Grace Place
Winona State University
MGMT 385 – Social Entrepreneurship
Katie Brown – Emily Prange – Sarah Harris – Jessica LaBounty
Contents
Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Mission …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Staffing …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Marketing …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
Fundraising and Earned Income Strategies ………………………………………………….13
SWOT Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………….18
Issues ………………………………………………………………………………………………………20
Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………………….20
Fundraising Project …………………………………………………………………………………..21
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………22
References ……………………………………………………………………………………………….23
Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………………………24
Executive Summary
This semester, our group worked with Grace Place, a nonprofit organization in Winona, to
analyze the work they do throughout the community. During that time, we had the opportunity to go to a
board meeting, and do a children’s winter clothing drive for Grace Place. We are collecting the clothing at
churches and also accepting monetary donations for buying new clothing. The winter clothes donated will
go to the thrift store and be sold to people at a low price so everyone can have clothes to keep them warm
this winter.
Grace Place was started in 1992 and has been growing and evolving ever since. They started as a
shelter for women and children who needed a place to stay. In 2004, Grace Place decided to sell the
shelter and move to downtown Winona to offer different services. Grace Place is still at teis location
downtown and have continued to offer specialized services. They offer classes for parents with small
children to attend and learn with each other. Depending on the situation of a family, they may receive
independent guidance. Grace Place is highly dependent on volunteers, as they only have three paid staff
members and are supported by a seven-member board. They get most of their consumers from churches,
but they also use a couple social media platforms to spread the word of their mission. They haven’t had to
fundraise much this year because they received a significant donation of $30,000 from an anonymous
donor the year prior.
Grace Place does have its fair share of issues. They need to update technology and expand their
social media usage. It’s predicted that each person in the world will have their own smartphone, so it is
essential to have a presence on social media. Grace Place does not have a donation page on their website.
It is crucial for Grace Place to have this because of the technology presence within our society. As the
word of Grace Place spreads, more people will want to donate to them. These people may be several
states away and cannot come to Grace Place to leave a donation.
We recommend that Grace Place adds a donation page to help them gain additional funds. This
way, someone looking on their website who likes the mission may decide they want to give on the spot.
Not having this page restricts donations to only be made in person from people visiting or living in
Winona. The more places to donate and add volunteers the better. For other social media platforms, like
Facebook and YouTube, Grace Place should keep up with posting current photos and articles about events
hey are a part of. Examples of this could be to make a video on the HIMS concert, volunteers giving
testimonies, and families telling their stories on how they have been positively impacted by this nonprofit.
Sharing their progress and achievements with the community is beneficial to their organization’s image.
For our fundraising project, we decided to hold a kid’s winter clothing drive after talking with
Carla, the executive director, at a board meeting. Grace Place, helps many children on a daily basis and
since the weather is starting to get colder it is important that they have proper clothing attire. We set up
six donation locations in churches around the Winona area, as well as in the Business Administration
office at Winona State University. We also posted flyers around town in coffee shops and grocery stores
to advertise. Our clothing drive was up for two weeks which gave the churches two Sundays where
people would attend a service and have the opportunity to donate. We collected several hats, mittens,
gloves, jackets and boots from this clothing drive and by our expectations we think it was a success.
Introduction
Carla Burton founded Grace Place in 1992 in Winona, MN. Grace Place started as a resource for
women and children who needed a place to stay and to get back on their feet. They opened a shelter for
young women and children in 1992 which stayed open until 2004. After 2004, Grace Place decided to
expand and relocate to downtown Winona. With this expansion, Grace Place could offer more resources
like mentoring programs to families in order to assist them for a longer period of time. Along with their
move, Grace Place opened a thrift store. The thrift store is a source of extra revenue for the organization.
They sell gently used clothes, furniture, electronics, and many other household items for persons in any
stage of life for a more affordable price. Due to the success of the first thrift store, Grace Place decided to
open a second thrift store in Rushford, MN. This is another source of funds for Grace Place as well as a
great opportunity for them to spread their message. Grace Place offers several different classes for parents
to attend with their children. These classes put them into a learning environment where the children can
play with each other and parents have the opportunity to learn from Carla.
Mission
The current mission statement for Grace Place is, “It is the mission of Grace Place is to provide
Christian guidance, support and encouragement for women with unplanned pregnancies and for families
experiencing brokenness and change” (Grace Place). This is not a strong mission for what the
organization actually does. Grace Place works with all types of families with many different backgrounds
to help them with difficulties they are facing and educate them on ways that can be used for them to get
back on their feet. The organization also works to help parents educate children about Christianity. They
offer classes during the day where kids can interact with other children, move around and play. Here is a
new mission statement that would better represent Grace Place is; “It is the mission of Grace Place to
provide Christian guidance, support, encouragement, and education for men, women, and families
experiencing hardships.” This improved statement includes men and families in the mission statement.
When our class was visiting Grace Place we saw, a whole family come to “morning song”
including the father. This shows that Grace Place is not just for women with unplanned pregnancies,
which the current mission statement implies. The other big difference was adding the word “education” to
the mission statement. We consider that education is a huge factor of this non-profit. They educate the
parents on parental skills to utilize when the child is growing up. Grace Place wants to be a resource for
any person with a young child looking for guidance and advice on how to be a parent. The last difference
that was made was changing the original “brokenness and change” to “hardships.” Hardships is a more
generic term, which is needed for the mission statement as well as a more comprehensible word to the
audience. With these changes in mind, Grace Place would be able to better communicate exactly what
they offer to the community.
The vision statement for Grace Place is, “The vision of Grace Place is for women and their
families to live a spiritually wholesome, safe, healthy and productive life so that they and the community
in which they live may thrive” (Grace Place). Overall, the vision statement is a good representation of the
non-profit and what they strive for. The non-profit includes families in the statement and not just women.
In this statement, they also make clear that their main goals are for families to live “spiritually
wholesome, safe, healthy, and productive lives” (Grace Place). The only factor this vision statement is
missing is what Grace Place does for the development of the newborn to toddler range. That is an
important role that the non-profit focuses on and it shows through their vision statement. On the contrary
though, if someone is unaware of what Grace Place does it is not clear through the vision statement that
they focus on the development of children. Grace Place is a great addition to the community and will be
able to serve many families in the years to come.
Staffing
Grace Place thrives off its volunteers. There is only one paid full-time worker, Carla Burton, who
is the founder of Grace Place. She has three regularly scheduled part-time employees. Two are cashiers at
the Winona location and one is a cashier in the Rushford location. Being able to have paid part-time
cashiers allows the organization to not have to rely on finding a volunteer to be at the desk; there will
always be an employee to work the front-end so there is no need to worry about scheduling volunteers for
this position. As shown in Appendix A, volunteers contribute to a large portion of Grace Place and its
day-to-day operations. It also allows the schedule to remain steady and constant, instead of ever changing.
In an interview with Carla, she said that 75% of the volunteers are long-term workers committed to the
organization and 25% are short-term volunteers (personal communication, September 26, 2016). Carla is
selective in who she allows to volunteer at Grace Place. The process begins with a volunteer application,
a background check, and finally an interview to make sure this person is a good fit for Grace Place and
