Strategic Advising For Dance For Pd
Dance for PD Mid-Atlantic had established strong community roots in the Washington DC area with valuable partnerships at prestigious institutions like the Kennedy Center, INOVA, and The Washington Ballet. However, the program faced critical growth barriers:
- Operational dependence on individuals rather than scalable systems
- Limited strategic infrastructure to support sustainable expansion
- Fragmented communications that weren't effectively engaging audiences
- Lack of standardized processes for program management and partnership development
- No clear roadmap for transforming from grassroots initiative to sustainable regional program
The organization needed to evolve from a grassroots local program into a strategically-operated initiative that could expand its reach while maintaining the personal touch that has made it so effective.
We started the engagement with a Strategic Discovery engagement (~4-6 weeks). The discovery work is important to help qualify the organization's needs and clarify the areas that we need to focus on for ongoing, strategy support. The discovery process included stakeholder interviews, market research of the Mid-Atlantic Parkinson's landscape, and an operational assessment. Once completed, we had a strategic roadmap with a clear sense of the regional needs and recommendations for next steps.
With the discovery foundation and recommendations, we determined priorities and a plan ahead for an ongoing engagement.
Ongoing Strategy Advising Approach
My role serves as Dance for PD's external strategy and marketing department. Rather than delivering one-time recommendations, I remain embedded as an ongoing strategic resource. I ensure we maintain high-level thinking with a practical understanding of what we can accomplish day-to-day.
As their dedicated strategic resource, I provide continuous support through:
- Weekly 30-minute strategy sessions with ongoing email consultation
- Quarterly 90-minute strategic planning sessions to maintain long-term focus
- Bi-weekly newsletter and outreach support with strategic messaging
- Real-time guidance on partnership opportunities and program expansion decisions
- Special project support for timely Mid-Atlantic initiatives
Engagement Results
We are seeing steady growth for Dance for PD - Mid-Atlantic. Some areas of impact include:
- Increase of individual giving and establishing a culture of ongoing donor development
- Secured first Mid-Atlantic corporate sponsorship
- Launched Mid-Atlantic Facebook page
- Rebranded the bi-monthly dancer e-newsletter increase open-rates and online engagement
- Implemented quarterly Partner communications ensuring Mid-Atlantic partners stay informed of the latest activities and value offered by Dance for PD - Mid-Atlantic
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