Howie Tells Me He Loves Me

This is an email to Alex Petrilak, Jen and ? at ICC and copying me.  I had hired them with the last $20k I had after 9/11/2001 had caused the sanctuary funding to crash.  I could feed the cats for a week, or I could hire someone to help me figure out how to save us.  Obviously we had been working on the results from their SWOT session (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for a while before I met Howie and their suggestions were that I move and hire a fundraiser (ie: them).  

 

Hi, I had hoped to spend much more time than I have been able to getting familiar with the WOES situation, so am not where I would have liked to be, but suggested meeting tomorrow anyway rather than delay.  I may send you some other stuff later today but wanted to get a few thoughts to you in time for you to have a chance to be thinking about them if you can.

 

The two things I'd like to see addressed tomorrow are the big issues of (1) the move and (2) the staffing.

 

The Move Decision:  On the issue of moving, I mentioned to Jen when we had time after the last meeting that when the three of us had lunch, the list of reasons that Alex was able to articulate so well seemed pretty overwhelming, but when I talk with Carole two things happen.  Some of the hurdles seem not as clear or compelling, and the negatives associated with a move appear to become quite overwhelming.  Attached is a document in which Carole just tried to write out thoughts and list the issues related to moving.  I had hoped to a little bit of organizing and clarifying before we met but am not likely to get to it.  But I think as it is it serves the purpose of getting on paper where her head is at and giving us a list of points to go through, so am sending it to you in raw form with her permission.

 

The biggest concerns I have from what I have read and discussed are (a) whether there really is a financial scenario for moving that is feasible, i.e. is a move really possible even if it were the best decision and (b) the risk associated with tour volume, the main source of income if I understand correctly, dropping in a more remote location.

 

The Staffing:  I think it would be helpful to hash through this a bit.  Carole met last week with the existing staff in an effort to work them into roles more like those described in the draft. I sat in as an observer only.  I think it would be very helpful to hear your thoughts on how Carole is to deal with the existing personnel, who do not necessarily fit in the proposed roles.  I also wonder how one gets an experienced fund raiser and marketer, or even an inexperienced one, who is any good to work for a $15k base.  May depend on how you envision bonus being structured, but I'd like to understand this better.  Separate is the issue of how to fund an increase in payroll.  I think there was conversation about doing this gradually.  Not sure if the feeling is that adding one of these could generate incremental revenue that would pay for that person before another was added.

 

Self Sufficiency:  The other thing on my mind is whether you found in your look at the "industry" that there were sanctuaries that are self sufficient and if so if there is anything that characterized those versus ones that are not or who have failed.  Not sure if that came up.  Forgive me if that is in plan - did read through weeks ago but have not gotten to fully reread.

 

I think if nothing else tomorrow we need to either reach a decision on the move, or identify exactly what we need to know that we do not currently know in order to make that decision.  Carole raises some, maybe all, of these questions in her document.  For instance, do we really know she could not build there, or can we work on the hurdles that stand in the way if we could make proper approaches to the right people?  Or, under what circumstances, if any, could she actually be forced to leave or shut down against her will, or does she have the right to stay