Program Design

So, lets change subjects from talking about rasing money to the subject of program design.

"There needs to be a program for that issue in this town." "We need to launch a project to deal with ______."

Social problems and social opportunities often get handled by new programs or projects. Some are run by the government, some by nonprofits. Whatever.

Program design calls for problem analysis, so you can be more confident that the program is going to help fix the problem, or take advantage of the opportunity. When it comes to program design there are really two options - design a new one or borrow and adapt one that alredy exists. Regardless of the approach you choose, there are a few things to do. Always state your challenge explicitely. Be aware of the available resources. Know the social environment.

Those last two steps can be facilitated with aproblem analysis technique called "Appreciation." The details are explained at www.mindtools.com, which also describes other problem analysis tools. You should also take some time to study the problem itself. Try using the 5 Why technique, also explained at Mindtools.com. Try to framw your challenge in different ways, such as curing or selling, or marketing.

Try to maximize the number of times people DON'T need help instead of maximizing the number of people who need help and get it.