Business Plan Worksheet - Alliance of Artists Communities



Business Plan Worksheet

For use with “Nonprofit Incorporating – The Business Plan”

|1.a. |What is the purpose of your nonprofit? |To educate the local and wider community about sustainable living in a holistic way that includes art, |

| | |literature, writing and thinking as well as hands on activity. To provide a space for self-driven folks to |

| | |explore art, writing, design, sustianable living technique, etc. To offer folks a place to experiment and |

| | |the time to think. |

|1.b. |Why are YOU starting a nonprofit? |To not have a boss, to live fully in an alternative lifestyle, to provide a sweet service to the community,|

| | |to become a part of the larger community of thinkers and doers in sust. living, to challenge the |

| | |EXPERT-based concept surrounding sust. living styles. To bring creative thinkers to us; to be a part of |

| | |interesting and spontaneous happenings; because it’s been on my mind for several years. |

|1.c. |Why are you starting THIS nonprofit? |This is what we are most passionate about, and we see a need for this knowledge in the community, and a |

| | |need to widen the scope of its appeal and effects. Sustainable living and art are two areas that are |

| | |neglected and unsupported. Combining the two leads to greater learning opportunities. |

|1.d. |What is your vision? |A loose affiliation of knowledgable and curious folks making sustinable living practices and thoughtful |

| | |exchange a REAL part of daily life. |

|1.e. |What is your mission? |To make our organization a vibrant part of our local art and sustainable living communities; to bring more |

| | |of those kinds of folks to our area; to give the gift of time and incubation. |

|2. |What are your qualifications and experience to |Brad: two years working as a canvass director, working on training, personnel management, accounting, |

| |open and operate this not-for-profit BUSINESS? |outreach and issue development. seven months in NZ working as a project and volunteer coordinator, grant |

| | |writing (one successful), outreach. facilitation experience (recent), board and non-profit start up |

| | |experience with Bay Bucks. Access to my parents who have bookkeeping and small business ownership |

| | |experience of many many years. carpentry, design, manual development, writing, music, natural design, |

| | |alternative energy, etc. |

| | |Amanda: Amanda Kik graduated with a BFA in fine art (1997) and MFA in writing (2000), both from California |

| | |Institute of the Arts. Since then, she has worked as a college professor and a communications and volunteer|

| | |coordinator for a nonprofit patient advocacy organization. She is experienced in working with a board of |

| | |directors and putting the vision of those directors into action. She is currently enrolled at Northwestern |

| | |Michigan College’s Extension program, earning her certificate in nonprofit management. |

|3.a. |What kinds of ACTIVITIES will your nonprofit |Building workshops, residencies (room, board, materials and community support) for artists, designers, |

| |involve or sponsor? |writers, musicians, etc., sustainable living workshops, retreat and lodging space, day-to-day practice of |

| | |sustainable living – gardening, animal care, building/maintenance, conservation work, etc. Also, outreach, |

| | |open days, etc. |

| | |Lecture series, performances, auctions (wine &/or art), space for yoga and massage |

|3.b. |Who will be responsible for these activities? |Brad & Amanda for residency (core activity). Paid staff or volunteers (exchanges/internships) for day to |

| | |day practice and workshops; residents for day to day practice and workshops, paid teachers on a perdiem |

| | |basis for SOME classes and workshops. |

|4.a. |Will you be providing a SERVICE? |Yes – almost entirely ALL services. |

|4.b. |Will that service be limited to certain |Yes – limited to successful applicants; success based on a combination of willingness to pay, ability, |

| |customers/clients/others? |expereince, alignment of goals/values with ISLAND’s, and attitude. And NO, outreach/open days are open to |

| | |everyone. |

|4.c. |Who? |See above. |

|4.d. |How? |Through our residency program and workshops, perhaps internships. the application process serves as our |

| | |method of distinguishing. |

|4.e. |Why? |The success of the program depends on our ability to attract quality folks; we are operating on a single |

| | |site with a limited capacity. |

|4.f. |When? |Either year round or ALMOST year round. workshops may be day long, week long, semester long, or longer; |

| | |residencies from 2 weeks to 2 years. Some residents may stay longer, but status would change to employee or|

| | |intern. |

|4.g. |What will be the proximity of your office and |Proximity to clients variable, from local to international. Close proximity to the major city of our |

| |service to your customers/clients/others? |watershed/region to facilitate community access and support, and airport access for clients. |

| | |Office is on-site. |

|5.a. |Will you have membership? |No. We’ll have members in NAME, who receive a newsletter and info in exchange for their contribution, but |

| | |who do not have rights. |

|5.b. |If so… |N/A |

|6.a. |What will be the NAME of your organization? |ISLAND – The Institure for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design. The on-the-ground program shall be |

| | |known as The Red Pine Roost (assuming land location, below) |

|6.b. |Have you reserved that name with the state? |Yes |

|7. |Where will you be opening and operating this |On a plot of suitable land in the 5 county area of Northwest Lower Michigan, sized between 15 and 50 acres.|

| |nonprofit? |Potentially on a 20 acre piece of land near Cedar, MI in Solon Twp. |

|8.a. |Who will you have on your BOARD and other |List in file: people list.doc |

| |people providing money and assistance? | |

|8.b. |Why will you have them on the board? |Only some of them will be invited to be on our board – those that we feel understand our vision and |

| | |wouldn’t attempt to steer us away from that vision. Also, folks would be invited because of their |

| | |experience in development, law, organizing, etc, as well as their commitment to our values and our mission.|

|8.c. |What part will they have in decision-making? |We will have a governance board with the ability and responsibility to approve an annual budget, amend and |

| | |append bylaws, appoint board members and make decisions regarding expansion, new programs, etc. The board |

| | |will be bound by the vision and mission statements, but has the final word on the direction of the |

| | |organization. |

|8.d. |What part will they play in the organization? |Board members (and others) can serve the organization in the capacity they excel at, from fundraising to |

| | |outreach and day to day activities. They can also serve as experts, elders and fresh perspectives. |

|9.a. |What are the ADVANTAGES to incorporating THIS |Likely to qualify for tax-exemption, grants and other funds. |

| |organization? |Protection from individual liability. |

| | |Can more easily hire employees. |

| | |Can more easily deal with buying/leasing property, etc. and enter into contracts. |

| | |Organization can grow beyond A&B over time. |

|9.b. |What are the DISADVANTAGES to incorporating |Learning curve on SOME issues. |

| |THIS organization? |Maintaining A&Bs original vision. |

| | |Increased paperwork and accounting requirements. |

|9.c |Do the ADVANTAGES outweight the DISADVANTAGES? |Most likely, particularly if funding comes through, and certainly if we are able to grow large enough to |

| | |hire employees. |

|10.a |What are your resources? |Income from B&A’s other jobs, people with expertise in the community who are willing to help, parents with |

| | |money who may help with start up or donate money through businesses, strong community ties, a scalable |

| | |vision, office space, vehicles and computers, a library of books |

|10.b. |What are your talents or education to operate |Brad: experience and talent in many different ways of working with people – facilitation, volunteer |

| |this organization? |coordination, outreach, etc.Experience working in sustainable living – building, design, etc.; computer |

| | |experience, design talent, writing and speaking ability, emerging knowledge of day to day administration, |

| | |flexibility, contagious curiosity. |

| | |Amanda: day to day administration of a small but growing non-profit; see qualifications above; patience; |

| | |tenacity; ongoing (life-long) educational goals |

|11.a. |Will you have paid staff and personnel? |Most likely – certainly a limited payroll for A&B, as co-directors. Living expenses for interns and |

| | |volunteers. Potentially a single or two paid staff members, full or part time, serving in multiple roles |

| | |(e.g. gardener, instructor, some admin). |

|11.b. |Will you have volunteers? |Absolutely, but not necessarily all the time or in key positions. Interns are more likely, working on the |

| | |land in exchange for room and board and access to programs. May also have remote volunteers. Volunteers |

| | |will most likely work in spurts for special events and building projects |

|11.c. |What are their responsibilities and authority? |Interns: chore-type responsibilities, helping with day to day operations of the program, with some |

| | |opportunity (like B had in NZ) to also take on project management or admin if they are inclined and |

| | |interested. Other vols will plug-in, with little authority, and task-based responsibility. Neither interns |

| | |nor volunterrs are likely to make any major decisions on behalf of the org or serve as spokespersons for |

| | |the org. |

|11.d. |What are the reponsibilities to the |Interns: room and board, access to programs, sustainable workload. For all folks who work with us, |

| |organization to its employees ad volunteers? |employees, vols, interns, board – clear direction, sustainabale workload, safe working environment, good |

| | |feedback, growth opportunities, variation in routine. Although they won’t always enjoy all tasks, they will|

| | |have some that they feel are important and are interested in. |

|12. |What is your experience in MANAGING a nonprofit|Brad: 1 year as a field manager (crew leader) working directly with employees; 2 years as a staff director,|

| |organization or other endeavour? |reponsible for the day to day of the employee/organization relationship, fundraising goals and outreach. 1 |

| | |year working with two different planning/working boards, 7 months in NZ as a volunteer coordinator/admin |

| | |assistant |

| | |Amanda: Five years teaching at the college level (not managing, but there is a level of teaching in |

| | |management); working with a nonprofit board from its inception four (?) years ago |

|13.a. |Will your organization or personnel require |Sales tax license if selling art, t-shirts, etc; |

| |licenses, registrations, approvals, |Bed & breakfast license if we have 9 or more rooms and serve a full breakfast.; |

| |certificates or permits? |Possibly a campground license; |

| | |Charitable Organization license; vehicles carrying more than 15 people require a license (unlikely that |

| | |we’ll need this); |

| | |May need a food service license; may choose to become certified as organic growers; we also may, eventually|

| | |choose to pursue a partnership or independent accredation for our educational programs. |

| | |May need zoning variences (currently researching) for the land. |

|13.b. |Will your staff require having licenses, |Staff may assist with organic certification. Otherwise, no. No drug testing will be performed, though there|

| |criminal background checks, or drug testing? |will be a strong drug-free policy in our programs. Applications for employment will ask if the applicant |

| | |has been convicted of a felony, and all applications may ask if the applicant is a convicted sex offender. |

|14.a. |Do you own equipment or other forms of |A&B currently own property and are in the process of selling that property to aquire new property more |

| |property? |suited to the needs of the non-profit. B&A also own about 100 books related to the organization, a truck |

| | |and 2 cars available for organizational use, computers, misc. office equipment (phones, fax machines, |

| | |printers) power and hand tools for construction, garden tools, kitchen equipment, food service (plates, |

| | |etc.), darkroom equipment |

|14.b. |Do you plan on acquiring property and |Yes – property, a better truck (biodiesel?), and building ALL spaces – living quarters, kitchen/bath, |

| |equipment? |workshops, storage barn, studio space. All buildings will be built as part of the program. Upgrade tools |

| | |for safety (table saw in particular), more kitchen equipment, garden tools, books and videos, additional |

| | |photo equipment, film editing equipment, kiln and other ceramics equipment, projector for DVD and whatnot, |

| | |music equipment (piano), etc. |

|14.c. |Will you purchase or lease the equipment and |Slowly purchase as needed – may rent or lease more expensive items (chipper/shredder, sawmilling, some |

| |property? |tools). ISLAND may rent the land from A&B (researching feasibility on that). |

|14.d. |How will you acquire these resources? |Resource needs will be carefully prioritized and bought or leased as funding allows – budget will presume a|

| | |fixed amount towards resource allocation. We will also beg and borrow, salvage and restore when possible. |

| | |Wish list will be posted on website and included in periodic newsletters. |

|14.e. |How will you pay for renovations and signs at |Both renovations and signs will be constructed on site, with already existing tools. |

| |an office? | |

|14.f. |How will you pay for continuing maintenance and|Grants and donations. See above. |

| |improvements? | |

|15. |How and where will you keep supplies, stock and|Administrative/office stock will be stored on-site, building materials stored on site (in a storage barn). |

| |inventory. |The nature of the location (15+ acres) makes storage less of a concern. |

|16.a. |What are your financial needs? |See Appendix A |

|17.a. |What potential liability does this nonprofit |The largest potential liability is for injury on the property, particularly with tool use. Safety standards|

| |have? |based on schools and camps will be established. There is potential for liability from injury from fire or |

| | |auto accident, contractual liability with employees/subcontractors, or from a dissatisfied resident |

| | |claiming the program didn’t meet the stated expectations. |

|17.b. |What insurance protection will you need? |General liability, property, workers comp, possibly “key man” insurance for A&B. |

|18.a. |Have you received any training, education or |Brad: OTJ training through Hudson Bay Inc. and TVS. |

| |technical assistance to operate a nonprofit |Amanda: OTJ training through CLF, multiple courses at NMC, pursuing a certificate in NP management |

| |business? |B&A: Assistance from the MI-SBTDC |

|18.b. |If you have not received any training, |Some. We need further skills in administration, finances, law, development and strategic planning . |

| |education or technical assistance, will you | |

| |need that kind of help? | |

|18.c. |Where will you find that help? |Board members may be willing to teach their experience or use it on our behalf. NMC has a strong selection |

| | |of courses covering MOST of the above topics. MI-SBTDC and other government agencies have free counseling |

| | |and low-cost training for nonprofits and small business owners. |

|18.d. |How will you pay for it? |Currently, CLF covers NMC expenses for Amanda. MI-SBTDC courses are inexpensive, these and all other |

| | |courses will be paid for out of A&Bs personal finances until ISLAND is financially self-sustaining. |

|19.a. |Have you developed a business plan? |We’re working on it. |

|19.b. |Do you know what a business plan is and why you|Yes, though we’ll need help (from family and MI-SBTDC) crafting it/them. |

| |need one? | |

|20. |How will you keep financial records and other |A&B currently work out of a home office and have developed an organization system that will have to be |

| |important records such as contracts, orders, |slightly expanded. A combination of computer data, backed up onto an external hard drive and/or CD/DVD-ROM |

| |wage payments, vouchers, bills of lading, bank |and filing cabinets, including boxes for archival material and fireproof boxes for the most important |

| |accounts, tax information, personnel records, |information. |

| |annual reports, audits and so on? |Most likely will use QuickBooks for Nonprofits—Amanda will take a class to learn how to put this program to|

| | |the best use. |

|21.a. |Are there other not-for-profit groups – |The closest artist residency program is about 125 miles away, in Midland, MI. There are a number of |

| |COMPETITION – like yours in the community where|informal programs that are similar or are realted to ISLAND, from in-school residencies to solar energy |

| |you will open? |classes or cob oven classes. The closest two organizations are the eco-learning center, focused primarily |

| | |on the CSA model, and the Little ArtShram, which focuses on children and art. There are a number (10-20) of|

| | |eco/art programs throughout the U.S. as well |

|21.b. |How and why is your nonprofit different? |We plan to be far more complete of a program than the others in the area – residency + workshops + lecture |

| | |series, gallery space, work space, etc + building, alternative energy, etc. Also, we plan to work WITH the |

| | |other, more informal orgs on their programs to create a cohesive sense of a sust. living program. However, |

| | |we are simply the ONLY artist residency program in beautiful NWLM, and perhaps the only combination artist |

| | |residency with sust. living residency alongside in the US. |

|22.a. |What are the major impediments for you to start|The workload for two people is high; we do not have major capital funding and so must go a small piece at a|

| |this organization? |time. The combination of the two means that we must do the intial work in our spare time while working full|

| | |or part time to raise money. |

|22.b. |What are the barriers? |Acceptance in the community, willigness of other organizations to work with us, gaining respect in the |

| | |community. Raising money. Finding the initial residents who are willing to participate in a partially |

| | |formed program. |

|22.c. |How will you overcome these impediments and |In some cases it will take concerted effort and time. We need to proceed at a low-risk level, not banking |

| |barriers? |the program on one or another single event, but slowly and steadily build the program. We can always find |

| | |OTHER ways to earn money while we live on the land and slowly build the program. |

|23.a. |How will you advertise or market your |Through an exceptional website and internet marketing practices, through journals and publications of the |

| |nonprofit’s service? |art and sust. living community, through media and ads in local publications. We will undertake the |

| | |Integrated Branding process to solidify our internal process with a consistent marketing campaign. Both A&B|

| | |have experience in marketing, branding and outreach. |

|23.b. |How will you get customers/clients/supporters? |Through the above, along with networking at conferences, openings and research travels to other similar |

| | |orgs nation-wide. Grant applications, email newletters, web site updates, mailing lists, etc. |

|23.c. |What will be your niche or specialty in the |Our specialty will be the combination of art and natural design, sustainable living practices with |

| |community you serve, the market place? |literature and theory. Our branding process is not yet finished, but we expect it may focus on the concept |

| | |of a place on earth, tied to the community, serving as a concrete focus point for culture to incubate and |

| | |change. |

|24.a. |Have you or other members of your family and |Yes. B’s parents own a successful payroll company; Max is also starting a SECOND company developing |

| |friends operated a business or another |software. B’s brother Aaron has been a restaurant manager and is starting his own internet business, |

| |nonprofit? |. A’s mom is one of the founders of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation, which has become an |

| | |international nonprofit, thanks to her intensive work and A’s assistance. A&B know MANY small business |

| | |owners and folks who have started or work for a non-profit (at least 20) |

|24.b. |Will they help you in this enterprise? |Family – absolutely. A’s folks willing to co-sign. B’s mom bought a new computer for the operation. B’s |

| | |stepdad MAY make a regular donation. All are willing to advise and help network. Some community folks are |

| | |willing to sit on the board and have SOME time to help. |

|24.c. |What will that help be? |See above |

|25. |Does your group plan on dissolving over time or|Long range project. Ideally it will be passed on as a nonprofit corporation with a self sustainaing board |

| |is it a long range project? |and property. The mission may change as time passes, but it’s unlikely that NWLM WON’T NEED our service – |

| | |art, education and progressive thought. |

|26. |Do you believe the organization will be |Not directly, though we will generally advocate for arts funding and sustainable living – we may lobby |

| |involved with lobbying, advocacy and/or |locally or state wide for revised codes that are more friendly to alternative builders. We would be likely |

| |political activities? |to set up a sepereate legal structure if we became serious about undertaking those activities. |

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