1. MARKETING 101 Growing Your Organization in Tough Times: Lessons from the Apple Tree Meals on Wheels National Conference - Chicago August 31, 2011 Laura Willumsen Senior Consultant, TRG Arts

2. The Apple Tree

3. SUCKERS

4. Pruned Tree

5. More Fruit

6. Goal Bear more fruit for others.

7. Core Concepts  Know your core business.  Recognize what detracts from the core.  Prune to free up resources from within.

8.  What you do best, what makes you unique.  It’s where most of your money comes from.  It’s why you don’t pay taxes.  If you stop doing it, you go out of business. Your Core Business

9. Core Business

11. Core Business Examples

12. Opera Company

13. University

14. Meals on Wheels

15. Core Business The business model that generates money to fuel the mission.

16. The PCA Story MISSION  Exhibit Local Art  Sell Artists Work  Teach Art Classes 1945

17. The PCA Story BUSINESS MODEL  Artists create exhibitions  Artists sell art in PCA’s shop  Artists teach classes 1945

18. The PCA Story 1989 EXHIBITIONS $$ ART WORK FOR SALE $$

19. The PCA Story THE PLAN LOCAL ARTISTS MALL SHOPS! $$$$

20. The PCA Story THE REALITY LOCAL ARTISTS MALL SHOPS! $$$$

21. The PCA Story Back to Basics MISSIONMONEY  Exhibit Local Art  Sell Artists Work  Teach Art Classes

22. Mission Creep

23.  Competition for limited resources

24. SUCKERS  Programs or activities that don’t bear fruit.

26. Wasted Resources “Suckers will not produce fruit if left to grow on the tree itself; more often, they sap energy from the tree and weaken it.”

27. Ego Branches Projects associated with real people… difficult to prune!

28. Suckers not pruned = less fruit

29. Busy - ness

30. is not business!

31. Benefits of Pruning “Pruning removes the older branches to allow the tree as much sunlight as possible, which produces better fruit.” “This careful pruning also pays off: the trees last longer. By pruning carefully you can extend the lifespan of trees significantly.” - botanist

32. Pruned Tree

33. Tree in spring

34. Then this!

35. Pruning Tools  Good Ideas vs. Opportunities  Opportunity Cost  Mission-Money Matrix  Stop Doing List  Zero-based Thinking

36. Good Ideas vs. Opportunities GOOD IDEAS

38. Good Ideas Kill Nonprofits!

39. What Good Ideas are Killing Your Ability to Bear Fruit?

40. Opportunities Core Business

41. Opportunities Strengthen nonprofits ! Mission- centered Activities reinforce the mission

42. Opportunity in Action Teach Art Classes Exhibit Local Art Sell Artists Work

43. Opportunities vs. Good Ideas?

44. Opportunity Cost  What are we NOT doing in order to do this?  Which activity would have the greatest return?

45. Opportunity Cost When considered in isolation, all ideas are doable. Don’t make decisions in isolation.

46. Mission Money Matrix MISSION MONEY High Low New resources!

47. What’s in that trash can? The most undervalued resource in nonprofits. STAFF TIME

48. What else? MISSION MONEY High Low

49. The Stop Doing List The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say "no" to almost everything. - Warren Buffet

50. Stop Doing List Examples  No red-eye flights. Ever. Never worth it.  No leaving Twitter & Facebook open while I write. Save blocks of time to produce something of value.  No more answering work email on weekends. It just publicizes that I don’t have a life!

51. Your Stop Doing List

52. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Find New Resources Within

53. Zero-Based Thinking Allocate resources based on needs and benefits rather than history.

54. Assumptions Undermine Success “That’s the way we’ve always done it!” “That won’t work…we tried it 10 years ago!”

55. Zero-Based Thinking

57. How it Works with Your Database

58. Zero-Based Thinking

64. Apple Tree Wisdom Sustainability

65. The capacity to endure

66. Apple Tree Wisdom  The fruit is for others.  Each apple carries seeds for the future.  Sharing the fruit spreads the seeds.

67. “Return to the root …find peace.” - Seng Ts’an, 3 rd century B.C.