We're starting to have a cohesive plan for the future here! Up to this point we've detailed an end vision, organized the interested parties, defined a working agreement for the various organizations, and reorganized the Waco Performing Arts Company. At this point we should be able to create a full business plan to explain what we are trying to create. This business plan is not another step in and of itself. It is just a reflection and summation of the previous four steps. It will be crucial going forward, since it will be the foundation for the necessary fundraising efforts. It will include a description of the new internal business structure, a list of all interested parties and their business structures, a three-year projection of all proposed programming, lists of all of the Boards of Directors involved, and a copy of the proposed physical renovations. All of this will be referred to hereafter as the "Development Plan" which will be necessary for Step Five: Fundraising.

I'll admit, this one is sticky. Honestly, there's going to be more speculation involved with this step than any other. And that's because the best that can be created at this point is a fundraising plan. And fundraising plans have to be adaptive to reality and they have to be able to react to unexpected changes. So as a premise, let me say that any and all parts of this plan are subject to change. They build off of each other in such a way that if one step over- or under-performs, changes will need to be made to all subsequent steps. So here is my proposed skeleton for a fundraising plan.

Right now the estimate for renovating the Hippodrome, which is the necessary prerequisite for making this plan viable, is approximately $2.5 million. We will use that figure for the fundraising plan, but honestly the plan itself wouldn't necessarily change even if that figure were twice as high. The first step in the fundraising plan is to approach the TIF Board. (A detailed description of exactly what the TIF is would be beyond the scope of this post. More information can be found at this link by scrolling down to the section on "Downtown Development Incentives.") The TIF fund is a pool of money built from growth increments in sales taxes within a set geographic perimeter that is set aside for reinvestment within that perimeter. The Hippodrome sits within TIF Zone 1. Also in the zone are the Dr Pepper Museum, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, and the Texas Ranger Museum. All three of those organizations have received grants in excess of $1 million from the TIF for renovations and expansions. There is no reason that the Hippodrome shouldn't similarly receive such a grant. This is an oversimplification of what the process will entail, but it is the first step. It will require an application, cultivating the application with the TIF Board and City staff, and waiting for a TIF recommendation and City Council vote. But the proposal should be for approximately 50% of the cost of the project, or for the sake of our example, $1.25 million.

That leaves $1.25 million to raise. The next step is to approach the major foundations in Waco who have stated goals of supporting the Arts. These foundations will include the Rapoport Foundation, the Waco Foundation, the Cooper Foundation, and the Meyer Foundation. I would submit that no project that has ever been submitted to these foundations could have a greater impact on the Arts in Waco than renovating the Hippodrome for the sake of the fulfillment of the Development Plan. With half of the project already funded by the TIF, the foundations would be asked to account for half of the remaining cost, or $625,000. This wouldn't be too large of a burden for them to collectively bear, especially if it could be spread over a couple of years to pay some contractors for renovation work.

Now the remaining amount to be raised is $625,000. At this point the leading families of Waco should be approached with the Development Plan. Numerous people have stepped up asking what they could do to help. This would be the time to engage them. Waco is fortunate to have some very generous citizens who have the resources to contribute significant funds. What should be asked is for them to collectively issue challenge grants for half of the remaining amount, or $312,500. These challenge grants will be commitments to match donations dollar-for-dollar. So if a family were to pledge $20,000, they wouldn't give it until $20,000 had been raised in donations. It's a powerful incentivizing tool for fundraising.

That incentive will be what is brought before the people of Waco. No general fundraising should be done until this point. With the above steps completed, the fundraising mission that needs to be brought to Waco through all of the various groups that stand to benefit is just $312,500. That money will complete a $2.5 million renovation project that will benefit all of the Arts in Waco for generations to come.

Like I said above, I know that this is the most speculative part of the step-by-step plan, but it has to be at least planned here. You have to begin with a plan that can be adapted later. At any rate, it is how I would approach a goal as big as $2.5 million. I would hope that each victory along the way would inspire more cooperation and participation from everyone interested and everyone who stands to benefit. I'll continue soon with Step Six as we are getting to the end of the plan!

Also, as a final note, if you haven't caught the April issue of the Wacoan, my earlier posts are printed there. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope that they are generating good discussion and some excitement as well. Right now, the most important thing you can do for the Arts in Waco is to talk about them with friends and neighbors and keep the tone hopeful. The future is bright!