Organizational Design

Amplifying the Impact of a Family’s Philanthropic Vision

Situation

A family foundation deployed their philanthropic dollars to fund a youth vocal competition as a way to honor their family’s passion and support for the vocal arts. Over the years, the competition expanded and served hundreds of students, yet the family wondered if they could do more. Specifically, they were eager to demonstrate their commitment, create a premier program and deliver significant impact. They believed they had created a unique program, but they wanted outside expertise and perspective to determine if there was an opportunity to take it to the next level. Quinn Strategy Group was engaged by the board to assess the vocal competition and make organizational strategy and structure recommendations to help expand programming, impact more students and build a national reputation.

Action

We attended several of the vocal competitions to assess the program, its staff and overall impact. This helped us understand what excited the family about their effort and to see first hand the impact the competition was having in various regions. We conducted market research with students, families, vocal instructors and potential partners, as well as a market scan to analyze how the competition compared to other competitions and vocal programs. This deep analysis and understanding helped the board think differently about what they were funding and how they could grow. Once the foundation had clarity about the current situation, we led a visioning exercise with the board that set a bold, ambitious direction. We provided the board with a series of prioritized recommendations and clearly outlined next steps so that they could move forward. Quinn Strategy Group was further engaged by the foundation to oversee the implementation.

Impact

Our work resulted in a vision and strategy that broadened the family foundation’s support of youth vocal arts. This clarified donor intent for the board, as well as shifted their philanthropic giving. The strategy, plan and implementation oversight we provided guided the board in leveraging their resources more effectively while accomplishing the goal of offering a more robust program that is helping them becoming a national brand with an outstanding reputation.

Scaling impact requires more than a cookie-cutter approach. It requires analyzing donor intent and making adjustments to processes and programs to address regional needs and resources.

Ann Quinn

410-458-2600

[email protected]