Case Study of TLC Learning Center and Social Venture ...

Case Study of TLC Learning Center and Social Venture Partners Boulder County

Case Study of TLC Learning Center and Social Venture Partners Boulder CountyPage 1

INVESTEE PROFILEMission The mission of TLC Learning Center is to provide comprehensive early childhood education and therapeutic services to assist each child in reaching his or her highest potential.

Vision TLC Learning Center will be highly visible in the community as an early education and pediatric therapeutic center for typical children and children with special needs.

History Since 1956, TLC Learning Center (formerly The Tiny Tim Center) has provided Boulder County families with comprehensive educational and therapeutic services for children in a fully inclusive, deliberately diverse environment. TLC initially provided educational programs to children with developmental disabilities from ages 3 - 21 years old. In the late 1960s, the focus shifted to serve only preschool-age children with special needs. In the 1990s, TLC expanded its preschool enrollment to include children who are considered “at-risk” for future developmental and/or social-emotional concerns, as well as “typical” children who are progressing within expected developmental milestones. In 1997, TLC added a Therapeutic Services program. In early 2014, TLC expanded its scope to younger children, opening two new toddler classrooms and one infant classroom.

Accomplishments In 2012, TLC preschool teacher Mary Beth Boyer was named Educator of the Year by the Boulder County District Group of the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children. In that same year, TLC was awarded a four-star rating by Qualistar Colorado on its first review. In the fall of 2013, the organization was named by Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs as the Community Charity of Choice while hosting the nationally syndicated Fireball Run Adventurally.

Major Programs TLC Learning Center is one of the only agencies offering affordable access to high-quality programs focused on serving the unique, individualized needs of children with varying abilities and from a range of economic backgrounds. TLC prepares children for success throughout life through

Executive Summary

Investee Name: TLC Learning Center

Focus Area: Early Childhood Education

Consulting Hours: More than 1,732, at a value of over $173,200

Cash Grants: Total: $60,000

• 2011: $15,000 for general operating

• 2012: $23,500 for general operating and marketing, plus $750 from SVP’s opportunity fund for Executive Director leadership training

• 2013: $20,000 for general operating

• 2014: $750 for flood impact relief

Contact Info: www.learningwithtlc.org, 303.776.7417


both quality early childhood education and pediatric therapy. Direct areas of service impact include:

Educational Services

• Preschool program: High-quality childhood education services (half- or full-day) for children ages 2 ½ to 5 in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, socio-emotional development and other foundation-building concepts

• Infant and toddler care: Infant and toddler early childcare and education that addresses the dramatic brain development in the first two years of life for children of all developmental abilities; launched in early 2014

In 2012, TLC served a total of 153 children; 76 of those children had special needs, or were considered “at-risk” for developmental delays (and do not typically do well in traditional preschool programs). Financial aid or scholarships were provided to 28 children from low-income families.

Therapeutic Services

• Speech therapy: Impacts a child’s communication skills, the focus may be on feeding skills, tongue thrust, voice or augmentative communication needs

• Physical therapy: Includes joint motion, muscle control, strength, coordination, balance, movement patterns, sensory issues, mobility, gait and equipment, and includes the development of both fine and gross motor skills

• Occupational therapy: Focuses on a child’s sensory and motor skills, emotional development, self-care abilities, and play skills to help improve functioning in the home, community and at school

In 2012, TLC therapists made 8,916 visits to 383 pediatric clients. Therapists see children in a variety of settings including their homes, in daycare centers, in local hospitals, onsite at the preschool, and in the Center’s pediatric therapy rooms.

Rationale for SVP Investment

The charter and mission of Tiny Tim, now TLC, is one that is very hard not to support. We are talking about children with special needs; that is awful easy to get behind.—Rick Kellogg, longtime member of TLC Board of Directors1

TLC has been a mainstay in early childhood education for children with special needs in Boulder County for nearly 60 years. Yet, over the years, TLC had not evolved its approach to keep pace with the times, and inevitably, the times did change. In TLC, SVP saw an organization at a crucial and pivotal transition point; the funding model for early childhood education, particularly for children with special needs, was changing countywide, making it attractive for school districts to discontinue contracting for special needs services outside of their own organizations. SVP hoped it could leverage its expertise working with other early child development investees to help TLC through this difficult transition period.

TLC’s leadership seemed eager for capacity building support and appeared ripe for growth in services. Further, SVP felt that encouraging out-of-the-box thinking could assist the organization in examining issues regarding the business model, the client audience, and the marketing of the

Executive Summary


organization that could lead to long-term financial stability. Finally, TLC’s mission was also very much in line with SVP’s Early Childhood Education focus area and gave SVP the chance to invest in an organization in Longmont, an important part of SVP’s geographic service area.

Key SVP Impact

• Helped TLC complete a thorough strategic plan, which in part addressed the financial issues facing the organization for the first time

• Assisted with the rebranding of the organization, including a name change and expanded services

• Helped develop desperately needed marketing materials and a promotional video to aid in the rebranding of the organization

• Completed business modeling for the Therapeutic Services unit, helping TLC become more efficient in this service area

• Assisted in the realignment of human resources and provided best practice personnel policies and procedures

SVP PARTNERS AND VOLUNTEERS INVOLVED

Dennis Berry Lead Partner, human resources, rebranding, business modeling

Dee Andrews Strategic planning, marketing, rebranding

Peter Spear Strategic planning

Lon McGowan Strategic planning, business modeling

Amy Maranowicz Human Resources

Brian Hawkins Human Resources

Jonathan Lehmann Legal advice on human resources and rebranding

Melanie Lewis Legal advice on human resources

Lindsay Whitcher Marketing, coaching for executive and development directors

Diane Murphy Marketing

Stephanie Wilson Marketing

Jon Hinebauch Rebranding

Jared Crain Rebranding

Jennie Arbogash Executive director transition

Bruce Borowsky Promotional video

Michael Redstone Coaching for executive director

Executive Summary


Catching Up with the Times—and Beyond: A Case Study of TLC Learning Center and Social Venture Partners Boulder County By Erin Shaver, for SVP Boulder County

INTRODUCTIONTLC Learning Center became a SVP investee in 2011, graduating in 2014. The partnership came at a time when TLC was essentially standing still, perhaps even going a bit backward—literally losing clients and money due to shifting times and practices. While it still had a solid reputation and great programs, it was starting to see cracks in its longstanding business model that needed to be addressed. Because it had seen a change in its Executive Director twice in a few years (after a longstanding leader retired in 2009) it hadn’t been able to effectively change with the times or deal with the financial and business issues it was facing internally and externally.

BACKGROUNDFor several decades, TLC Learning Center (formerly The Tiny Tim Center) has offered Boulder County fam-ilies an inclusive, high-quality preschool with an un-usually low teacher-student ratio. Its original founding in 1956 was centered on the idea that special needs children can and should remain close to their families and not be institutionalized, which was a common practice at the time. TLC shifted into a special-needs preschool in the 1960s, and in the early 1990s expand-ed its preschool enrollment to include children who are considered “at-risk” for future developmental and/or social-emotional concerns, as well as “typical” children who are progressing within expected developmental milestones. TLC also added a Therapeutic Services program in 1997.

The unique element of TLC’s educational model (since the early 1990s) is that all children partic-ipate in an integrated classroom regardless of abilities, special needs or economic stability. Ac-cording to the Early Childhood Research Institute on Inclusion (ECRII), parents of children without disabilities participating in inclusive programs like TLC’s also report positive changes in their children’s confidence, self-esteem, and understanding of diversity.2


TLC continued to grow steadily and, in the early 2000s, ran a hugely successful capital cam-paign for a new facility. The organization raised more funds than the building required, leaving the program with a nice rainy day fund to the tune of nearly $1 million in unrestricted cash. Due to increased space, TLC was able to increase enrollment by 44 percent in the first year the new building opened.3

But a shift began to occur in the late 2000s. A variety of factors outside of TLC’s control led to both a decreased demand for services and reduced funding levels. The St. Vrain Valley School District began to compete with TLC, due to a 2008 bond initiative that allowed it to establish in-house preschools in its elementary schools for both typical and special need kids.4 Rather than referring most special needs children to TLC, as they had been for years, “the district started bringing those programs in-house,” recalls Rick Kellogg, longtime Board member (2008 to present), adding:

It literally stole our customer base from underneath us. That was not trivial be-cause the cash flow that was provided by the school district to take care of kids was substantial.1

Kellogg recalls a three-year process when referrals from the school district went from dozens a year to virtually none. That reality was coupled with the recession that was occurring at the same time: “We lost a lot of individual donors in 2008, 2009, 2010,” he says. “Some of our biggest contributors lost their businesses or saw them substantially decline in value. People literally just backed away.”1

Marc Cowell, who was the organization’s newest Executive Director in 2011, recalls when his grant-writer Celine Curi brought the SVP funding opportunity to his attention. They both agreed they should apply; at a very basic level, they needed the funding. But as they started to go through the process and learn more about SVP’s investment model, Cowell says, “the real excitement started to set in. It was a realization that SVP could provide us with expertise we didn’t have in-house that we really needed to get the organization back and healthy again.”5

SUMMARY OF SVP INVESTMENTS

TOTALConsulting Hours 1,732

Consulting Value $173,200*

Number of Projects 10

Number of Partner Volunteers 17

Grants Awarded $60K

* Rate = conservatively valued at $100/hour

EXPLORATION OF IMPACTSVP Boulder County’s three-year relationship with TLC Learning Center was an efficacious match for both organizations and couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for TLC. Across the board, members of the SVP team assigned to the project and TLC’s leadership team had almost exclu-sively positive things to say about the experience. During the partnership, TLC was able to develop its first legitimate strategic plan, undergo a name change and rebranding as part of a new busi-


ness model, re-do all its marketing materials, start an infant and toddler program, undergo important human resources realignment, and, through analysis of performance and financial metrics, improve the efficiency of its Therapeutic Services unit.

All of these changes were motivated by the increased pres-sure to get TLC back in the black, with a healthy 21st century business model, while staying true to mission. SVP Lead Part-ner Dennis Berry says that with such a longtime organization, it wasn’t an easy path to navigate at first:

It simply just wasn’t working anymore the way they had [programs structured]. So we had to think out-side-the-box about the business model and about how to attract more typical kids. There were a whole lot of things they had been doing the same way for a very long time, and we had to start asking questions about the so-called ‘sacred cows.’6

Strategic Planning/Addressing Financial CrisisStrategic planning was central to the partnership and was the first activity to address the financial issues facing TLC. While the organization had taken some steps to engage in strate-gic planning prior to the partnership, it had not been able to overcome the instability in leadership to determine a clear direction to steer its future.

Longtime and much beloved Executive Director Teedee Keister had been TLC’s leader from 1990–2009. After her retirement, Liz Smokowski, a well-respected local nonprofit leader, took the reins for two years (2009–2011). Then Cowell came in as new ED in 2011. While he felt mostly supported by the organization, Cowell was still a bit like the “quarterback after John Elway,” he says. He could not have imagined the strategic planning process going as well as it did without the respected, third-party support SVP provided:

It was extremely beneficial to have someone from the outside come in and facilitate the planning process. It created a little bit of a buffer where staff didn’t have that level of distrust—that this new ED is coming in and doing this or that just because they want to. It was an open discussion, and through the expertise of Dennis [Berry] and Dee [Andrews] and Peter [Spear], they helped us come up with a de-tailed and meaty plan.5

The strategic planning process was the first official recogni-tion of the financial issues plaguing TLC. The organization had been operating in the red and draining its surplus—some years dipping in as much as $150,000 to $200,000. Yet there

SUMMARY OF CAPACITY BUILDING ACHIEVEMENTSSTRATEGIC PLANNING• Conducting strategic planning process,

involving parents, donors and staff, and determining customer needs and desires as well as the unique services provided by the organization that needed to be marketed

• Brainstorming ideas for services to attract students and parents to the preschool, including extended hours and a kindergarten

• Developing and analyzing ideas for an expansion of services to include infants and toddlers

MARKETING/REBRANDING• Developing marketing ideas to

attract new clients, including print and electronic media

• Determining business model issues and rebranding the organization with a new name and different marketing focus.

• Involving the Board in all decisions regarding rebranding, including advantages and concerns

• Developing a promotional video to be used in outreach to the community and attract new clients

BUSINESS MODELING• Surveying other preschools to

determine market rates for preschool services and revising tuition rates to reflect the market and the high quality services provided by TLC

• Analyzing the options for improving the financial viability of the Therapeutic Services unit

HUMAN RESOURCES• Renovating human resources

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was a bit of a lax approach to solving it. With changes in lead-ership and no consistent plan in place, nothing had officially been done to address it. Recalls Cowell:

When I came in, I was able to confirm that for seven of the past eight years they were running in a deep red budget. And it became clear that the Board wasn’t fully aware. Some were aware, but I don’t think all of the Board members were really aware of the actual picture of what was going on—and how quickly they were draining their reserve accounts.5

Through the strategic planning process, TLC and SVP were able to determine that the once highly successful business model TLC had been using was not going to work anymore. Now that the district was serving more local preschoolers, including many high-functioning special needs children, TLC had to start attracting new families. It was now TLC’s chance to show the community that special needs and typical chil-dren could be in classrooms together—and that such blend-ed classrooms with low teacher-studio ratios were proven mutually beneficial for ALL students. TLC had to show local parents it could offer their children something special the district could not. Says Matt Eldred, TLC Executive Director (2013–present):

If we continued to do things the way that they had been done, we were going to die. The reality is times have caught up with what Tiny Tim did in the ‘50s and ‘60s. So we had to change our model and expand our client base.7

Rebranding/Name ChangeIn order to attract more clients, TLC had to make the tough decision to consider a name change. They needed to attract more typical kids and change the business model—while also staying true to the mission of keeping low class sizes and offering intervention services to special needs and at-risk children. Cowell had actually approached the subject prior to the SVP partnership. It would be an understatement, he recalls, to say that it did not go over well at that time:

When I first brought it up [changing the name], I mean, you thought they’d take the pitch forks and light the fire and hang me out in the parking lot—the opposi-tion was that strong. So I dropped it and said, we’re not going to approach this again anytime in the near future.5

But with the help of Jon Hinebauch, an SVP partner who had assisted with a name change for previous SVP grantee Bridge House (formerly Carriage House Community Table, 2009–2012), SVP was able to help TLC through the daunting task of changing its name. With SVP in his court, Cowell says he had the support to revisit the subject again: “With SVP we had developed much better reasoning. Those who are supporting the organization for the right reasons aren’t going to leave because we changed the name.”5

One of the Board members came up with TLC Learning Center, says Lead Partner Berry, “which could stand for Tiny Tim Learning Center, but also has other implications and good connotations.

structure and systems, including the development of job descriptions, a salary survey, developing a standard salary scale, rewriting of the employee handbook, standardizing offer letters, and performance evaluation tools, converting staff from hourly to salaried, and a legal review of the process

EXECUTIVE COACHING• Coaching of the TLC Develop-

ment Director to increase her effectiveness

• Coaching for the Executive Direc-tor and facilitating conversations with other directors who had experienced similar problems

• Providing Opportunity Fund money to allow the ED to attend non-profit executive training

• Assisting in the transition to a new Executive Director, including rec-ommendations on the process ■

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Some were somewhat apprehensive about a name change initially, but everybody on the Board understood that something had to change.”6

The organization officially launched its new name in fall of 2013. New ED Eldred, who came on around the same time, absolutely supported the switch: “The name Tiny Tim always [implied] that kid with the crutch. That was the connotation. With the name change to TLC Learning Center, we are now marketing to a group of families that would never have considered Tiny Tim because they don’t have a child with special needs.”7

Infant and Toddler ProgramIn order to attract more typical families and show them TLC could offer something that the district preschools could not, SVP and TLC worked to do a couple of different things. One was the aforementioned name change and rebranding. But another was to create a new program that was designed to attract a higher ratio of typical kids to special needs kids, as well as offer a new entry into the school. That new offering was the infant and toddler program.

In the past, TLC had only an inclusive preschool program for ages 2½ to 5 years old. With a low, 5 to 1 teacher-student ratio, its enrollment had hovered around 60 to 70 percent typical to 30 to 40 percent special needs children. In starting an infant and toddler program, TLC aimed for 90 percent typical, 10 percent special needs in order to generate more revenue and help shift the balance of preschool.

“It became very important to change the tenor of the organization so the community could see this was a school for typical and special needs and both could profit from the experience of being in a blended environment,” says Kellogg.1

TLC and SVP also adjusted the ratio intentionally because some children as infants or 1-year-olds are still undiagnosed with developmental delays or special needs, so the balance will shift naturally by preschool. Additionally, children and siblings enrolled at the infant and toddler stage are likely to remain through the preschool years, which would help bolster the school’s enrollment at that level, too.

“Once parents have a kid in [TLC], even at the infant stage, they are likely to stick with it all the way up to when a kid goes to kindergarten,” says Kellogg. With the majority of brain development occurring before age 5, having a consistent high-quality program to attend all the way from birth to school age is seen as a great selling point over what the district can provide. “The future is in this kind of specialization, taking these kids from birth to kindergarten,” he says.1

The infant and toddler program opened in early 2014 and early indicators were promising that it can be successful. Both EDs involved in the process highly praised SVP’s involvement in getting the program off the ground. Recalls Cowell, who was ED during most of the partnership:

When it was time to make the big move, which was opening the infant and toddler program, SVP was vital in that. It was great to have the extra minds in the room to make sure we were thinking of everything, that we had analyzed it correctly, and that we could successfully pull it off.5

With the majority of brain development occurring before age 5, having a consistent high-quality program to attend all the way from birth to school age is seen as a great selling point over what the district can provide.


Marketing OverhaulSVP also assisted TLC with a significant overhaul of marketing materials to reflect the name change and new offerings. “We have a longstanding relationship and are known in the community,” says Eldred. “The problem is, we have a longstanding relationship and are known in the communi-ty.”7 As such, TLC had long relied too heavily on word-of-mouth and, as Cowell recalls, marketing had often suffered from a lack of attention:

Literally, the brochures we handed out to families were almost 10 years old. We had a website that was outdated with its verbiage and its focus and didn’t neces-sarily relate to the programs we provided. We didn’t have any marketing plan in place for strategy; it was kind of close your eyes and throw your dart in the dark and see if it hits the target.5

With the name change and rebranding, the opportunity was ripe to give marketing the notice it deserved. Several SVP partners, particularly Dee Andrews, helped TLC develop new marketing materials—both print and electronic—designed to bring the organization up-to-date and attract new students, including infants and toddlers and more preschoolers, and show the community why TLC offered something unique. “Things we had never even thought about, Dee brought to the table to bring our marketing materials to the 21st century,” says Cowell.5

Andrews has stayed involved as a volunteer and consultant beyond the SVP investment to see through the results. Eldred is very pleased, especially with the three-minute marketing video An-drews and partner Bruce Borowsky helped create: “It’s a top-quality video, very current,” he says. “I think we will probably be able to use it for several years and it will still be very relevant.”7

Financial Analysis of Therapeutic ServicesThroughout the SVP engagement, the financial situation was obviously a major topic of concern. Aside from the rebranding and adding services, another important part of the work was making the organization more efficient. One area that had not been carefully vetted financially was its Ther-apeutic Services branch—which included speech, physical and occupational therapy onsite and outsourced in other schools or client homes. In recent years, both the Educational Services side and the Therapeutic Services side had been losing money.

Working closely with SVP Lead Partner Berry, TLC leadership needed to figure out how to make Therapeutic Services more efficient while still offering a high-quality product to the families. Cowell and Berry spent many, many hours analyzing the metrics for Therapeutic Services to figure out the most efficient and feasible ways to improve and fund the offerings. While the organization had ini-tially been praising the fact that the Therapeutic Services unit was growing (the 2012 annual report highlighted expansion of services to entities such as the City of Boulder8), SVP’s research helped TLC realize that unchecked growth can be a negative in certain areas, says Cowell:

What we were trying to do is find that sweet spot where we could reduce losses as much as possible. That was a big ‘aha moment’ for the administrative team and the Board—that growth isn’t always the answer. And if you have to create a wait-list, yes, that sucks, but having a waitlist and supporting some kids is better than being out of business and supporting no kids.5


With SVP’s help, current Director Eldred has identified several areas where Therapeutic Services has already improved:

• Therapists are doing a better job of coding for services they are providing, i.e. the reimbursement rate for insurance companies or Medicaid. “You don’t have to code the same service time after time just because that is what you are comfortable with,” explains Eldred. “We have trained our therapists to code better, and we are seeing a higher return.”7

• They have finally implemented a cancellation policy, which in the past had never been fully enforced. While there might be good reason for special needs’ families to miss an appointment here or there, Eldred says, some were chronically missing appointments while others were left waiting without services. “We’ve seen a reduction of cancellations and increase in revenue, and they are directly tied together,” he says.7

• They are scheduling their therapists better for increased productivity. With SVP’s help, TLC has reduced staffing by 1.5 FTE (one FT position and a minor reduction in hours for several people). “Dennis has been so helpful in helping us figure out how to evaluate productivity,” says Eldred.7

While improving Therapeutic Services is still a work in progress, TLC leaders say they did not have the expertise internally to tackle this project alone. Kellogg especially noted the skills of Berry: “Those of us who run the organization were surprised at what the metrics looked like,” he says. “Dennis was able to help us understand what the metrics really were, especially inside Therapeutic Services. He has been very persistent in sticking with it over the years and helped us stay away from dropping focus on it.”1

Human Resources RealignmentOne final significant area where SVP and TLC worked together was in Human Resources. SVP was able to help TLC normalize its pay scales as well as standardize job descriptions and employment expectations, which made it easier to institute legally sound personnel policies and procedures. Overall, the organization just needed a wide spread of basic human resources work, says Berry:

There were all these changes in Executive Directors, combined with other staff people who had been there forever—some up to 20 years. So in that kind of situ-ation, there is always some conflict there. We just needed to help them make it a little more clear what people’s jobs actually were. The job descriptions were not particularly clear or well documented.6

With the help of partner Brian Hawkins, TLC also determined where it fell in line with competition in regard to pay scales and tuition charged. Despite staff rumbling over the years that TLC positions were underpaid, the organization actually was paying well in comparison with competitors—around the 75th percentile, says Cowell, which was right where they wanted to be. On the flipside, they weren’t charging enough for tuition. Thus, TLC raised its tuition to be more in line with market rates although existing families would not see the rate increase until August 2014.

With the help of partner Amy Maranowicz they also examined the structures for hourly versus non-hourly employees, and made sure it was equitable and legally sound. As stated, TLC also had to downsize 1.5 FTE on the Therapeutic Services unit and will have to do some downsizing on the Educational Services side, too.


ANALYSIS AND REFLECTION ChallengesAs evidenced prior in this case study, the partnership faced a few key challenges, most of these stemming from factors that occurred prior to the SVP engagement. As mentioned, TLC had spent several years doing what many described as “sticking its head in the sand” regarding its increas-ing financial troubles. The situation leading up to the partnership was characterized by a lack of understanding of the financial problems, followed by resistance to change, both of which occurred during a revolving door in leadership. Lastly, everyone wanted to avoid past missteps.

Lack of UnderstandingWhen Cowell was hired as Executive Director in 2011, the Board had warned him during his salary negotiation meeting that the financials were “a little bit off.” But the knowledge of how off, and exactly how many years they had been operating at a loss didn’t extend beyond top leadership. After approaching the staff, he learned that the Preschool Director and Therapeutic Services Direc-tor had little idea the organization was losing money. “They didn’t even know what their budgets were,” Cowell says. “The therapists and teachers, they all just assumed everything was OK be-cause no one had ever said anything to them.”5

Kellogg, one of the few Board members who remained throughout the partnership, says that be-cause of the budget surplus from the mid-2000s capital campaign, the urgency just wasn’t there initially to deal with the financial situation:

When I joined the Board in ‘08 there was a little over a million in unrestricted funds we could use for operating deficits. That probably made the Board at that time a little too much at ease. We weren’t sure what the ramifications of the whole school district thing would be and there was not a lot of demand from the Board to make the thing profitable. Each year, from ’08 to ’09 to ’10, we kind of stumbled through without a strong realization.1

By the time SVP entered the picture, financials had been off for so long that the problem had be-come endemic, which made the process of solving it much more challenging at the outset.

Resistance to ChangeAlong these lines, leadership trying to evolve the organization to meet the new educational and financial landscape met a severe opposition to change—especially during the process of coming up with a new name. Even though the need to transform may have been obvious to an outsider, many senior staff who had been with the organization for a long time (some up to 20 years)—who had also been left in the dark on the financials for some time—felt the changes were somewhat sudden and drastic.

“In the early going when Tiny Tim could do no wrong, [such as] in the early 2000s when we had the oversubscribed building campaign, all was beautiful,” recalls Kellogg. “It was very complacent. It was a successful institution and some believed the old mentality would work forever.”1

Many were worried that by changing its name and by accepting a higher ratio of typical children than it had become accustomed to over the years, TLC would be compromising its mission. In par-ticular, there was trepidation about alienating its longtime supporters and donors when it needed them most. The concerns were real; SVP, with its expertise in donor stewardship, attempted to help the organization navigate through this challenge. It’s still ongoing. Explains Eldred:

Families we didn’t have to sell it to—they knew what they were getting; there


has been no negative with our clients. I think the hardest sell has been to some of our donors. We had some longstanding donors that were really afraid that with the name change there would be a change in mission and change in philosophy. [SVP has helped us understand that] you can care about the mission all day long, but at the end of the day, if you’re not paying your bills, there is no mission.7

Executive Director TurnoverDuring the five-year period of 2009 - 2013 TLC had four Executive Directors, as well as two periods in which Kel-logg served as interim director. That revolving door did not make it easy to address the financial and programmatic matters facing the organization.

One of the issues that came to the forefront was that TLC’s Board had a longstanding noninterventionist role in the orga-nization. “What that meant was the Executive Director made virtually 95 percent of the decisions,” Kellogg says. “Occa-sionally the Board would be asked to bless something, but our model had the ED with virtually all of the authority.”1

While the Board was naturally concerned about the changes in leadership and stability of the organization during those years, Kellogg says, it also initially struggled with the need to be more authoritative and take a stronger role:

There was a very stern warning from the head Board people back in the mid 2000s… that this is a governing board—that it doesn’t get involved in running the business and it doesn’t cross the line, etc. But when crisis occurs you can’t really operate that way anymore.1

Although they didn’t work with the Board in a formal, specific way, SVP partners helped the Board understand its role better, helped attract new Board members who were willing to be more proac-tive, and helped the Board know it was OK to ask critical questions. “In the beginning, the Board was laissez-faire; [members] came to meetings and approved whatever the ED wanted,” says Lead Partner Berry. “The big thing now is they have started asking hard questions, too. In the last 12 months they have started saying, we need more answers here.”6

KindergartenIn an effort to solve some of its financial struggles, TLC had also tried other approaches that ulti-mately did not work out during the SVP partnership. One example was starting a developmental or transitional kindergarten, which was designed to be a program for kids who weren’t quite ready for regular kindergarten—a burgeoning trend in preschools in recent years.

In the fall of 2012, TLC launched the kindergarten, at the suggestion of an educational coordinator who thought it might be a new revenue source for the organization. On paper, it seemed like a possible boon. Unfortunately, though, the experiment did not work: “We jumped on board and did it for one year and basically what we ended up finding out quickly was it wasn’t a real conducive classroom,” says Cowell, ED at the time. “A lot of the kids were the highest special needs kids. Unfortunately when the fall started, the class was set up to fail.”5

Kellogg was “extremely impressed with how SVP handled the delicate balance of influence without interference” in assisting TLC through this process


Cowell explained the program ended up attracting a higher percentage of special needs kids than typical kids—in the class of 10, there were eight kids identified as special needs, which did not match the ratios the organization had identified as best practices. Though they did not predict this outcome, the one-year experiment of the kindergarten helped reveal that the infant and toddler program, which focused more on early intervention and a flip-flopped ratio of special needs to typical kids, was the route to go instead.

ConclusionThe match of SVP and TLC Learning Center could not have come at a more timely juncture. TLC found the help it desper-ately needed to get through a period where it faced signifi-cant financial and programmatic hurdles, while SVP was able to make a difference in an organization that had been solid and successful for more than 50 years—and help keep that organization alive, get back to thriving, and better serve the community.

Cowell, ED during most of the partnership, says that Lead Partner Berry, in particular, was a great resource for him to help strategize, offer ideas, or simply be an ear to listen. While Cowell ended up leaving TLC in 2013 for another job, he feels he was able to make a difference at the organiza-tion—and improve himself as a non-profit leader—thanks in part to Berry’s presence:

As an ED you can’t just go venting to your staff. It was good to have that partner, because I think for one person to navigate what had to happen in those years would have been very difficult. Even with SVP there it was very energy draining. I am very thankful that we found them and they chose us, [because] I think it would have been near death without them.5

Kellogg, who still remains with the organization, says that the Board has become much more solid and understands its role—and has the confidence to ask questions and make decisions—mostly because of SVP. He says he was “extremely impressed with how SVP handled the delicate balance of influence without interference” in assisting TLC through this process: “A Board is naturally going to feel some concern when an outside organization is both, shall we say, investing and asking questions. But SVP’s charter and method of operation really take that concern away.”1

On a deeper level, both Berry and Cowell say the partnership helped them grow personally and professionally. Says Berry:

Being an SVP partner and teaching an SVP investee something, it’s about learn-ing something yourself as well. I really enjoyed getting more engaged in solving problems, and I have been able to learn so much more about early childhood education, too.6

LESSONS LEARNED Some of the primary lessons learned from this engagement, for both TLC and SVP, would be:

• Don’t let problems go unaddressed. These might include:

o Financial issues

o Personnel issues

o Fundraising issues

• Continue to think creatively. All organizations need to grow and evolve, and staying static, both in the services provided and the way in which they are provided, will eventually lead to problems. Continually question the mission and vision, and make sure it remains relevant to the community and those served.

• While the mission is ultimately important, focusing too narrowly on providing services is dangerous without buy-in from the community, donors, and other funders. Outreach and “telling your story” to whomever will listen is critical to long-term success. ■


The Future The end of the TLC story has not yet been written. The Board and staff are doing all they can do to ensure success, but the results of these efforts are not yet clear. Nearly all parties involved, however, agree that TLC is now in a significantly better position than it was when the SVP engagement began.

In fall of 2013, TLC hired Eldred as its newest Executive Direc-tor. Eldred is the former head of Boulder’s Acorn School and unlike the previous two leaders, the focus of his career has been solidly in early childhood education (Cowell’s past back-ground was working with adults with developmental disabili-ties). “Matt Eldred is a hand-in-glove fit with the job,” observes Kellogg. “He has all of the right background and skill set to make this thing work.”1

Cowell corroborates: “Matt being over there is a perfect fit. He will now bring that early childhood expert into the build-ing and I have no doubt knowing Matt that the infant and toddler program is only going to grow and grow. Once that happens, and they tweak Therapeutic Services and find that sweet spot, I think they are going to be back in good financial standing again. But I’m not sure they would have gotten there in time without SVP.”5

The infant and toddler program opened in early 2014 and, so far, things look good. The hope is that TLC can become a model organization on how to provide high-quality services to special needs, at-risk and typical children from birth all the way to kindergarten. TLC wants to show the community that small, integrated classroom arrangements from birth to school-age can be mutually beneficial to all groups—not just higher needs kids—and be financially viable, too. Hopefully, par-ents will see that TLC offers something “very neat,” Eldred says, that the district programs simply cannot provide:

It’s not the norm in early childhood education. If we can get it to be financially sustainable, it’s a very marketable model. I think five years from now people can be looking at TLC to figure out how to do this whole-child approach and finan-cially make it work. And I think we will get there... SVP has really helped push us, probably farther than we wanted to be pushed, but we needed it.7

ELEMENTS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO SUCCESS: • TLC was at the perfect juncture

for outside assistance

• SVP’s talent pool matched the needs of the organization fairly well

• Despite leadership changes at TLC before and during the SVP process, the leadership that was involved was motivated and willing to work with SVP

• Both SVP and TLC were willing to think outside the box and do a lot of creative brainstorming, which was required for the issues at hand

• Despite some resistance to change, TLC ultimately was able to overcome any internal conflicts and have buy-in organization-wide for the changes that needed to be made ■


SOURCES CITED

1 Phone interview with Rick Kellogg, 4 March 2014.2 Inclusive School Network. http://inclusiveschools.org/early_childhood/3 The Tiny Tim Center Winter 2009 Newsletter. http://www.learningwithtlc.org/usr/pdfs/Fall 2006Newsletter.pdf

4 St. Vrain Valley School District. http://www.svvsd.org/about/departments/financial-services/2008- bond-mill-levy-override

5 Phone interview with Marc Cowell, 12 March 20146 Phone interview with Dennis Berry, 3 March 2014.7 Phone interview with Matt Eldred, 3 March 2014.8 The Tiny Tim Center 2012 Annual Report. http://www.learningwithtlc.org/usr/Annual_report_2012.pdf

Social Venture Partners Boulder Countywww.svpbouldercounty.org303.840.01651877 Broadway, Ste 100Boulder CO 80302

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