adequately, and have a central location for our important documents, history, and equipment.