liz huff, councillor, township of leeds and 1000 islands

#tts17www.teenytinysummit.com

June 28, 2017Merrickville

June 29, 2017Havelock

IDEAS TO ACTION

Strategic Planning in Teeny Tiny PlacesPractical, affordable & credible steps….

If you can’t answer the funder’s questions, you are likely not ready. Being ‘ready’ will take conversation, thinking & time!

Image credit: Catharine Needham

Figure out what you have going for you/against you…

•Remove rose-coloured eyeglasses and ask the tough questions

•What are the most obvious problems? Are there genuine assets?•“ABC”, “SWOT”, - many ‘methods’; all need thinking & LOTS of input

Figure out what you might do to improve things

•Signage, spruce-up, amenities, events & marketing are typical activities

•But what is the authentic YOU, what is realistic? what is MOST likely to yield results???

Find out what local people think is most important…

•Talk to as many people as you can, face to face, put out ideas, challenge thinking

•Knock on doors, community dinners, public meetings, surveys, games

Find out what ‘experts’ & outsiders think would help…

•Seek out those who are connected to the bigger picture, funders, authorities, etc•Ask to have a coffee, attend their AGMs, learn their context, reveal yours•Seek their advice, their support, build your knowledge & credibility over time

•Talk to visitors, recent arrivals, the ‘moved-aways’, neighbouring villages, “CFA”s•Your community FB page, campgrounds, ask your kids who left

Research, estimate, schedule…

-Which ideas had greatest strength; make choices & stick to them-What products are best? Call on suppliers/experts re durability/cost-What are ALL of the stages in implementation?

-Seasonal considerations, contractor availability, competitive bidding? -What is realistic volunteer capacity to give in-kind services?

-Respect volunteer work/family situation; fill skill gaps-What is logical order of tasks? Plot it all out; build in lots of flexibility

Be Realistic: It Takes Time

• Your partners, e.g. municipal gov’t, are all busy doing other things; respect their constraints

• Billboards, signs, websites, parkettes, interpretive sign stories, networking…every step of the project takes a LOT of time to do it well, from researching to the ribbon cutting, there are many steps in between

• Money isn’t the big challenge -getting reliable information and access to talented people’s time IS the big challenge

• Getting the PLAN right is key

You now have a SOLID plan…

-You have ‘multiple lines of evidence’, independent verification, sound financial planning, project timetable, answers to all the funders’ questions, you are CREDIBLE-You probably never used the words Strategic Planning -Your group has confidence, you ‘own’ the plan, you are having FUN

Collaborative Volunteer Effort Pays Off

For further information contact liz.huff@sympatico.ca