Strategic Plan

Summer 2018 – Spring 2021

1. Collect Data and Improve Education to Support the Cooperative Experience

a. Members:

i. Improve the retention of our target demographic(s)

1. Collect and review retention data both at the BSC and unit-levels

2. Regularly conduct member satisfaction surveys and exit surveys to understand members’ needs

3. Continue to explore and implement programs that will reduce barriers to entry and retention of underrepresented populations, especially at the houses

ii. Revamp and expand cooperative education, including:

1. How to cooperate, with an emphasis on grassroots/bottom-up engagement and an intentional grounding in BSC and cooperative movement history/philosophy

2. Member rights and responsibilities, the social contract in the BSC, and conduct processes

3. Cooperative financial management

4. Develop prospective, new, and returning member education with regards to the priorities above and other key knowledge necessary for members to effectively engage

iii. Continue to expand and improve mental health and (dis)ability support

iv. Prioritize leadership recruitment and development as a core area of focus for the BSC and the member experience.

v. Develop systems to identify and share best practices in unit-level management between units and during leadership transitions and support unit-level strategic planning including multi-year improvement plans for the physical condition, operational effectiveness, and member experience at their unit.

b. Staff & Leadership Positions:

i. Continue to develop systems to provide for more ongoing support, professional development, and leadership opportunities at all levels of the organization; identify and pursue at least two professional growth opportunities annually for each student leadership and/or staff position.

ii. Build more effective, healthy, and constructive feedback mechanisms for professional staff, student staff, and unit-level managers.

iii. Continue to critically assess governance and operational processes to build greater engagement and provide opportunities for input from student/professional staff and unit-level leaders and ensure that work is effectively distributed sustainably.

c. All Stakeholders:

i. Prioritize and continue to support the BSC in improving and expanding diversity and inclusion throughout the BSC through education and systematic operational improvements that support the engagement and leadership development of traditionally marginalized groups.

1. At the beginning and end of contract periods, collect demographic data for our membership and those in leadership positions.

2. Conduct surveys and focus groups to identify potential barriers to entry and retention in BSC units and access to leadership positions.

3. Continue to improve and provide regular diversity and inclusion trainings for all members, unit-level managers, student/professional staff, and alumni volunteeers.

4. Expand theme programming, support circles, and/or other systems tailored to supporting all stakeholders, but especially the unique needs of low-income and traditionally marginalized groups.

5. Goal: 75% EOP by 2021, with a 5% increase in our EOP population per year.

2. Improve the Quality of our Units

a. Expand and continuously improve education for members regarding habitability and safety/cleanliness standards, why we have them, and how the quality of our housing affects members’ health, co-op experience, and the recruitment and retention of the BSC’s target demographic and fulfillment of our mission.

b. Continue to develop more systematic, effective operating procedures at the unit level to improve the condition of the units during semester transitions, support unit-level managers, and members in consistently maintaining safe and habitable homes and increasing workshift accountability and performance.

c. Prioritize and devote more resources towards the preventative and ongoing maintenance of our buildings and their fixtures as they age (both financially and with regard to student/professional staff capacity)

d. Continue to develop more detailed, strategic long-range improvement plans for the physical plant to ensure the long-term sustainability and quality of our housing and to better support fundraising efforts, including:

i. Accessibility

ii. General capital improvements

iii. Energy efficiency

iv. Seismic retrofitting

3. External Affairs, Development & Fundraising

a. Continue to cultivate strong community and University partnerships and develop more effective strategies to improve and support recruitment of the BSC’s target demographic(s).

b. Refine and standardize our key messaging, branding, and marketing to allow for more ownership of our organization identity and consistency in recruitment, engaging external entities, and fundraising.

c. Improve and build capacity for development and alumni engagement

i. Build authentic, inclusive relationships with our alumni, based not just on nostalgia, but on a current understanding of the BSC’s social justice cause and the experience of our members. Particularly:

1. Provide more alumni volunteer opportunities which meaningfully connect alumni with our mission and our members. The BSC will provide clear guidance to the BSC Alumni Association to help us in this goal.

2. Empower units to organize alumni engagement programs and events.

ii. Bring the conversation about development and alumni relations to all places in the BSC, so that all members and staff know the BSC’s fundraising and alumni relations goals and understand what they can do to help us achieve them.

iii. Continue to use metrics to track overall Development & Alumni Relations progress:

1. Increase the number of individual donors to 2,021 by the year 2021.

2. Increase the number of BSC member donors to 25% of current members annually.

3. Maintain a donor retention rate of at least 50% (for all individual donors, including students).

4. Increase fundraising revenue to $1,000,000 each year through alumni engagement and City, State, Federal, UC, local business, and/or private foundation grants.

iv. Continue to develop the capabilities of the alumni database and IT tools to expand our capacity to engage and track the participation of BSC alumni and support fundraising activities.

d. Expansion

i. Conduct due diligence and create a plan to bring Barrington Hall back online as a BSC unit(s) at the expiration of the existing lease term.

ii. Continue to explore expansion and expansion-related funding opportunities at the University, City, State, and Federal levels.

4. Modernization Efforts and Operational Efficiency

a. Revamp and improve the BSC’s web presence including redesigning the BSC website and better leveraging social media capabilities.

b. Continue to upgrade our core business software packages to increase operational efficiency, improve the quality of services, and improve end-user experience

i. RMS, Accufund, Progress, Salesforce, ADP, AssetCalc and cross-integration of software platforms

ii. Continue to tailor our software packages and build out custom reporting capabilities to provide more detailed, timely information to key stakeholders (e.g. budget-to-actuals, real time inventory management, donor management tools, capital planning, etc.)

iii. Standardize business practices to take full advantage of our new software packages and systems to maximize their efficacy.

c. Develop a new workshift website to better support workshift management at the units.

d. Implement more reliable, higher quality unit-level internet services.

e. Better utilize technology to document and organize BSC history and institutional memory.

f. Assess and make improvements to the boarding program to streamline operational efficiency and explore the feasibility of better addressing food insecurity in the student community.

[Board approved 5/7/18.]