Executive Summary

Why We Exist

The learning centre is a unique non-profit organization driven at human capacity development. Our operational model addresses the growing needs for skilled and professional social workers within Ontario and throughout Canada. We pro‐actively seek out professional social workers and related corporate organizations with impressive potentials to contribute to the society using a rigorous process, validated by research and community achievements.

Organizational Model

Over the last ten years, the organization has undergone a significant period of evolution and change, drifting from its original mandate of corporate training for professional social workers to direct services delivery. The Learning Centre now has a new Executive Director with an order to restore the organizations’ glory by divesting it of the direct program services and growing the training revenue. The 2019-2020 Operating Plan is a summary of the actions, strategy, and programs we will implement over the 2019 and 2020 financial years to achieve organizational goal. This plan aims to help meet the broad objectives set out by the board to correct and restore the corporate mandate.

Over the period 2019 to 2020, we will continue to focus on reviving and improving our corporate training and social services field. Therefore, diminishing all efforts enacted towards our existing direct services programs. This approach is expected to help The Learning Centre regain its position as the industry leader and the “Go-to Organization” in training professional social service workers.

 Summary of Financial Model

To achieve the proposed modification of our current operational model, we will require total funding of $2 million over the next two (2) financial years (2019 and 2020). Following board approval, an estimated $2 million will be raised and utilized by the fiscal budget stated within the operational plan. The management aims to leverage combinations of funding sources including government grants, independent fundraising campaigns, training facility revenue and significant gifts from philanthropists among others; this will be particularly important to help secure the required funding on time.

Mission

Our mission at the learning centre is to increase the effectiveness of client services through training, and personal, professional and organizational development, provincially, nationally and internationally.

Vision

Our vision is to establish The Learning Centre as the “Go To” organization for organizations and individual professional social workers looking to improve the quality of their service delivery.

Our Values

The core values upon which The Learning Centre are built are Respect, Diversity, Accountability, and Innovation. We will adhere to these values at all time, and they will form the basic guiding principles upon which all activities are based.

Market Analysis

The Canadian Health care and Social assistance industry has contributed an estimated $119,138 to the GDP as of August 2018 (“Health Care and Social Assistance: Ontario 2016-2018”, 2018). The Ontario health care and social assistance industry have also shown a continued employment growth, the Ontario government’s Action Plan for Health Care is responsible for triggering a shift in employment from acute care settings such as hospitals to community care programs and services (“Health Care and Social Assistance: Ontario 2016-2018”, 2018) with various social assistance subsectors taking up about 23% of the industry. This subsector comprises different occupations including early childhood educators and assistants, social and community service workers, Home support workers, housekeepers, and related professions. Employment is expected to grow in community care programs and facilities with occupations such as community and social service workers and early childhood educators and assistants (“Health Care and Social Assistance: Ontario 2016-2018”, 2018). Some of the notable competing organizations offering similar programs as The Learning Centre include:

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      Active Career Advancement Projects (ACAP): The program works towards helping internationally trained professionals (ITPs) use some or even all of their previously acquired skills in a profession relevant to their trained field. ACAP also assists employers in better engaging these ITPs. ACAP offers integrated services to support underutilized ITPs to re-position themselves in alternative careers related to their expertise and to help employers in hiring, developing and retaining ITPs who are highly qualified but underutilized within their workforce (Community and Social Services, 2018).

      AFS Interculture Canada: Is an educational movement that promotes global education and intercultural understanding through quality exchange programs for youth and adults. They offer school-based programs for youth and volunteer work or internship opportunities for young adults (Community and Social Services, 2018).

      Altruvest Charitable Services: Altruvest is committed to strengthening Canadian communities by fostering performance improvement in the charitable sector. They work with corporations, government, individuals and other charities (Community and Social Services, 2018).

      East Wellington Community Services: A community-based, non-profit corporation whose mission is to improve the quality of life through the provision of multi-service centre support of individuals in need; coordination of available services; liaison with related organizations; initiation of new programs; and encouragement of community involvement (Community and Social Services, 2018).

      Friends for Mental Health: Friends for Mental Health is a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping family members, friends and caregivers deal with the mental illness others. The organization provides counselling, support, information, and training. They also offer conferences/webinars and respite (Community and Social Services, 2018).

The Learning centre will leverage an existing brand name and reputation coupled with an effective marketing campaign and a seasoned management team to secure our position as the market leader once again.

Critical Success Factors

The following are the critical factors we have to consider carefully for the successful implementation of the operational plan:

      Human Resource capability: Human resource is at the core of any operation. It is a crucial component in the survivability of the organization and all our activities. Therefore, The Learning Centre will prioritize identifying and bringing aboard the right skill set for our strategies. The board will develop effective procedures to filter and identify the best match for each role or position in the organization.

      Client/Customer Relationship: As a service based organization in a competitive market space, our survivability and success will be heavily dependent on how clients and prospective clients perceive the organization and our service offerings before, during and after using these services. Therefore, emphasis must be placed on developing and maintaining quality client relationships with our audience by training our staff on the best customer relation practices

      Location: Location is also considered a critical factor in the overall success of the company. Effort will be made to ensure strategic and easily accessible locations are chosen for sighting training facilities. Other criteria that will be considered in selecting the location for our facilities are sufficient parking space and ambiance 

      Marketing: We will set in place adequate funds in our budget to support effective and efficient marketing campaigns. This is important in creating awareness and reviving The Learning Centre’s image in the corporate training services industry. These marketing campaigns will be developed and consulted by specialists to ensure we reach our target audience effectively.

      Government Relationships: Government agencies are not only vital stakeholders I the industry and community we aim to serve, the form one of our primary funding sources through grants. Therefore, efforts will be made to develop and maintain good working relationships with government agencies of various types.

Strategic Intents

We have developed a set of operational goals to achieve in the 2019 and 2020 financial years. These goals are in line with the overall objectives put forward by the board, and they will help us meet the organizational objectives by the end of the 2019/2020 financial year. These intents are detailed as follows:

      Financial Stability: The Learning centre will achieve financial stability by becoming profitable in our proposed corporate training facilities. Marketing and operational efforts have been designed to support our financial projections, and with strict implementation, we will be able to grow steady cash flow over the next two years (2019 & 2020) and beyond.

      Divest of Service Delivery: The Organization will stir clear of direct service delivery over the period. Our initial attempt to venture into the direct services program has been evaluated, and the board considers maintaining our stand in the Corporate training a better strategy for the organization, this will enable us to focus better on our founding organizational Mandate and reduce overhead

      Established as a Corporate Training Centre: The Learning Centre will also strive to generate 25% of its total revenue through for-profit organizations. We will target individuals and organizations working with professional social service providers, providing them with adequate training programs and resources on a regular basis. We anticipate 25% of our annual revenue will be generated by this group effective 2019.

      National Presence: The Learning Centre will restore a nationwide recognition by implementing this plan of action. We are working towards achieving a projected 25% of our total revenue coming in from regions outside Ontario; this indicates our marketing and strategic partnership programs will not be limited to Ontario but extend across Canada. We will utilize existing connections and standing relationships the organization has developed in the past to achieve this goal.

Key Action Items

We have developed practical and strategic actions to be taken to ensure the feasibility of our organizational objectives. The following table details the activities, financial requirements, timeline as well as the respective individual or team responsible for implementing these actions in respective order:

S/N

Action Item

$

Who

When

1

Board Approval

$0

Board

February 2019

2

Assemble Implementation Committee

$0

Board

March 2019

3

Fundraising Programs

$2,000

Board

April 2019

4

Develop training programs and Facilities

$0

Committee

May 2019

5

Recruit the required implementation personnel

$0

Committee

June 2019

6

Train in-house implementation team

$0

committee

July 2019

7

Initialize marketing campaign

$0

team

August 2019

8

Corporate prospect research and Analysis

$0

committee

September 2019

9

Establish strategic relationship with prospects through in-person meeting

$0

team

October 2019

10

Launch Corporate training program for social workers in target organizations

$0

Committee

November 2019

11

Analyze and improve training programs

$0

Committee

December 2019

Key Financial Assumptions

Our financial plans and budget have been developed based on a set of assumptions. These assumptions are as follows:

      All expenses are based on conservative assumptions

      The Canadian Dollars (CAD) is used as the standard currency throughout the plan

      We assume a strong economy without a major recession.

      We expect no unpredicted change in the economy that could result in change in our estimations.

      We assume no unforeseen industry or market crashes

      We assume timely board approval for effective implementation of the plan

      We assume timely and effective fundraising to ensure objectives are achieved

Annual Operating Budget

2018/2019 Operating Budget

Revenue

Month 1

Month 2

Month3

Month4

Month5

Month6

Month7

Month8

Month9

Month10

Month11

Month12

Annual

Grants

$0

$0

$0

$400,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$400,000

Training Fees

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$50,000

$65,000

$72,000

$78,000

$85,000

$700,000

Gifts and Donations

$0

$0

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$25,000

Others

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$890,000

$870,000

Subtotal

$1,995,000

 

 

Expenses

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

Salaries

$0

$0

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$600,000

Benefits

$0

$7,000

$7,000

$7,000

$7,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$84,000

Training Costs

$0

$0

$0

$0

$16,000

$17,000

$18,000

$18,500

$18,500

$21,000

$20,000

$21,000

$150,000

Stipends and Wages

$10,000

$6,000

$6,000

$6,000

$6,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$400,000

Contract Personnel

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$11,500

$11,500

$11,500

$11,500

$11,500

$11,500

$11,500

$80,500

Rent

$0

$0

$0

$0

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$18,200

$145,600

Supplies

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$580

$620

$7,000

Postage and Courier

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$450

$5,400

Phone and Internet

$500

$500

$500

$500

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$3,500

$3,500

$3,500

$3,500

$24,000

Travel

$500

$1,500

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$4,000

$2,000

$2,000

$2,000

$23,000

Board

$250

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$5,750

Insurance

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$950

$11,400

Equipments

$0

$0

$0

$1,000

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$1,500

$500

$500

$6,000

Bank Charges

$100

$400

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$5,500

Marketing

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$1,500

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$6,500

Consultation

$0

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$49,500

Maintenance

$0

$0

$0

$0

$250

$250

$250

$250

$250

$250

$250

$250

$2,000

Fundraising expenses

$0

$0

$2,500

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$2,500

Others

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$370,000

$370,000

Subtotal

$1,978,650

 

 

Surplus/Deficit

$16,350

2019/2020 Operating Budget

Revenue

Month 1

Month 2

Month3

Month4

Month5

Month6

Month7

Month8

Month9

Month10

Month11

Month12

Annual

Grants

$0

$0

$0

$400,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$500,000

$0

$900,000

Training Fees

$75,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$125,000

$185,000

$190,000

$1,575,000

Gifts and Donations

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$4,000

$5,000

$6,000

$6,500

$7,000

$56,500

Others

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$1,968,000

$1,968,000

Subtotal

$4,499,000

 

 

Expenses

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

Salaries

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$120,000

$1,440,000

Benefits

$10,500

$10,500

$10,500

$10,500

$10,500

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$136,500

Training Costs

$25,0000

$25,0000

$25,0000

$25,0000

$30,000

$30,000

$30,000

$30,000

$45,000

$45,000

$45,000

$50,000

$405,000

Stipends and Wages

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$60,000

$720,000

Contract Personnel

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$23,000

$276,000

Rent

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$35,000

$420,000

Supplies

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$800

$9,600

Postage and Courier

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$700

$750

$800

$8,550

Phone and Internet

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$4,500

$5,000

$5,000

$5,000

$55,500

Travel

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$2000

$24,000

Board

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$6,000

Insurance

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$18,000

Equipments

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$12,000

Bank Charges

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

$6,000

Marketing

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$3,000

$36,000

Consultation

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$96,000

Maintenance

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$1500

$18,000

Fundraising expenses

$5,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$5,000

Others

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$788,350

$788,350

Subtotal

$4,480,500

 

 

Surplus/Deficit

$18,500

References

Charity Village, Canada. (2018, November 20). Community and Social Services. Retrieved from https://charityvillage.com/cms/organizations/community-and-social-services

Labour Market and Socio-economic Information (LMIS) Directorate, Ontario. (2018, September 19). Health Care and Social Assistance: Ontario 2016-2018. Retrieved from https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/content_pieces-eng.do?cid=12116