This article was written by Shelby Joy and Wendy Johnson
Hopewell Music Cooperative-North overcame seemingly insurmountable odds near the end of January. The small nonprofit music school has been providing the Northside community with high-quality music education programs for free or at steeply discounted rates for the past seven years. Last year, Hopewell Music experienced a change in leadership and it was during this transition that evidence of several instances of organizational dysfunction came to light.
With the limited time and resources available to Hopewell Music’s leadership, it left just one week between the realization of their dire situation to the day they would need to begin the process of dissolving the organization. Hopewell Music was faced with a dilemma: raise $50K in a week to make up for an unsustainable revenue strategy or close its doors. Determined to keep the music school open, Hopewell Music’s administrative staff launched an emergency fundraiser to keep the doors open and Northside music students in lessons.
Thanks to an amazing outpouring of support from the Northside and greater Twin Cities community, in six short days Hopewell Music not only met the fundraising goal it needed to stay open, it surpassed that goal by $6000. Hopewell Music can now sustain its music lesson program through the school year and conduct a thorough strategic overhaul over the summer in order to enter the 2020-2021 school year with a roadmap to remain financially solvent, while providing consistent access to high-quality music education for its students and offering dependable living-wage employment to its teachers and staff.
The miraculous conclusion of this story just goes to show that anything is possible through the power of community.
Note: For info on Hopewell music classes and events visit hopewellmusic.com.