Path of Life found itself on the receiving end of major cuts in government funding. In order to keep its family shelter open, and keep 850 in families off the street, the organization needed to enlist the financial help of a broad base of churches, private donors, business, and government officials. Path of Life asked Bryan Feller Associates to help them tackle this problem.
To support these strategic conversations with community leaders, Bryan Feller Associates created a series of documents, all based on a single template, that presented the plans from the perspective of each group. In some cases, these conversation guides were created for single individuals. The strategy allowed Path of Life to connect with a very diverse group of constituents, and present a powerful value proposition from the viewpoint of the recipient. And because the documents were based on a single template, customized documents that addressed specific people or situations could be created in hours, not days. The final documents were printed in color and bound with “plasticoil” at the Path of Life office. This gave the ministry total flexibility to create and publish high quality presentations without having to go to an outside copier. These documents supported conversations with leading pastors in the city, the major, and city and county supervisors. The result? Path of Life was able to make up for its budget shortfall and avoid the impact of the proposed government budget cuts. Some samples of these conversation guides can be downloaded below:
- Download Strategic Challenges and Solutions for the Homeless of Riverside
- Download the Church Partner Report
- Download the Restaurant Partner Program