Assignment:  Visualization Reflection  Submitted by: Nadine Born  Course:  Design Thinking for Innovation    Trail Challenge: To Build or Not to Build    An environmental charity wanted to conduct a fundraising campaign to raise $4 million to build a  public path in a busy tourist area of a small town in British Columbia, Canada. They had been gifted a  large piece of land by a local landowner, which was a substantial gift and prevented them from  needing to purchase the land, however, they still needed to raise a large amount of money in order to  pay for the supplies and labor to build the trail.     Even though the local community appeared to be supportive of the trail, they could not provide  enough money from private donations to build it. If the summer vacation property owners did not  provide some funding, then there was a strong possibility that they would not raise enough money to  complete the trail. The charity did not know if the community as a whole would support the project  and needed to conduct testing with key influencers and potential donors to gauge their interest.  Building the trail without testing the support first was too risky because the charity did not have  enough money in reserve to cover the cost of the trail if the fundraising efforts were not successful.     Tool Selection: Visualization    Visualization is the process of “assembling scattered ideas into a compelling story that can generate  vivid mental images” (Designing for Growth, p49).  As the consultant for the study, I chose  visualization because the charity had a firm concept of why they needed the trail, how it would  benefit the town, and how much it would cost but needed a persuasive way to tie it all together. The  business case for the project was strong but without a tool to help them illustrate how the trail would  positively impact the residents, there was little chance people would donate enough to meet the  budget. We needed a tool that provided a “head and heart” message to convince people to support  the project. Visualization provided the perfect combination of key messaging, beautiful photography,  architectural renderings, safety data, and budget criteria to create the vision for the project in an  easy‐to‐read document that was only four pages in length. Visualization allowed us to describe the  urgent and compelling need for the trail in a succinct and tangible way.     Application    Once we drafted the vision document, we worked with the charity to identify a list of people whose  opinion would be important to the success (or failure) of the fundraising campaign. The list included  past and potential donors, key influencers in the community such as large landowners and business  owners, affluent summer‐only residents, and elected officials. We requested one‐hour meetings with  all of the people on the list. If people did not want to meet with us in person, which was often the

case with the part‐time residents, we offered to conduct the meetings by phone. When someone  agreed to meet with us, we emailed them the vision document so they could read it in advance and  prepare their questions. This created a good environment for an informed and candid dialogue.    While the scheduling of the interviews was in progress, we designed a questionnaire to guide our  discussions. Consistently using the questionnaire ensured that we covered the same questions with all  the interviewees. The goal was to speak with 20 – 25 key influencers in the community and gauge  their interest in, or opposition to, supporting the fundraising efforts for the trail as either donors or  campaign volunteers or both. We successfully met with 24 interviewees and compiled the feedback  into a summary report along with recommendations for the charity. The entire process took three  months.    Insight    Fundraising and design thinking both require a willingness to adapt and fail fast. Good fundraisers are  responsive to their donors and design thinking serves as the perfect platform to plan and launch new  fundraising initiatives; it is an ideal methodology for solving complex philanthropic issues. We are not  formally taught design thinking models in fundraising classes but they should be added to the  curriculum.     Although it is not explicitly stated in the course videos, it occurred to me that both fundraising and  design thinking are rooted in communication and relationships and both are iterative processes based  on testing and investigation. The elusive synergy between art and science is as beautifully illustrated  by design thinking as it is as inherent in daily fundraising practice.      Improvements for Next Time    Visualization was an effective tool in this circumstance and I would use it again in a similar situation.  However, it would also be enlightening to create a journey map with a wide spectrum of people from  the town because there were many assumptions made during the visualization process about how the  trail would be used and what benefits would be desired by the tourists, local public, and sponsors.  Journey mapping would have confirmed the validity of those assumptions and supplemented the data  gathered during the interviews.     The other tool that I would use next time in conjunction with visualization is storytelling. I would take  someone’s first hand account of the situation and create a short video to showcase the urgency of the  project or program from his/her perspective. A link to the video would be included in the email about  the interview along with a PDF of the vision document. I think this would provide a holistic micro and  macro perspective to the exercise and spark some interesting conversations in the interviews.


Assignment : Visualization Reflection Submitted by : Nadine Born Course : Design Thinking for Innovation Trail Challenge : To Build or Not to Build An environmental charity wanted to conduct a fundraising campaign to raise $ 4 million to build a public path in a busy tourist area of a small town in British Columbia , Canada . They had been gifted a large piece of land by a local landowner , which was a substantial gift and prevented them from needing to purchase the land , however , they still needed to raise a large amount of money in order to pay for the supplies and labor to build the trail . Even though the local community appeared to be supportive of the trail , they could not provide enough money from private donations to build it . If the summer vacation property owners did not provide some funding , then there was a strong possibility that they would not raise enough money to complete the trail . The charity did not know if the community as a whole would support the project and needed to conduct testing with key influencers and potential donors to gauge their interest . Building the trail without testing the support first was too risky because the charity did not have enough money in reserve to cover the cost of the trail if the fundraising efforts were not successful . Tool Selection : Visualization Visualization is the process of “ assembling scattered ideas into a compelling story that can generate vivid mental images ” ( Designing for Growth , p49 ) . As the consultant for the study , I chose visualization because the charity had a firm concept of why they needed the trail , how it would benefit the town , and how much it would cost but needed a persuasive way to tie it all together . The business case for the project was strong but without a tool to help them illustrate how the trail would positively impact the residents , there was little chance people would donate enough to meet the budget . We needed a tool that provided a “ head and heart ” message to convince people to support the project . Visualization provided the perfect combination of key messaging , beautiful photography , architectural renderings , safety data , and budget criteria to create the vision for the project in an easy‐to‐read document that was only four pages in length . Visualization allowed us to describe the urgent and compelling need for the trail in a succinct and tangible way . Application Once we drafted the vision document , we worked with the charity to identify a list of people whose opinion would be important to the success ( or failure ) of the fundraising campaign . The list included past and potential donors , key influencers in the community such as large landowners and business owners , affluent summer‐only residents , and elected officials . We requested one‐hour meetings with all of the people on the list . If people did not want to meet with us in person , which was often the case with the part‐time residents , we offered to conduct the meetings by phone . When someone agreed to meet with us , we emailed them the vision document so they could read it in advance and prepare their questions . This created a good environment for an informed and candid dialogue . While the scheduling of the interviews was in progress , we designed a questionnaire to guide our discussions . Consistently using the questionnaire ensured that we covered the same questions with all the interviewees . The goal was to speak with 20 – 25 key influencers in the community and gauge their interest in , or opposition to , supporting the fundraising efforts for the trail as either donors or campaign volunteers or both . We successfully met with 24 interviewees and compiled the feedback into a summary report along with recommendations for the charity . The entire process took three months . Insight Fundraising and design thinking both require a willingness to adapt and fail fast . Good fundraisers are responsive to their donors and design thinking serves as the perfect platform to plan and launch new fundraising initiatives ; it is an ideal methodology for solving complex philanthropic issues . We are not formally taught design thinking models in fundraising classes but they should be added to the curriculum . Although it is not explicitly stated in the course videos , it occurred to me that both fundraising and design thinking are rooted in communication and relationships and both are iterative processes based on testing and investigation . The elusive synergy between art and science is as beautifully illustrated by design thinking as it is as inherent in daily fundraising practice . Improvements for Next Time Visualization was an effective tool in this circumstance and I would use it again in a similar situation . However , it would also be enlightening to create a journey map with a wide spectrum of people from the town because there were many assumptions made during the visualization process about how the trail would be used and what benefits would be desired by the tourists , local public , and sponsors . Journey mapping would have confirmed the validity of those assumptions and supplemented the data gathered during the interviews . The other tool that I would use next time in conjunction with visualization is storytelling . I would take someone ’s first hand account of the situation and create a short video to showcase the urgency of the project or program from his / her perspective . A link to the video would be included in the email about the interview along with a PDF of the vision document . I think this would provide a holistic micro and macro perspective to the exercise and spark some interesting conversations in the interviews .