The Chairman's Planning Guide is a series of questions designed to guide the project chairperson and the members of the committee through the process of running the project. The following is an explanation of each of the 10 questions.
As we do things in Raleigh, there are 2 primary purposes for CPGs
- the initial CPG is written as a tool to help plan the project. ie. have you
thought about what you are going to try to do?
- the final CPG is written to document what actually took place and should
be able to serve as an invaluable tool to a project chair in the future who
wants to run the same/similar project.
Ask yourself what you wish you had known before you ran the project? What information that someone else learned in the past do you wish they had shared with you? What obstacles did you encounter, and what tricks did you learn to make your project a success that you can pass along to help someone not have to "re-invent the wheel" next time around?
Judging Hints (in General):
Provided with these guidelines are some hints for how things are judged. You
may or may not care about how a CPG does in judging (and that's ok), but
many/most of these hints actually make for a better business plan
anyway, which after all is one of the best reasons for writing a CPG... to
plan how you will run your project. If it happens to win an award
because it is written well, there is nothing wrong with that, right?
Probably the most important thing to keep in mind for judging is to be sure that it is easy for a judge to note the impact your project had. Is it an easy CPG to read? Is information easy to find? Do you clearly state your goals and the results?
Questions 1, 2, and 10 are the most important for judging. The purpose of CPG Judging is to allow chapters and chairpeople an opportunity to be recognized for their accomplishments. Impact (of the project) is MORE important than format.
1. Primary Purpose.
A brief statement giving the one primary reason the
chapter wants to conduct this project. Running the project with several
purposes is normal, but list here only the primary purpose. The word
AND should NEVER appear in your purpose.
Bad example: The purpose of this project is to bond with other local chapters
while raising money for charity and increasing our exposure in the
community.
Better: (any of these would be better....remember one purpose is usually the
more important focus of the project).
alternative purpose #1: to raise money for charity
(aka a Community Fundraising program)
alternative purpose #2: to increase our exposure in the community (a Public
Relations program)
alternative purpose #3: to increase contact with other area chapters
(State/National Involvement).
Judging Hint for Question #1:
- Having one (and only one) brief purpose is very important (if you
care) and also (from a philosophical point of view) helps guide the project
when conflicts between the many goals arise. If you have an over-riding
primary purpose it is easier to ask whether the decision in question adds or
detracts to that main purpose.
2. Give a brief description of the proposed project and background information.
Follow this with a listing of the specific and measurable goals to be accomplished by this project.
Summarize the concept of the proposed project - the who, what, or how that provided the idea
- and briefly describe the desired results. Explain how this proposed project relates to the chapter's
objective, priorities, and goals. Project goals must be
SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and
TIMELY. There is no minimum or maximum number of goals a project may have.
Questions three through seven are the plan to attain these goals. Remember that successful
achievement of project goals will have a positive influence on achievement of the primary purpose.
Goal A must match the primary purpose.
Bad Example: Goal A - to help lots of people (this is not measurable).
Better: Goal A - to provide a free turkey meal to 45 residents. (you
can measure this when the project is over and provide an exact # of
people that you actually fed.)
Bad Example: Goal B - to learn new ways to organize our chapter.
Better: Goal B - to gather 5 new ideas to improve our chapter. (these 5 ideas
(or more or less depending on how many you actually get) would be listed
one-by-one in your measurable results section (question #10) of the
final CPG).
Judging Hint for Question #2:
- Your goal A should add detail to your primary purpose (in
#1)... ie. if your purpose was alternative #1, a good Goal A would
be "to raise $5,000 for Cystic Fibrosis".
- Giving the background of the project is important. Where did the idea come
from? Why are we running it?
- State how this project relates to the "Chapter Plan" (available from the
web site). The Chapter Plan is the yearly outline of what we plan to do as
a chapter. All projects should relate to some part of the goals we set. Your
Director should be able to provide you with this information.
3. What are the specific manpower assignments?
Document proposed involvement, both
member and non-member. List each individual along with his or her
specific duties and responsibilities. For manpower assignments where a
specific person(s) has not yet been selected, list the specific
responsibilities, talents, skills, knowledge, or abilities that
person(s) will need to possess.
4. What specific materials, supplies, and resources will
be required?
List all materials and supplies that will be needed, from both chapter and
community resources, to successfully complete this project. Listing each
resource, provide detailed contact information (address, telephone numbers,
contact person, etc.), and add a notation if materials are expected
to be purchased or donated, which will assist in preparing a budget later.
5. Describe the potential problems and the possible
solutions to successfully complete this project.
Anticipate potential problems and
develop back-up plans or alternate solutions to each problem.
For best results, examine problems by management technique areas of planning,
training, communications, personnel management, and financial management.
6. Complete a proposed budget indicating all anticipated
income and expenses.
Keeping project goals in mind, refer to the list of materials, supplies, and
resources, along with the proposed action steps, to determine estimated
project income and expenses. Include the value of donated items (goods and
services). List all anticipated income and expenses.
General Hints:
First, see the sample CPG provided here at the web site for a sample
budget.
-Be sure your Expenses equal your Income.
-An "appropriation from the chapter" is considered income
to your project.
-A "return of appropriation to the chapter" is considered an expense
to your project.
7. List the specific steps to bring this project to a
successful completion, showing planned dates for each step.
Prepare a detailed list of what
actions are planned or will need to be completed, including dates for
each planned action.
8. Record any revision of the original plan.
Anything that changed in the
original plan, steps one through seven, should be recorded and explained. It
is important to highlight all modifications so that a clear understanding is
provided for future chairpersons. (Record actual income and expenses,
including any revisions, on the budget sheet under tab two.) Minor changes do
not need to be listed, such as a committee meeting held on Tuesday instead of
Monday.
9. What solutions or recommendations do you have for a
future chairperson?
What changes could have been made that would have made the project more successful?
What things made the project successful? Compile a detailed list of
recommendations for the next project chairperson.
10. Give specific and measurable results for each goal
established. Describe the impact of the project on the chapter, individual
members, and the community.
First list each goal from
question two and the results for each goal. What were the specific results of
each goal? Then describe the impact of the project on the chapter,
individual members, and the community. Identify the impact on the committee
members, the chapter, and the community as a result of the completion of the
project. Only area(s) of impact need to be discussed. Use the opportunity
to reach the reader as to why this project should (should not) be run again.
Judging Hints for Question #10:
- List your goals exactly as they appear in #2. Below each Goal X show the
Result X.
Goal A: to provide a free turkey meal to 45 residents.
(Bad)Result A: We met our goal.
(Better)Result A: We provided 54 residents with meals (120% of goal).
- List impacts for each of the 3 areas (Chapter, Community, Individual).
What impact did this have on the community? Did the project feed, clothe, or
otherwise improve the lives of someone?
What impact did the project have on the chapter? Did the project increase the
exposure of the chapter to the public? Did it help new members meet/socialize
with other chapter members?
What impact did the project have on you (the chairperson)? Did you
gain new organizational skills? Did you get more comfortable with public
speaking (announcing your project)?
The better/bigger the impact of the project, the easier it is to pick up this
project in the future and know if we should run it again.