A Short Course for Project Directors
This course will provide project directors with financial management, strategic planning, and communication skills and tools they need to make their project or program more successful and financially sustainable. Expert faculty will use lectures, group work, discussions, and case studies to:
- Provide tools and tips that participants will use to assess their project and develop an action plan;
- Introduce essential strategies for effective communication with stakeholders; and
- Provide guidance and best practices to help participants succeed as they innovate and add value to their projects.
Upcoming Dates :
- Early 2022 3-day face-to-face Strategies for Success (pending easing of COVID-19 pandemic; dates TBD)
For information about our Fall 2021 online Strategies for Success course, please see the online course page. Registration is open!
Who should attend?
Ideal applicants include Directors and Principal Investigators of biological infrastructure projects (such as digital data resources, museum and living stocks collections, field stations, and marine laboratories). Their resource must have direct relevance to the biological research community, and the applicant should be able to express their need and preparedness for training in business planning and communication. Up to 24 participants will be selected for the October online course based on these qualities, and to ensure an appropriate mix of project and participant diversity.
Course fee:
Online training:
The online course fee of $550 includes access to the SBI learning platform and all course materials, lectures, and recordings for one year.
Face-to-face training:
Your course fee of $850 includes all course materials, plus lunches and refreshments during the three course days. The course fee does not include accommodation and other meals (which participants can purchase onsite at modest cost), or travel to and from the course.
Colleague discount:
Participants find it invaluable to attend our training in pairs – that way, you can have a brainstorming partner during the course, and you can help keep each other accountable as you implement your action plan.
Here’s how the discount works: bring a colleague from the same project or program, and the second course fee will be reduced by $100! Colleague discount is only applicable to pairs (2). Please email Jill at sbi@esa.org to access the colleague discount.
Our training approach:
We believe in learning by doing. Our ultimate goal is for you to come away from the Strategies for Success course with an action plan and enhanced skills to improve your project’s sustainability.
What to expect:
Throughout this course, you will have ample opportunities to engage with our expert faculty. We also expect participants to learn and share a lot with each other during group activities. 
Please come prepared to share your own challenges, success stories, and lessons learned.
We will also ask you to do a little advance preparation so you can hit the ground running. Don’t worry – it’s nothing too onerous.
Course outline:
| Session | What You Will Learn and Do |
|---|---|
| Day One: | |
| Session 1: Introduction (early morning) |
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| Session 2: Evaluate Your Current Sustainability (late morning) |
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| Session 3: Finance 101 (early afternoon) |
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| Session 4: Create Your Business Model Canvas (late afternoon) |
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| Day Two: | |
| Session 5: Rethink Your Mission, Vision, and Future Activities (early morning) |
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| Session 6: Measure Your Success (late morning) |
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| Session 7: Analyze Your Stakeholders (early afternoon) |
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| Session 8: Communicate Effectively (late afternoon) |
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| Day Three: | |
| Session 9: Harness Private Funds (morning) |
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| Session 10: Make the pitch (afternoon) |
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How to apply:
If you have questions, please contact us at sbi@esa.org
What our alumni say:
“Diversifying approaches to funding is important, and I have learned valuable skills that will help with this – not just the sources themselves, but approaches to communication and establishing partnerships as well.”
“I hoped for practical information about how to diversify my funding base, and my expectations were certainly met.”
“I feel more equipped to take an organized approach to managing my facility… the team of instructors, advisers, and guest speakers was phenomenal.”
“I learned a huge amount about private funding.”