Strategic Plan

Deepen Lineage Connections to Teachers; Plan for Succession

• Continue to provide critical administrative communication, support, and conduit for financial support to Tibetan teachers via Earth Thunder. 

Resources needed: Tracking to ensure DM is fully recouping expenses.

• Create additional opportunities for direct online access between Tibetan lineage teachers and Dawn Mountain sangha to provide access to living Dzogchen masters and showcase Dawn Mountain as an official representative of them.
• Record videos with lineage teachers
• Initiate three more live streaming events per year

Resources needed: Optimized wifi within DM facility for live stream video. Improved

connection between technologists in Houston and those located near lineage teachers.

Possible trip to other location to allow tech people to collaborate.

• Develop housing arrangement for visiting lamas 

• As an interim (2020 to 2023), develop a support system to assist with the logistics of hosting visiting lama(s), to include transportation, shopping, cooking, washing up
• By 2023, lease, buy or renovate existing space where visiting lama with attendants can stay and students can help with the hosting, allowing close personal interactions

Resources needed: Funding for housing within existing facility will add to cost of temple renovations for sprinkler system.  

• Engender opportunities for senior students to obtain Buddhist teaching experience. Cultivate long-term successors to founders via personal and invitational group retreats  

Timeline: In progress; goal is for some 10-30% of teaching to be done by senior students  in 2019-2021, and 30-60% by 2021-2026.

Resources needed: Anne and Harvey’s time to mentor senior students and for students to develop and evidence the necessary qualities to lead Sunday Meditation and Teaching Tuesday programs.

 

Expand Dawn Mountain Research Institute’s Translating and Information Management Activities

• Pursue grant opportunities to support translation and publishing 

Resources needed: Volunteer Research Institute Grant Coordinator to pursue funding opportunities and create grant applications under Anne’s direction

• Undertake translations of and research about key texts to support lineage transmission 

Resources needed: Possible support from Ho, Hersey and PENDE foundations and/ or sponsorships from Dawn Mountain members and friends.

• Complete Anne’s next book: Longchenpa’s Open Secret of the Sunlit Sky: Longchenpa’s Paths to Wholeness. Plan for increased visibility for Dawn Mountain following publication.

Resources needed:  Anne’s time off from teaching

• Develop and sustain transcription and preservation/archiving project

• Using volunteers, create edited transcriptions of Cycles and other core teachings to support teaching, learning and research. 

Resources needed: Joanne is currently leading effort and needs additional volunteers. Recent addition of European transcribers may help make progress. 

• Create plan and budget for preservation and archiving projects

Resources needed: 20% time Archive Manager with additional wage funds would be initial commitment. May need to go to full-time to make progress. Possibility for grant- or donor-funding. 

• Catalog and index print, video, audio and image files via library catalog (or similar tool) available on the Dawn Mountain website. 

Resources needed: Archive Manager and trained volunteers

• Develop and implement plan to digitize print, tapes and photographs for preservation and access, including Anne and Harvey’s ephemera

Resources needed: Costs to be determined. Archive Manager overseeing volunteer(s) to develop inventory of what DM needs to digitize. Approach UVA Tibetan & Himalayan Library Director to see if it can digitize. Some funds will be needed for conservation-grade folders and materials to house physical objects even after they have been digitized.

• Develop plan to catalog and manage 1,000-item library gift of Western language books received in late 2018.

Resources needed: Archive Manager to oversee volunteers to develop onsite Institute library. Additional funds needed for shelving and other materials to house and organize items 

• Catalog and manage collection of Tibetan books, including those now at Harvey and Anne’s house (approximately 100 titles). 

Resources needed: Archive Manager to oversee Tibetan-reading volunteer(s) to

catalog and organize collection.  Additional funds needed for shelving and other

materials to house and organize items 

 

Fully Develop Temple, Online Programs, and Broadcast Center Technology 

• Acquire and renovate facility  

Timeline: Complete renovations asap

Resources needed: Final budget for renovations under development

• Hire Digital Manager to expand and professionalize broadcasting program, maintain DM’s website, and provide outreach to Dawn Mountain’s global Buddhist audience. See job description in Attachment A.  

Timeline: Hire new staff member by March 1, 2019

Resources needed: Additional annual operating funds for salary

• Assess full range of technology needs and purchases, plan for redundancy of critical equipment, and budget for replacement of key equipment.  

• Aims: procure professional level system, simplify operations (push button), high production values, studio.
• Commit to continually professionalizing DM’s online capability
• Engage consultants (video conference) to help as necessary (Jim B.?)

  Timeline: Complete assessment by end of 2019, then ongoing annual reassessment

Resources needed: Additional funds needed for initial investment and an incremental annual operating budget required for equipment and software refresh.  

• Initiate invitational/small retreats at Diamond Dawn Mountain/Kamding Sal in New Mexico

Resources needed: Primarily build upon facilities already available with additional capital funding needed to expand.

• Lease, build or buy dormitory adjacent to temple for students to attend conferences and retreats and for personal retreat for qualified students 

Resources needed: Need additional capital that can combine with visiting lama housing. Cost of student housing can be partially offset by fees paid by visiting students. 

 

Evolve Community Programs to Further Develop Students and Engage a New Generation

• Perform audience research and develop audience development plan for Dawn Mountain. Craft messages and create strategies that capitalize on strengths and address weaknesses. 

Resources needed: Likely to require additional organizational expertise or capacity and one-time consultant costs.

• Create catalog of DM courses to enable students to know about our programs

Timeline: By mid-year 2020 

Resources needed: Digital Manager position

• Create two new courses of high quality, best possible content to support students’ spiritual growth.  

Timeline: By 2023

Resources needed: Additional funding

• Fully develop Children’s Program

• Simone to restart Sunday Children’s Program after move-in to facility and spend one year getting to know neighborhood
• Draft mission statement
• Promote Children’s Program by finding a volunteer or contractor to dedicate 3-4 hours/week on marketing

Timeline: Hold Children’s Fair in 2020; roll out mindfulness classes in 2021; 

Resources needed: Harvey to link Simone with U of Houston contact; additional funds needed for marketing contractor, additional funds needed for advertising budget and event costs.

• Develop plan for stupa with circumambulatory. Consider small, portable stupa initially.

Timeline: Start consulting with experts in Year 2021.

Resources needed: Additional funding needed to purchase small stupa or, if funding is possible, to build large stupa.  

 

Achieve Operational Excellence 

• Implement new customer relationship management system, NeonCRM  

Timeline: Data migration completed by October 2018; system operational by November 2018. 

Resources needed: Project Manager Janet Montes-Diaz managing system implementation and training of Operations Manager. Annual operating cost will be offset by what we are currently paying for Donor Perfect) and additional modest funding needed for one-time cost for training and support

• Create robust, accurate and timely annual operational plans and quarterly budget reporting to Dawn Mountain Board. Achieve a balanced budget with operating reserve by end of 2019

Timeline: Initiate quarterly budget reporting to Board by 2019 YE. Complete operational plan by mid-year 2019. Develop 6 month operating expense reserve by 2020 YE. 

Resources needed: Accurate projections of revenue and expense generated for budget reports.  

• Revisit planned giving guidelines and consider creating an endowment to sustain operations.

Resources needed: Board member to review planned giving guidelines and propose next steps. Coordination with C3 to avoid working at cross purposes on fundraising.

• Formalize and maintain documented standard policies and procedures and create document repository accessible to Board members 

Timeline: By end of 2019 

Resources needed: Joanne has offered to assist in drafting; Executive Director to assure compliance after adoption 

• Increase financial support for staff, teachers and translators, including benefits to paid staff and stipends/honoraria to western and visiting teachers and translators

Resources needed: 35% of payroll for paid staff; additional funds needed annually for teacher stipends and honoraria, including visiting teachers with two month residence. Sponsorship possible for teachers and translators.

• Establish annual general membership meeting to come together as a full group and report on highlights

Resources needed: Executive Director, Executive and Financial committees’ time to develop presentations and staff event.