Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA) is a statewide arts advocacy organization run by a lean team of three. To address the interests of funders, they had spent the last year growing through free membership. This effort widened their audience, and the group was struggling with communicating their purpose.

To renew their focus, we worked with DAA to develop an organizational “manifesto.” A manifesto is a statement that makes intentions or views easy for others to understand. We helped DAA prioritize audience and discover shared values.

The half-day Manifesto Strategy Session was followed up with consulting to report, discuss and make recommendations. Strategy Sessions bring together representatives of your internal and external audience to collaborate on challenges and find opportunities.

The group was surprised to discover their core audiences were not who they thought. This insight allowed them to identify ways to connect their beliefs with what critical supporters value.

Strategy Sessions are used to identify the right next project, kick off brand research or use the power of a group to move ideas forward. They can be especially helpful at the conclusion of strategic planning, before rebranding, to find your perfect audience, when things feel stuck or when it’s unclear what problem you need to solve first.

Read about the Delaware Art Museum’s Organizational Values Session and The Histiocytosis Association’s Rebranding to see other examples.