Let's say that you are a nonprofit board and once upon a time got some really big grants to offer a service the public, and I mean a really huge cross-section of the public, really loved. You've been at this awhile and now you are looking at the books and saying: hm, the grant money is still coming in but the writing on the wall says it's slowing down. What to do?
If you were StoryCorps you would say: let make a plan for the future. First, let's find out what our public really loves about us and how much this same public would give to support our work. StoryCorps conducted focus groups and did other activities to accomplish, what I believe to be, the really important first step in business planning: understanding your market's needs and wants.
Well, StoryCorps, took all of the data from its information-gathering and then looked at its core-competencies -- helping folks think about and remember the stories that describe them (my interpretation) and now has a set of offerings that can, in the long-run, offset some of its dependence on grants and still enable it to achieve mission --" to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives."
You can check-out the StoryCorps web site to see the different offerings the organization has created and gain a sense of its business model. Good going StoryCorps!
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