Not for profits and non-government organisations usually commence as a result of a strong vision of a number of founders, usually with a strong desire to deal with some burning issue – whether it’s a need not addressed in the community, or some other greater purpose on behalf of its members.

Over time, things change leading some organisations to no longer have a clear singular purpose and can come adrift. This can result from a range of factors:

• success in achieving the initial vision, leading to less of a burning need to drive action in that area
• change in the external environment or member base, leading to that initial vision and purpose no longer being as relevant or as much of a burning need
• change in the stakeholders and or board representatives who are not connected with the original purpose, or may believe that the organisation now has a higher and more important purpose
• lethargy.

Relevance regained is a strategic planning service that we offer to not for profits and non-government organisations (NGOs) when there is a disconnect between the organisation and it’s constituents, members or Directors.

By using a strategic planning approach which focuses on the underlying mission of the organisation, the possible highest and best uses of the organisation, and a intensive approach that gets consensus, organisations are able to develop a compelling vision of “the flag on the hill” in a manner which gets everyone excited and pulling in the one direction.

Case study 1 – Western Australian Music Industry Association (WAM)

WAMIA was set up as an offshoot of the Musician’s Union. In the early 90’s the organisation had few members and therefore a very thin funding base, living from funding grant to funding grant. The grants which they were successful in getting, didn’t mean much to anyone, other than those who achieved occasional employment to acquit the grant funds.

We undertook a two day strategic planning session with the full board based around the question of “what do our members really want?”.

At that stage it was clear that Western Australian acts had little chance of commercial success – radio airplay was controlled on the eastern seaboard, as were record company budgets and talent development. Simply WA was not on their radar.

A long term strategic plan was put in place to tackle these issues with an overall goal of being highly relevant, hip, engaged and a powerhouse to put Western Australian music on the national radar. A cooperative marketing model was developed based on that used in the tourism industry.

The WAMi’s are a national event which showcase Western Australian talent.  These are in turn showcased on national radio, and are highly attended by A&R people (record label talent scouts).

With the support of WAM, Western Australia has been a source of fresh talent who are able to operate from Perth – something previously unheard of. These include John Butler – the largest selling independent artist in Australian History, ARIA Winners – Eskimo Joe, the Waifs and Little Birdy.

Once the business plan was implemented, Perth came to regarded as “the next Seattle” - the city internationally recongised as a hot spot for emerging talent. Today WAM is hip, credible and relevant and continues to go from strength to strength and be a catalyst for a vibrant and very healthy music scene.

Case study 2 – Professional Association

This professional association was attempting to service members from three groups – government , private sector practitioners and the professional firms.  The latter two groups had turned their back on the association as not relevant and “too government oriented.”

The corporate sector threatened to leave en-masse and start it’s own rival association, unless things changed.

A rapid gap analysis was undertaken of areas of concern and barriers to moving forward. This was fed into the strategic planning process, with a clear “burning platform” for change.

An engagement model was put in place to get key representatives from the disaffected sectors “inside the tent” to help drive change, and report this change back to those sectors to show that they were being heard and progress was being made. This included a series of initiatives:

• Fast-tracking national programs and capabilities to drive consistency and reduce the inconsistency and politics of the state based structure and volunteer based organisation
• A number of quick wins in areas such as market presence, CPE and communications
• Putting infrastructure to address the member desire to have greater capability and effectiveness in advocacy on behalf of that sector

The corporate sector and advisory firms now see this organisation as a credible player and one it is important to be part of. Engagement is up as is membership, moving from flat to double digit growth.  The Board is now viewed as credible and able to hold it’s own relative to other associations.

Generally, the organisation has exceeded everyone’s expectations – both in terms of what has been achieved, how quickly it has been achieved and it’s overall relevance. There is great momentum in the organisation, it’s Board,  staff, members and constituents.