Chapter 5: Reinventing KBOO - A Plan of Action

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Overview
In developing goals for the future of KBOO from 2011-2016, the following core issues were considered:

  1. What constitutes KBOO’s fundamental services and organizational values?
  2. What are the priority areas within KBOO that can be enhanced or revitalized to have the most positive effect on the community and the organization?
  3. How can KBOO sustain funding for basic operations and how can KBOO develop diversified revenues to support any restoration or enhancements that the organization chooses to pursue?

Further, the planning process has been fruitful in that it has revealed core aspects of the organization’s internal operations that must evolve in order for KBOO to succeed.

  1. Make an organizational commitment to professionalism through training, policy development and enhancement, and personal accountability. This will become a foundation that can build on collective empowerment and increase the organization’s ability to make and implement thoughtful decisions.
  2. Enhance board development to increase skills of current board members.
  3. Revise and implement a new fundraising plan that is diversified, asks more of present supporters and expands into new funding opportunities.
  4. Create strategic and clear connectivity between the complex and interrelated aspects of the organization as a means to improve overall operations internally and within the Portland Metro area.

KBOO considered its current needs very carefully, as it also looked to the future. KBOO, the station’s listenership and stakeholders, as well as the broader community, have weathered tough economic times before and KBOO knows that it will not always have such difficulty. For this reason, KBOO is committed to strengthening its foundation in order to flourish.

Reinventing KBOO — Programming
KBOO has been —and will remain — a community radio station. This fundamental value has guided this strategic planning process and is best expressed by the Program Charter that reads, “KBOO shall be a model of programming, filling needs that other media do not, providing programming to diverse communities and unserved or underserved groups. KBOO shall provide access and training to those communities.” The crux of this process was therefore to determine how best to transform programming, which is the essence of KBOO, into a diversified media resource that serves the community by creating and disseminating programming unique to the Portland Metro Area that represents and reflects the realities and diversity of the community.

External Factors Impacting Programming
KBOO has a track record of serving the community well as reflected by the organization’s solid base of members, listeners, and volunteers through the years. However, over the last ten years KBOO has seen a decline in memberships, which serve to sustain the operations in large part.

Local competition in the media market has seen the diversification of local and thematic radio station offerings, which has cut into KBOO’s market share. Also, the proliferation of diverse media outlets, especially online content that is readily accessible and downloadable at any time, has impacted KBOO’s ability to respond to these shifting trends in media access.

KBOO has historically been successful as a radio station, and it will, in its essence, remain on the airwaves. However, content that is created for a listening audience is now not limited only to the radio. Increasingly listeners and community members wish to access media through a variety of avenues that include the Internet and portable electronic devices such as smart phones.

KBOO recognizes that in order to be successful it must adapt to these shifting trends and must assert a renewed community identity on the airwaves, on the Internet and on other forms of electronic media, as well as within the Portland Metro Area.

Internal Factors Impacting Programming
An outcome of this strategic planning process was the acknowledgement by the Working Group and other stakeholders in this process, those fundamental aspects of KBOO’s internal operations are obstacles to KBOO achieving the success that it deserves and needs in order to remain viable.

Primarily, these are tied to programming, although their impact can be felt throughout the organization. Namely, poor or inconsistent programming quality, internal management structures, policies and procedures that are no longer effective, and the virtual absence of an organizational commitment to marketing and outreach means that KBOO is not able to operate effectively.

For this reason, KBOO is absolutely dedicated to decisive actions and an internal organizational overhaul that will revitalize the organization and create a foundation for moving forward.

Mission Statement
A core reality for KBOO is the need to reinvent itself in order to embrace new ways of operating and of conducting outreach in order to effectively fulfill its mission. In this spirit, the Working Group created a new miss’n statement that reflects this forward thinking perspective.

This important exercise was central to the organization embracing a new direction and integrating its past accomplishments into its vision for the future. The new mission statement is:

KBOO Community radio and Media Center:
“Working together to transmit culture, news and music that matters.”

Reinventing KBOO - Marketing and Outreach
KBOO’s historical base listenership is aging and target audiences are evolving. Further, the population within the Portland Metro Area is increasingly diversified. An influx of young people and new immigrant populations offer new and different opportunities for engagement with the community. The Working Group acknowledged that strategic marketing and outreach is essential in order for future success.

The strategic planning process brought to light the need to define the current Portland Metro Area market in order to cultivate new interest in the organization. KBOO must then define itself in relation to that market in order to create a strategic pathway for implementing this strategic plan and to maximize organizational resources most efficiently. Also, as a charitable organization, KBOO recognizes the need to strengthen community partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and community groups in order to implement this strategic plan.

KBOO will develop an unambiguous outreach and marketing campaign to broaden its influence, public presence and collaborative relationships within the community it serves in order to deepen its base of support. From increased paid memberships to a revitalization of volunteering, KBOO will use the goals of this strategic plan to create a base of support that will endure during the next fifty years of its existence and beyond.

Reinventing KBOO - Media Center
The concept of a Media Center stems from the acknowledgement that media is becoming increasingly diverse and consumers expect instant access to a variety of music, images, videos, politics, news, and culture. KBOO is committed to creating a new and renewed commitment to developing and implementing a Media Center. This endeavor will require careful assessment and implementation in order to maximize resources and impact. Also, the impact of this priority area will be felt across all lines at KBOO. For this reason, it is essential to have a cohesive vision and common goals in order to be successful.

Potential features of the Media Center could include the following:

  • Web presence — Increase web streams
  • Interactive web presence
  • Real time with “What’s Playing”
  • Podcasting
  • iPhone apps
  • Possible HD signal
  • Video on website
  • More visual stimulus

Reinventing KBOO — Diversified Revenues
KBOO recognizes that in order to be successful it must develop additional sources of revenues. This overarching priority impacts all other facets of the organization, and everyone must work together to develop and implement new protocols that will expand KBOO’s revenue base. A reinvigorated membership campaign that includes overhauling the Fund Drives, the creation and implementation of a Grant Funding Plan, and the development of a Media Center with diversified programming and secondary products and services will enable KBOO to realize the expansive possibilities that this plan presents.