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| photo courtesy of www.sxc.hu |
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Stakeholders - It takes a village to support a community-based organization
Your creative reuse center exists within a community. Having strong relationships with your community members is invaluable. The staff, volunteers, neighbors, sister reuse organizations, funders, participants in your programs, users of your services, retail shoppers, early adopters, environmental fans, arts fans, educators, and government officials all make up your village. They are otherwise known as stakeholders. They all have a stake in what you do: They help facilitate your development, are affected by your activities, and/or share the mission.
So, who specifically are your stakeholders? What are their needs and expectations? One of the first activities you and your advisory board will do is brainstorm an inventory of your stakeholders. You'll make a list of all the people who are invested in the success of your venture. Next, you'll prioritize your stakeholders. Who on the list has the biggest stake in the development of your creative reuse center? Who has influence over its success? Staff, board, and volunteers are likely to be at the top of your priority list. So are funders and investors.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Facing the Inevitable – The Business Plan
We’re often asked if a business plan is absolutely necessary to get a new creative reuse center off the ground. The unfortunate answer is absolutely yes. It’s unfortunate because if your passion is to start a creative reuse center, you're likely to be more tapped into your right brain and taking on a structured business plan may not be your cup of tea. You may feel more comfortable with creative, free-form, intuitive, non-linear thinking. A business plan is about as left brained as a process gets. Think of it as your road map to success. For now, you’ll need to put on your analytical, fact-based, sequential hat. -- at least for much of the work
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| photo courtesy of sxc.hu |
To read the full chapter, please pick up a copy of our book:
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Mobile? Brick and Mortar? Online Exchange?
Now that you’ve created your Mission Statement, what type of
venue will you need to fulfill your mission?
There are 3 main venue types we typically see in the world of creative
reuse: Mobile units, brick-and-mortar locations, and online material
exchanges. Most creative reuse
organizations typically utilize some combination of the three. Choosing the right type of venue will help
you to stay true to your mission.
To read the full chapter, please pick up a copy of our book:
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