Downtown and Commercial District Revitalization
Heritage Consulting has developed a wide range of interactive and engaging workshops and training programs for clients in our three practice areas: historic preservation, downtown and commercial district revitalization and nonprofit organizational development. In the past five years we have consulted with organizations and government agencies on many issues to make organizations more effective. Listed below are workshops and consultations we developed for clients in recent years. Our workshops and training programs can be as detailed as you wish: from one hour to a full day in length. We are happy to develop training programs or consultations on other topics to suit your needs.
Downtown management organizations, whether using the Main Street Four Point Approach™ or another organizing methodology, struggle to grow and thrive. We know, because we have worked with more than 150 downtown organizations in the last ten years to advance their agendas and make a difference in their community. At its heart, downtown organizations are about the people who volunteer or manage these critical enterprises and our training programs are designed specifically for them.
Our workshops are excellent for statewide or regional conferences, group trainings or local downtown management organizations. Our workshops are hands-on, engaging and fun. We include several hands-on learning experiences during each workshop, and offer stories from our experience, and practical solutions that can be used immediately. We prefer to offer peer learning opportunities during these workshops, so that the audience can learn from their contemporaries as well as from Ms. Harris. We provide an extensive packet of information for each workshop participant that includes a bibliography, articles, checklists and forms as resources to reinforce the content of the workshop. We ask all participants to evaluate every one our workshops so we can always be improving our sessions.
Downtown and Commercial District Revitalization Workshop and Consultation Topic List:
Promotion
- Media relations, some dos and don’ts
- Introduction to PR crisis management
- Understanding special event lifecycles
- Developing your first yearlong downtown promotional calendar
Design
- Dollars and cents of preservation
- Why should we care about preservation of our downtown?
- History of storefront design
- Preparing your town for the heritage tourist
- Managing introduction of historic preservation ordinances in your town
Organization
- Recruiting Baby Boomers as Main Street volunteers
- Organizational visioning for the future
- Diversifying your revenue sources
- Building your organization’s capacity to win grants
- Make more money from members
- Sponsorship basics
- Understanding fundraising event life cycles
- What Main Street organizations need to know about business improvement districts
- Sustaining your Main Street organization through endowments and planned gifts
- Developing an effective public relations campaign
- Role of Board and staff in Main Street organizations
- Strategic planning for Main Street organizations
- Volunteer recruitment, retention and recognition
- Maximizing scarce resources: money and people
Consultations on the following topics
- Bylaw creation and organizational start-up
- Bylaw review and revisions as Main Street organizations mature
- 501c3 applications for local Main Street organizations
- Understanding different IRS tax exempt designations
- Organizational needs assessments
- Incorporation of downtown management organizations
- Updating organizational policies and procedures
- Vision and mission statement development
- Understanding and managing organizational transitions
- Strategic planning and creating a vision of the future
- Assessment of volunteer involvement and recommendations
- Strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities assessments
- Pro/cons of organizational mergers
- Retreat planning and facilitation
- Organizational position descriptions and staff hiring process
- Options for establishing a downtown management organization
- Board retreat facilitation
- Strategic plans for Main Street organizations
- Manager retention, evaluations and career development
- Manager Job descriptions, hiring, evaluating candidates
- Review of organizational effectiveness and recommendations
- Board dynamics, assessment and recommendations
- Board member orientation/development
- Conflict of interest, fiduciary duties and Board member ethics
- Board recruitment and development
- Starting a sponsorship program or review of current efforts and recommendations
- Review of membership development, retention and expansion efforts and recommendations
- Fundraising plans for management stage organizations
- Fundraising plans for growth stage organizations
- Review of membership and fundraising efforts and recommendations
- Review of signature fundraising events and recommendations
- Review of corporate contributions efforts and recommendations
- Budget development and tune-up
- Review of fundraising activities and recommendations
- Feasibility of establishing a business improvement district
- Implementation of business improvement districts
- Architectural history and preservation basics
- Storefront design/rehabilitation basics
- Heritage tourism consultations
- Preparation of local design guidelines or review of existing and recommendations
- Creating local design incentives or review of existing incentives and Recommendations
- Historic preservation program development to meet emerging needs
- Developing and promoting historic preservation ordinances
- Review of special events and recommendations
- Review of sponsorship activities and recommendations
- Review of retail events and recommendations
- Review of image activities and recommendations
- Public relations consultations
- Assessment of special event effectiveness