Strategic Plan

Our 3-year funding strategy will provide us with goals and concrete strategies and will be phased and incremental in order to enable the acquisition and leveraging of all the resources needed to ensure its success. It will consider the multi-year granting processes of known funders (e.g. The Gibson Centre), and explore additional, diverse sources.

This work will include applying to more foundations for grants and donations; exploring Legacy and Endowment Funding options; continuing to promote and grow successful fundraising events (e.g. Flavours of Muskoka Chautauqua); and developing new events in partnership with community organizations.

Building on our existing sponsorship base, we will work to attract more sponsorship—corporate and local—by establishing long-term funding partnerships (e.g. TD Bank).

Muskoka Chautauqua is fortunate to have a strong board of directors with substantial connections to the community, and beyond. The fundraising experience of current Board Directors will be put to best use, and we will continue to attract new directors with fundraising expertise. To support this work, we will establish of a committee-of-the-whole with a mandate that includes promoting and engaging in one-on-one conversations between individual Board Directors and their potential sponsor networks. This will include identifying and working with “campaigns” such as The Arts in Education Campaign, which targets funding sources that differ from corporate sources.

Donations and Sponsorships
The 2023 increase in sponsorships supports the decision to sharpen our focus on growing sponsorships and support from foundations. As well, the financial contributions of local businesses—usually in amounts less than that of sponsorships—is significant for two reasons; a positive experience in supporting Muskoka Chautauqua can grow a small contribution into a larger one; business owners/employees often attend the festival and other events, turning their financial contribution into higher attendance numbers and valuable word-of-mouth marketing. Continuing the practice of acknowledging local business sponsors is an important part of building a strong, sustainable financial base.

Ticket Sales
Ticket sales in 2023 realized a significant increase of more than three times that of the previous year. While consideration is still being given to seeking donations for specific individual events instead of ticket fees, there is no doubt that 2023’s ticket revenue was a notable success.

Possible future scenarios include establishing a set donation amount payable in advance or at the gate and offering attendees a “combination ticket sale”. It was also recommended that a donation threshold be established for higher profile events, and that “pay what you wish” donations apply for other events.

The importance of long-term sustainability and growth cannot be underestimated, and we are committed to achieving both. We see it as our institutional responsibility to work toward less dependence on grants. In doing so we will achieve not only the opportunity for more flexibility in programming and financing programs but also, and even more importantly, enhanced involvement with our communities.

We have developed the following set of tasks and a tracking system has been established to monitor results.

Diversify funding sources:

• Attract more sponsorship, corporate and local.
• Apply to more foundations for support and donations.
• Engage in Fundraising events (e.g. Flavours)
• Build long-term funding partners (e.g. TD Bank)
• Research appropriate models for a legacy funding program.
• Develop a process for supporters to provide endowments

Ensure that people know that we are looking for financial support.

• Establish a committee-of-the-whole so that all board members can participate and have conversations with potential sponsors.
• Explore various Campaigns, e.g. the Arts in Education Campaign.

Allocate resources to plan, build and execute a major fundraising plan.

• Develop a phased approach and break the tasks into small steps over multiple years.
• Consider recruiting more board directors with fundraising experience.

We will continue our work to position Muskoka Chautauqua as a cultural hub by engaging with local schools, cultural groups, and community organizations through partnerships, outreach, and advocacy efforts. We have made significant progress in strengthening our partnerships with many diverse groups, including Trillium Lakes District School Board (TLDSB), Township of Muskoka Lakes, Windermere House, The Kee to Bala and The Baldwins Resort.

While appreciating and cultivating the benefits these partners bring to Muskoka Chautauqua, it is also important that we understand and communicate the value we provide to these partners; the best and most enduring partnerships are those in which mutual benefit is obvious and understood.

TLDSB operates high school summer cooperative education programs (co-op programs) in its 7 secondary schools across the district. By participating in the program, we would be well positioned to lay the foundation for partnerships with the Board and the individual high schools, their administrators, teachers and students. Reciprocally, a student co-op placement at Muskoka Chautauqua would be of benefit to individual students by providing them with early, meaningful and potentially formative experiences in the arts. This is an excellent way of demonstrating the value Muskoka Chautauqua provides throughout its communities. As well, we will investigate the possibility of restarting a partnership project with the TLDSB that focuses on literacy and numeracy and bringing the arts in to align with literacy and math curricula.

Windermere House, an iconic Muskoka resort, continues to be a strong supporter of Muskoka Chautauqua, providing assistance with our year-round events and annual Festival. Most recently, Windemere house has provided us with a setting to conduct a series of community conversations. These conversations have been vital in laying the groundwork for upcoming work to strengthen the viability of Windermere’s future as a thriving community through the completion of a Cultural Mapping Project.

Township of Muskoka Lakes, its elected officials and staff, continue to be enthusiastic supporters of Muskoka Chautauqua. In partnership with the township, and consistent with its strategic goals, Muskoka Chautauqua will undertake a Cultural Mapping Project consisting of four components, each of which will deliver measurable results that will benefit the community as a whole and support its artists and creative entrepreneurs, while simultaneously demonstrating the ongoing relevance of Muskoka Chautauqua and working to ensure its successful future.

The cultural mapping project will identify underserved rural artists and creative entrepreneurs and disrupt barriers to their success by leveraging local heritage resources and space. Muskoka Chautauqua will provide these Creatives with inspiration and mobilization and will showcase their work. We will provide opportunities for collaboration and mentorship to enhance business skills and profiles, and increase financial and networking opportunities that lead to growth and stability in the sector.

The arts provide essential tourist attractions for the community-as-a-whole and its businesses. A by-product of this project will be to fill the need to create the kinds of new and innovative cultural experiences that attract more tourists to the area.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, Muskoka has become unaffordable for artists. The meteoric rise of real estate prices, concurrent with the high cost of living have left many artists no choice but to leave the area or seek other means of employment. This leaves a major cultural gap in our community and few resources or role models for the next generation of artists.

Muskoka Chautauqua, through this project, will do its part by providing an innovative approach to practical support for the remaining arts community and attract more creatives to our area by creating an environment where artists can thrive and continue to provide valuable contributions to Muskoka’s cultural fabric, local communities and economies. What is good for the community is good for Muskoka Chautauqua: in building our base of artists and providing support to them we are helping ensure the future of Muskoka Chautauqua.

The four components of the Cultural Mapping Project are:

1. LEARN
   The findings of our cultural mapping project in year 1 will inform the means by which we will engage our local creatives in educational opportunities, skill development, and knowledge-sharing to help artists and creative entrepreneurs grow and improve their work and their business acumen.
2. EARN
   Our focus will be on helping artists and creative entrepreneurs find ways to monetize their work, develop profitable business models, and create sustainable income.
3. COLLABORATE
   We will enable partnerships, networking and teamwork amongst artists and entrepreneurs to foster creativity, share resources, and amplify each other’s efforts and successes.
4. ANIMATE
   This is the stage where Muskoka Chautauqua brings ideas to life, infusing energy into the local arts and entrepreneurial scene by means of showcases, awards and recognition, and other creative processes to make a tangible impact in the community.

There are multiple opportunities for partnerships with post-secondary education including student placements. Muskoka Chautauqua has benefited from the contribution of summer students from OCADU (Ontario College of Art and Design University) working under contract on the Festival. Currently, a student, from Cornell University, who is studying User Experience Design has approached MC for a work placement. Students provide 10–15 hours per week, which enhances our organizational capacity, and they benefit by earning a credit. Strong relationships have been established with OCAD University in Toronto, and Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

We will continue to explore placement and partnership opportunities through Canada Job Strategy, and through our relationships with Chautauqua Institution and other Chautauquas.

Recent attendance at the SPARC (Supporting Performing Arts in Rural & Remote Communities) Conference in southern Ontario enabled Muskoka Chautauqua staff and board directors to establish partnerships with a variety of arts organizations across the province, and funders at the provincial and federal levels. Réseau SPARC Network is a network whose purpose is to ignite and help sustain performing arts communities in rural and remote Ontario and beyond. Muskoka Chautauqua will continue to build on these partnerships.

In the fall of 2023 Muskoka Chautauqua, as part of its demonstrated commitment to its community, organized a half-day Communiy Conversation at Windermere House whose owners generously provided the meeting space. More than 90 community members, business owners, local elected politicians and Muskoka Chautauqua members and supporters were in attendance. The purpose of the event was to enable a wide-ranging conversation about our communities and how, together, we can ensure their vibrant future.

Based on the discussion and outcomes of that meeting, a second Community Conversation was convened in June 2024, and a third in August, 2024. Attendance at each of these meetings was high and the participants worked together to identify the ways their communities can thrive. Action steps were identified, and some individuals and groups took the lead in working toward the outcomes they saw as priorities, thus enabling a grass-roots approach to community development.

At the August meeting the participants, who represented a cross section of Windermere residents—both permanent and seasonal, businesses, local politicians and municipal employees—requested that Muskoka Chautauqua take the lead in positioning the community for future growth. As a result, the Cultural Mapping Project, in partnership with the municipality, and Community Conversation stakeholders will be undertaken.

We will put in place a process to analyze and track the roles our partners play in Muskoka Chautauqua’s success and growth. We will determine what they, and we, have learned from their participation. This tracking process will position us to benefit from and expand our partnership experiences in the ways that are most beneficial to our partners and to us. An additional outcome of this work will be the development of a set of Terms of Partnership, which will capture best practices and ensure focus and flexibility in the development of future agreements with our partners.

An important part of Muskoka Chautauqua’s mission and mandate is engagement with our community, audience and partners through lifelong learning and education, ensuring personal and community/economic vitality. This engagement will contribute to the strength of Muskoka Chautauqua’s “brand” and our marketing initiatives. Importantly, it helps us achieve diversity, innovation and growth.

We recognize the importance of partnerships in providing sources for venues, marketing, sponsorship, donations, and in enhancing attendance. As a means of growing and diversifying Muskoka Chautauqua‘s festival and year-round events, we will identify areas of mutual benefit and be open to various and new kinds of partnerships. We will explore and promote opportunities for new partnerships

In order to ensure our institutional sustainability, we will expand participation and inclusion beyond attendance at events: we will work toward engaging the community in all aspects of the Festival including planning, event support and volunteering. We will develop methods to enhance access to our events which, due to cost, may otherwise be unaffordable to some people. The goal will be to collaborate with partners on addressing access issues.

To ensure that the Muskoka Chautauqua brand includes not just the Festival, but year-round events as well, engages key stakeholders, and grows our influence in the cultural community, we will continue our work to develop a multi-year marketing strategy that includes Branding and Visual Identity and contains Brand Consistency, Design Assets, and Brand Guidelines.

We will develop the narrative about what makes Muskoka Chautauqua special and highlight the impact we have on the artistic community and the broader cultural landscape. By developing a consistent and engaging brand identity that reflects Muskoka Chautauqua‘s creative vision and mission we will position MC as a leader in promoting the arts.

We will highlight Participant Engagement, and value the festival participants’ stories and testimonials while emphasizing what they say about the spirit, emotion and engagement of our audiences.

We will ensure that marketing is pervasive throughout MC’s culture, which includes sustainability and partnerships, and places additional focus on digital marketing. We will set specific marketing objectives that are relevant to our target audiences. 

Through targeted campaigns we will continue to promote key events including exhibitions, workshops, year-round events and the summer festival through targeted campaigns, and use online platforms for ticket sales and event promotion. We will continue to increase our local community engagement through grassroots marketing such as posters, flyers, street banners innovative signage and community partnerships.

Our digital marketing initiatives will be strengthened by enhancing and segmenting email lists (e.g., by donors, event attendees, artists, diverse and special interest groups), and by the issuance of e-newsletters featuring updates, event invitations, and exclusive content. We will increase targeted email campaigns for fundraising, ticket sales, etc.
By employing a variety of reliable metrics, analytics and evaluation tools we will track social media engagement, website traffic, insights and marketing impact to assess our success, and will adjust strategies based on this performance data to optimize future marketing opportunities.

We will define the budget for marketing activities (content creation, ads, events, partnerships, etc.), and identity and allocate resources for staffing, creative production, and paid media campaigns.

In order to communicate effectively with our stakeholders Muskoka Chautauqua will create a comprehensive communications strategy that enhances visibility, engages target audiences, and promotes programs, events, and creative initiatives. It will include the following key components and deliverables:

• Statement of Purpose: overview of the communications plan’s goals, in alignment with Muskoka Chautauqua’s vision, mission, and expected outcomes.
• Key Objectives: include raising awareness of the MC’s programs; foster engagement with our diverse stakeholders (artists, patrons, sponsors, etc.); position MC as a leader in the creative arts sector; develop a sound, consistent case for soliciting donations, sponsorships, and grants.
• Audience Analysis: include primary secondary and tertiary stakeholders, and develop engagement strategies tailored to each group.
• Key Messages: develop a core message that reinforces MC’s value proposition, which includes the arts, philosophy, inclusion/diversity, education, and that is interactive and reaches multiple demographics, and supports local community and economic vitality and personal well-being; develop a sound, consistent case for soliciting donations, sponsorships, and grants; disseminate education around what Chautauqua is, including more about its history, and profiling its successful community engagement.
• Supporting Messages: ensure that the voice is specific to the General Public, Artists/Creative Entrepreneurs, Donors and Sponsors, Media outlets
• Tone and Style: reflects the “voice” of MC and is used consistently across various media platforms.
• Identification of Communication Channels & Tactics: include MC’s Owned Media: (Website, email newsletters, etc.); Earned Media: PR outreach to local district, provincial and national arts media outlets as appropriate; Social Media: create an engagement plan for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Events & Direct Engagement: include exhibitions, workshops, and community outreach programs; leverage in-person and virtual events for audience engagement.
• Paid Media: online ads and collaboration with relevant online platforms; create a defined base for relationships with the media.
• Content Strategy: include consistent messaging notes, themes, formats and approaches.
• Staff and Volunteer Engagement: develop internal communications to align with our vision and mission.
• Budget: identify and allocate resources for each communication activity e.g., media buying, content production, design services.

While continuing to engage with and reflect our community and its needs, we will target our programming to reach intended audiences, the community at large and our partners in the program development process as the best way to ensure that we are contributing to local economic vitality and resilience. Through that engagement, the benefits of our presence in the community become clear to our audiences and community partners.

The goal is to build on what is strong, on what we believe is important and on that which links to all of our priorities. The 2024 program outline has followed many of the goals and ideas articulated in this strategy and will serve as a model for future planning.

In reviewing existing programs and developing new ones, we will make sure that all programs are focused and connected to our mission and mandate. In order to stay current and relevant, we will identify any new, emerging and/or additional needs in the community and continue to respond.

We will work to better define our understanding of the MC community. We will assess whether or not our inclusiveness meets the targets described in previous board strategies. In order to be as inclusive as possible we must determine whether or not we are attracting the immediate community in and around Windermere and beyond, including local residents, visitors (national and international) and our seasonal residents. We will increase the reach to members of specific demographic groups including BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, families, children, young adults, Indigenous communities, and seniors. We will also assess the issue of affordability and develop methods to ensure that from a financial perspective, all who wish to attend Muskoka Chautauqua‘s events and programs are able to do so.

We will create the position of program development officer and investigate funding sources including the Ontario Trillium Foundation resiliency grants. The responsibilities of this new position will include reviewing programs to assure that they are focussed and connected to our mission and mandate, identifying additional needs in the community, and continuing to be innovative and creative in responding to these needs with relevant programming options and events. Emphasis will also be placed on working with our partners to reach heretofore untapped audiences.

The program development officer will research and demonstrate the value of engaging audiences, the community and our partners in the program development process, and will ensure that the benefits of doing so—including economic vitality and community resilience—are clearly demonstrated to all stakeholders

Our strengths are what define us, and we will continue to build on them; the principles of inclusiveness, access, and diversity will continue to be our building blocks.

We will review attendance levels for all programs in order to ensure that we continue to offer relevant programming and events that meet the needs of our audiences.

Turnout for arts workshops was higher than expected in 2023, and in addition to new attendees, there were many repeat visitors. Workshops and children’s programming attracted high numbers, and some were over subscribed and required a second date. We will build on these strengths. Some other events were not as well attended, and MC will analyze the contributing factors to determine whether audience engagement and participation could be achieved through additional marketing or variations in scheduling/venue, or promotional partnerships. Consideration will also be given to the length and duration of the festival itself. “Strategic abandonment”, an assessment process that begins with the question “If we were not doing this already would we start doing it now?” will also be considered.

In addition to our focus on growing the program, we will continue to explore our approach to innovation and we will carefully assess our existing programs in this light. A particular strength has been Muskoka Chautauqua’s demonstrated innovation in how it links education, personal well-being, interactive events and community vitality. This is a strength upon which we will build.

We will include more Indigenous programming, and programs that reflect other traditions. Many Chautauquas in North America include “halls of philosophy.” MC will consider launching a hall of philosophy program, perhaps combined with more literary events, and promote it in a manner that resonates with the general public and the community. One suggestion for a name for such a program is “Teachings and Traditions.”

We will review our literary program, which now highlights published authors, and consider adding a journalist, thought leaders influencers and others who do not necessarily have books to promote.

We will consider adding events that reflect current community trends and issues, for example, designing a session on housing that includes perspectives from local advocacy groups, economists, developers, and other informed potential participants.

While we have improved our capacity to attract families and children, our numbers for people in their 20s and 30s are low with the exception of music concerts specifically targeted at this age group. We will work with our partners to develop programs, including marquis events, that attract members of this demographic.

We will continue our annual review of programs including a detailed look at demographics within the attendance statistics.

We will continue to reinforce our core values by regularly revisiting our mission and vision and goals to ensure they are consistent with all of Muskoka Chautauqua‘s activities and initiatives, and we will use strategy to drive structure.

We will engage in a longer term (5 to 10 year) sustainability plan that specifies our legacy objectives.

In order to continue to be relevant to our communities, and to the local arts and cultural community as a whole, we will work to evolve our programs to meet changing needs, issues and trends.

We will explore the framework developed in the 2014 strategic plan, which involves engaging more volunteers in MC’s activity by forming working groups, advisory groups, and shared leadership with partners.

We will consult with our partners and investigate best practices amongst Arts Organizations to determine the most appropriate ways to ensure MC’s long-term financial viability including financial management and risk mitigation. We will look for the best ways to maintain a detailed and flexible budgeting process with multiyear financial forecasts that account for political challenges and economic fluctuations. We will also investigate building a reserve fund through which we will be in a position to build and maintain an operating reserve to cover unexpected expenses and downturns and to ensure operational continuity during difficult times. Our risk management assessment will consider a regular assessment of potential risks (e.g. financial, operational, legal), and will include mitigation strategies including insurance policies and crisis management plans.

We will investigate funding sources to support the development of our long-term sustainability plans.

In order to ensure smooth leadership transitions, particularly for key roles such as Executive Director and board members, we will develop a formal succession plan.

We will continue to develop Muskoka Chautauqua’s “talent” By investing in leadership training and mentorship programs for staff, board and volunteers in order to nurture future leaders from within the organization. By doing so we will strengthen our volunteer base, board of directors and operational leadership team.

To ensure the continuity of artistic direction and community engagement we will cultivate long-term relationships with our artistic community and volunteers and partner organizations.

We will create a robust foundation to sustain Muskoka Chautauqua financially, programmatically and through leadership transitions, thereby ensuring that it will survive and thrive for generations to come.

We will explore the development of a specific legacy program that leaves an imprint and an impact, for example a scholarship fund for young artists, a high-profile community art project, the establishment of an annual awards program in honour of key contributions to Muskoka Chautauqua, etc.

In order to ensure archival and historical preservation, we will work with our partners to document Muskoka Chautauqua‘s history and impact, by creating archival materials, digital collections, and published materials that can be preserved for future generations.

We will investigate the best ways to engage in highly visible cultural advocacy initiatives such as playing an active role in advocacy initiatives for public arts funding, cultural preservation, and the development of policies that support artists and creatives.