Strategic Plan
2024-2027
Mission
Pilgrim Festival Chorus is a volunteer, nonprofit choral ensemble dedicated to presenting diverse choral works that educate, enrich, and engage both its members and its audiences.
Vision
Pilgrim Festival Chorus is widely recognized for sharing the world’s great choral music as a means of bringing people together. We aspire to produce accessible concert experiences that showcase our commitment to musical excellence
Core Values
We believe that singing in community and experiencing choral performance can be transformational. With that in mind, our core values are to:
● Promote the joy of making music together.
● Furnish opportunities for members to improve their musical skills.
● Provide performance opportunities for chorus members.
● Foster an appreciation of good quality choral music.
● Nurture an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members and audiences.
● Contribute to the vitality of our community through fostering a rich cultural life.
Key Strategies
Key Strategy 1: Share the world’s great choral music.
PFC’s primary goal is to present high-quality, professional performances of
traditional and contemporary choral music – anchored by the core repertoire of
the Western choral tradition – with imagination and curiosity. We will accomplish this by:
● Presenting at least (3) major concerts each season, plus a community
Messiah Sing.
● Embracing challenging material that reflects a diverse range of musical
styles and traditions including new music from living composers.
● Offering regular “behind the scenes” opportunities for high school music students.
● Commissioning new choral works to actively support the expansion of choral music repertoire.
Key Strategy 2: Continually develop musicianship.
● Committing to excellence. Our success depends on all members’ demonstrated commitment through regular attendance and active
participation in rehearsals to successfully deliver quality concerts at a high level. This includes additional sectional rehearsals and rehearsing
at home when able.
● Embracing technology. PFC provides digital tools to support learning and develop musicianship. This includes, but is not limited to large
print scores, recordings, and sing-along rehearsal tracks.
assessment with Artistic Directors.
Key Strategy 3: Provide welcoming and accessible experiences for all.
● Planning ahead. Weekly rehearsals are thoughtfully planned to maximize time and expertise while making space to build community within the chorus. This will be accomplished by:
a. Consistently providing rehearsal notes and weekly assignments in multiple formats (e.g., emails with written copies of announcements/assignments following the rehearsals.)
● Welcoming all. PFC members (new and old) know they are a valued part of our unique musical community. This will be accomplished by:
a. Consistently providing a comprehensive orientation to new members including welcome packets and a rehearsal partner.
b. Offering regular opportunities for all members to provide feedback that helps PFC achieve its goals.
c. Providing options for multiple score formats including, but not limited to, large-print and digital scores.
d. Allowing concert dress variations (e.g. permitted women to wear full length skirts or palazzo pants).
e. Ensure all members have barrier-free access to PFC including offering financial aid/support and opportunities to borrow concert attire and music folders.
● Being mindful. Manage group size to ensure effective use of rehearsal
time and physical comfort. This will be accomplished by ensuring
sufficient space for chorus and musicians. This may include rehearsing
“in the round” and other formations, as appropriate.
a. Investing in technology to accept more payment methods (cash, check, Venmo, credit card, EBT)
b. Participating in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program.
c. Ensuring concert venues are fully accessible, including using a microphone for pre-show announcements.
d. Support audience engagement by providing information about the musical program as well as behavior expectations (e.g. please
don’t clap between movements)
● Engaging Community. Broaden PFC’s community presence to ensure
support for the chorus’s mission and vision across the region. We will accomplish this by:
a. Building a broad base of support with regional business partners who demonstrate their support of PFC by purchasing ads or becoming corporate sponsors.
b. Expanding audiences by actively seeking new
opportunities/venues for concerts in communities where PFC has not sung before.
c. Cultivating relationships with other choruses, particularly high school music programs in Gateway Cities such as Brockton, MA
in addition to Scituate High School.
d. Providing (2) $2,000 scholarships to local high school students each year prioritizing students from Title 1 schools in the region.
e. Hosting a 25th anniversary gala in Spring 2025.
Key Strategy 4: Sustain organizational/financial health.
● Embracing productivity. PFC’s Board of Directors regularly evaluate productivity to successfully deliver on the chorus’s goal.
We will accomplish this by:
c. Providing opportunities for members to cultivate their participation in chorus operations and investigate barriers to member engagement.
d. Developing 5- and 10-year succession plans for executive officers and artistic directors.
e. Conducting a feasibility study on hiring a part-time Executive Director.
● Sustaining financial health. PFC Board of Directors support the implementation of the chorus’s vision and mission. We will accomplish this by:
a. Maintaining a positive bank balance.
b. Expanding donor engagement to cultivate and steward new and
existing donors.
c. Steward relationships with current and future grant funders (See Plymouth, Local Cultural Councils, Mass Cultural Council) to ensure ongoing support.
d. Engaging more board members in large-scale fundraising projects
(e.g., business sponsor advertisers and corporate partnerships solicitations and renewals).
