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Early draft of OMP logo

Strategic Plan

FY 2014, Rev.3

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Vision

Off-Monroe Players will become a familiar, treasured and respected light opera company in the Genesee Region, offering high quality productions with an audience and cast experience second to none.

Mission

Off-Monroe Players is a light opera company featuring the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.

OMP's mission is to foster regional interest in the Gilbert & Sullivan legacy and encourage participation in the performing arts through acting, direction, stagecraft and musical performance.

What we value and why

Inclusion
From Day One, OMP has welcomed anyone to perform in our chorus without audition, because we all start somewhere and we want to encourage participation. We believe this can be compatible with presenting good musical theater.
Accessibility
We are here to share our enjoyment of plays we love, and we will do what we can to make them aesthetically, economically, geographically, and physically accessible for anyone who wants to attend or participate.
Public service
We believe that good entertainment improves the social fabric of our community, and we will extend ourselves to share our love of the performing arts with the community in enriching ways.
The audience
The audience's laughter and applause are our greatest fulfillment, and their attendance is a gift to us. We owe them our appreciation and the best possible experience we can create for them.
Fun
Staging musical theater is hard work, and the only pay we get at OMP is fun and fulfillment. What we get back in fulfillment is directly related to how much fun we put into it for each other.
Artistic quality
Loving operettas means wanting to learn about them and perform them well. Performing them well honors the composers and writers, attracts enthusiastic audiences, and is way more fun than not performing them well.
Personal growth
We support and encourage our fellow members because we are all here to improve ourselves as performers. We can all learn from each other if we are all willing to share what we know.
Responsibility
We encourage our membership to act with high ethical standards, contribute to our community, and to manage our finances responsibly.

Objectives

Audience Development

  1. Improve the audience experience (seating, sound)
  2. Capture and organize audience contact information and maintain our relationship with them through regular, direct communication.
  3. Attract new audience members through community outreach, public relations, and targeted paid advertising.

Financial Development

  1. Establish an integrated, rolling five-year financial plan that supports this plan and encompasses:
    1. Existing or potential fundraising activities. (Patron contributions, advertising, sponsorships, audience donations or ticket sales, etc.)
    2. Existing and prospective expenses and investments.
    3. Capital budgets and annual expense budgets.
  2. Put together (and begin work on) a plan for increasing OMP's Patron support — both the number of patrons and the funds raised.

Governance

  1. Organize the Board and committees to clearly assign responsibility and accountability for attaining the objectives and goals in this plan.
  2. Shift from production-driven management to company-driven management. In other words, differentiate and organize responsibilities of Board committees and production teams to separate:
    1. Activities that pertain solely to the production at hand.
    2. Activities that transcend individual productions, support the OMP brand, or otherwise have a cumulative effect on the welfare of the company.

Membership Development

  1. Actively attract new talent of all ages, especially young adults.
  2. Encourage member involvement in OMP governance, fundraising, and offstage operations.
  3. Improve communication with OMP membership.
  4. Seek out and encourage social networking opportunities.

Program and Artistic Development

  1. Invest in capital goods (e.g., lighting and sound equipment, costumes, orchestrations) and higher show budgets that will permit OMP to:
    1. Compete more effectively for directors and musicians.
    2. Increase creative options available to musical and artistic directors.
  2. Provide more ancillary support and services so that the directors and producers may concentrate on creative aspects of our productions.
  3. Encourage attendance at productions of other successful G&S troupes and theater companies, for creative inspiration and to learn best practices.
  4. Continue to expand our repertoire of G&S material.

Public Service

  1. Actively go out and perform in local schools or other places to expose them to G&S.
  2. Partnership with our venue's public services.

Venue Development

  1. Maintain the disaster plan outlining required actions and covering the costs of relocating OMP properties and operations if we suffer a force majeure loss of the Salem facility.
  2. In the short term, continue to mitigate cast and audience concerns with the Salem facility.
  3. Experiment with venues that are more handicapped accessible. (RAPA, CTGS)
  4. Longer term, move OMP performances to bona fide theater facilities that support high artistic quality and provide the best possible audience and cast experiences.

Goals and Targets

Audience Development

  1. Before our fall 2013 performances, establish an audience list management system under the MarCom committee, to focus on capture and organization of current audience contact information.
  2. By the Winter 2014 membership meeting, review the Patron Committee and establish quantified recruitment and fundraising goals for it.

Financial Development

  1. Before the summer 2013 membership meeting, prepare a fiscal year 2014 financial plan.
  2. Have the board establish concrete plans with annual goals tied to this plan and begin creation of a five-year financial plan.

Governance

  1. Before the winter 2014 membership meeting, review the OMP By-Laws and committee structure.

Membership Development

  1. Make contacts in theatre departments of local colleges and similar venues to try and attract new, young adults to the company.
  2. Reach out to Stars of Tomorrow as a potential source of new young talent.
  3. Continue to remind and encourage the membership to participate in OMP governance, fundraising, and offstage operations.

Program and Artistic Development

  1. By the summer 2014 membership meeting, develop a project budget plan that would make our pay rates equitable with other groups.
  2. Complete a comprehensive review and update of the procedures and documentation on the website prior to the fall 2013 show. (including producer task lists, show tasks, etc.)
  3. Keep membership aware of opportunities to attend other Gilbert & Sullivan groups. performances within driving distance radius of Rochester.

Venue Development

  1. Update the disaster plan before the Winter 2014 membership meeting
  2. Continue activities to mitigate audience major concerns. (seating and sound)
  3. Develop a straw man listing of items to be managed/produced when presenting a production at an alternate location.
  4. Explore seating options for Salem and develop a cost plan, identify potential fundraising possibilities.
  5. Pursue handicap accessibility option (i.e. improved ramp or electronic chair) or change accessibility phrase to 'limited accessibility' before the fall 2013 show.

Appendix A: SWOT List

Strengths:

  1. Longevity
  2. Membership of devoted people
  3. Large properties department - costumes, props, sets, etc.
  4. Familiarity with repertoire
  5. Loyal patron base
  6. Frugality
  7. Public domain status of G&S
  8. Free, talented orchestra
  9. Relationships with other theatre groups

Weaknesses:

  1. Sound and seating issues (work has been done, but not ideal yet)
  2. Salem instability
  3. Parking
  4. Location/security
  5. Aging patron base
  6. Niche market - G&S only
  7. Not actively reaching out to younger audiences

Opportunities:

  1. Grants
  2. Timing of productions to coordinate with other local groups
  3. Publicity, media support
  4. Our costume closet: loaning to other groups, storing for other groups

Threats:

  1. Losing Salem (equally: staying at Salem)
  2. Facility - liability issues
  3. Sound and seating arrangements - chairs, environment

Appendix B:

Nine reasons any group needs a strategic plan

  1. To give all of our members a voice if they want one
  2. To confirm or redefine what we are
  3. To make us better at what we do
  4. To direct how we change and put a yardstick on it
  5. To build a stronger leadership team and more cohesive organization
  6. To focus our leadership on the issues most important to us
  7. To support our financial development
  8. To push through inflection points and promote continuity over time
  9. To create vision and momentum that excite and attract people to us

What's our process?

  1. Open to input from all members
  2. No sudden moves
  3. Multiple opportunities to comment, which may include;
    1. Focus groups
    2. Audience and member survey
    3. E-mail distribution, website posting
    4. Town hall meeting
    5. Membership meetings
  4. Board distributes revised strategic plan yearly at the summer membership meeting
  5. Targets and goals will be set and revisited at least annually by the board, with reports to membership at each membership meeting

Key terms

Vision — Directive:
Where we want to go; the grand scheme
Mission — Defining:
What we are, why we exist
Values — Guiding:
The principles we value most and which influence our choices
SWOTs
An honest look at our attributes and circumstances; our current context
Objectives
Direction moving toward action within 3-5 years
Goals and Targets
What we need to do now to move toward the objectives and vision
Off-Monroe Players, Inc.
P.O. Box 18722
Rochester, NY 14618
(585) 232–5570
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