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Creative Program design for Nonprofits

You need a new idea for an education program. mentoring, recycling, prevention of bullying, and so forth. You can find an existing program and duplicate it, or maybe duplicate a variation of the idea. That's what usually happens and it usually works pretty well. This post is for times when no suitable programs exist.

When you don't have anything you can copy, whether because of local laws, lack of resources or what have you, then it is time to get creative. How does that work? I'm glad you asked. In many previous posts I've covered lots of ways to generate new ideas, some creative and some more logical. Let's continue in that vein and look at how various brainstorming tools can work in creating new programs.

First, the "creative" approach to brainstorming. Refer to Serious Creativity by Edward De Bono to read more about provocation and movement. For now, just keep these things in mind: Movement is about getting away from established ways of thinking. A provocation is a deliberate attempt to spark new thinking. Many movement and provocation techniques exist.

Wishful thinking involves asking a purely fanciful question or stating a situation exists that is totally at odds with reality. You then figure out realistic ways to make the fantasy come to life.

Consider wishful thinking as it relates to program design. I want to encourage DC-area businesses to use renewable energy. How can I do that though? I might start with a bit of wishful thinking: DC businesses must generate their own energy. Really? It isn't likely that all DC businesses will generate all of their own power.

How could we have DC businesses generate some of their own power? That goal is ambitious but achievable. Maybe energy conservation is the key here. Maybe business owners need to be educated about ways to cut their energy use as much as possible. What are the most cost-effective ways to cut energy use? Is there some clever way to slash energy consumption that we can teach?

A systematic approach might start with lists of all elements of your challenge. I want to get DC area businesses to use renewable energy, so I am working with variables like the type of business, type of energy technology and the promotional method I could use. Running through combinations of type of business, promotional method, and type of energy technology could lead to any number of new ideas:

1. Use direct mail to talk business owners into buying electricity from wind and solar power sources. That option does exist in DC, I think, so the goal would be to get more businesses to use it.

2. Use workshops to teach real estate developers how to integrate small wind turbines or solar panels into buildings and capitalize on the marketing value of having a "green" energy source available.

This post has just provided a taste of how creative thinking about program design can really yield results.
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