Case Studies

Art Gallery of Windsor

SITUATION

The Art Gallery of Windsor is a not-for-profit art institute in Windsor, Ontario. Established in 1943, the Gallery’s mandate as a a public art space is to show significant works of art by local, regional and national artists.
Over its long history, the Gallery weathered several crises, resulting in a change of location.
In 1993, the Gallery relocated to the Devonshire Mall, where it was perceived to be the most accessible to the communities it served.
Eventually the Gallery moved into a new modern building on Windsor’s waterfront. Over time, the perception of the Gallery began to change from accessible to insular, from a citizen hub to an ivory tower disconnected from its community.

CORE DEFINITION: OPENING MINDS AND HEARTS

The Blueprint reground its leadership in the fact that its core purpose was to harness the power of art for “opening minds and hearts” to new ideas, perspectives and ways of thinking that inspire people to grow emotionally and intellectually.
The core proposition allowed the Gallery to engage in a different conversation with the community. They demonstrated that they were community-centred, welcoming and accessible.
And while only 52.1% of the community had a positive view of the Gallery, 93.1% were positive about the new direction of the strategic plan.

SITUATION

In 1999 the North Bay and District Hospital Foundation initiated the $11 million “Caring for Generations Campaign" to raise the community’s share of the building of the new North Bay Regional Health Centre.
By January 2004, the Foundation had surpassed its goal by 164% to raise $18.2 million.
In 2009, after successfully collecting the campaign’s outstanding pledge payments, it created the "MRI and More Campaign Cultivation Study" for $6 million dollars for the addition of an MRI machine and additional resources.
The community was facing some campaign fatigue with respect to the Foundation. They felt the Health Centre had raised more money than it needed in the previous campaign and should close down and let other charities in the community have their turn.

CORE DEFINITION: Closing the Health Care Gap

The NBRHCF’s Blueprint reground its leadership in the fact that its core purpose was to “close the healthcare gap” to ensure the citizens of North Bay had local access to the quality of care they deserved.
The core proposition allowed the Foundation to have a different conversation with the community. They demonstrated that they weren’t being greedy, but were able to educate them about healthcare funding in Ontario, and were able to ask them how important having an MRI in North Bay was to them.
The Foundation was able to get the community on side and launched their $6 million “Seeing More Clearly Campaign,” which surpassed their goal, raising $6.2 million.