Creating a Business Plan for Assateague Island National Seashore and The Startup of a Nonprofit Friends Group
Abstract
Assateague Island National Seashore (Seashore) is faced with significant financial
challenges. As a management consultant over an eleven week period, I worked with
park staff to produce a business plan that clearly outlined operational requirements,
identified financial resources currently available, and analyzed funding gaps. In
addition, I worked with the Seashore to identify operational and investment priorities
and develop strategies for meeting them. The purpose of the business plan is to improve
the Seashore’s ability to more clearly communicate its financial status with principal
stakeholders. It is also intended to accomplish three main tasks. First, it provides
the Seashore with a synopsis of its funding history. Second, it presents a clear,
detailed picture of the state of current Seashore operations and funding. Finally,
it outlines Seashore priorities and funding strategies. This document will assist
management with financial and operational baseline knowledge for future decision making.
Of the six strategies recommended in the business plan, one was the creation of an
independent organization to partner with the Seashore. This was the recommendation
I implemented for the second part of my masters project. There were two important
goals for this initiative. First, creating a nonprofit with a plan to become financially
sustainable and second, ensuring the organization supports the mission of the Seashore.
Assateague Island Alliance (Alliance) was incorporated on January 1, 2008 and has
submitted its nonprofit application to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as of April
25, 2008. The Alliance is focused on supporting the mission of the Seashore and improving
its financial flexibility. As Executive Director, I’ve worked on the organization’s
startup, board of directors recruitment, development of a mission, vision, and strategic
plan, and engagement of the Seashore and community to build support for this new organization.
Details on each of these initiatives are included in this master’s project.
Type
Master's projectSubject
Business planNonprofit start-up
Strategic plan
National Park Service
Assateague Island National Seashore
Assateague Island Alliance
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/520Citation
Warner, Brandon (2008). Creating a Business Plan for Assateague Island National Seashore and The Startup of
a Nonprofit Friends Group. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/520.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info