Small not for profit community Theatre and Arts centre

Has anyone done a business model exercise for a small not for profit community theatre and arts centre? The organisation is funded 50% by grants but this is now under threat.

The organisation is governed by a voluntary board of directors who are keen to consider ways of commercialising the organisation.

Currently the grant providers determine most of the activities provided. This leads to a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. I say profit on the basis of having to try and match costs with revenue. Most activities are not commercially viable.Without grant aid the current operation would be unsustainable. Obviously such an organisation does not have a profit driven culture and this will have to change.

If anyone has experience of such a venture and has used a business model exercise to consider alternative strategies/models, I would be grateful for you sharing any insights which deem relevant.

Views: 2038

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Philip Galligan on January 15, 2013 at 3:26pm

To all who have contributed to this discussion I am very grateful.

I have been surprised by the number and quality of contributions to date. From my clients perspective Mike's suggestion of considering funders ans customers as 2 customer segments has created a direction for the organisation to explore in more depth. What is the job to be done for the funders and how we might leverage that is an ongoing discussion. To date some additional funding has been achieved by considering what extra can be provided for funders. This to date has offset reductions in funding from other sources.

It is very interesting to see the response when you introduce topics such as "the job to be done" or the "problem to be solved". It creates a whole new dimension to the participants who are a mix of Directors and Staff in the organisation.

I am hopeful that this discussion will continue as in the current condition of western economies I am convinced that many NPOs are struggling to maintain funding levels.

So again thank you to everyone and thank you Mike for the breakthrough idea.

Best wishes for 2013

Philip

Permalink Reply by Claude Michaud on March 25, 2013 at 7:51am

Hello,

Having implemented an incubator in the social and solidarity economy sector in Geneva, I used more than 100 times the Osterwalder and Pigneur Canvas. But working also with not for profit organizations, we ended to create a more adapted canvas that you can find at the site www.socialbusinessmodels.ch (in construction).

The main difference is the approach, starting with the "Why", mixing Business model and Logic Framework.

Sorry, it's in french for now.

RSS

© 2013   Created by Alex Osterwalder.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service