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Neighborhood Networks Business Plan Outline & Guidance; Community Technology Center Assessment and Evaluation


	Information by State Print version

Neighborhood Networks Business Plan Outline and Guidance

In collaboration with HUD Multifamily property owners, residents, online service coordinators, and local community partners, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is pleased to present the attached sample Neighborhood Networks (NN) Business Plan format.

Document: Guidance for Developing the Neighborhood Networks Business Plan
The document is being provided in two standard formats. Please click on the underlined file extension to select the desired file type for download.
Adobe Acrobat PDF format	A zip file which includes a Microsoft Word formatted file (Note: Please click on the zip link and download this file to your hard disk drive. When the download has finished, go to the directory where you downloaded the file, and double click it to extract the .DOC file.) You must have Win Zip software to extract the Word Document.

This sample plan format of a business plan may be used in the development of Neighborhood Networks Comunity technology centers. For your convenience, you may directly input information for your plan using this Microsoft Word 7.0 version or it can be downloaded from the Neighborhood Networks National Web site. All completed NN Business Plans should be submitted to your local HUD Neighborhood Networks Coordinator. For your reference a list of all local Neighborhood Network Coordinators may be found on the National Neighborhood Networks Web site.

A good business plan is one of the best ways owners and developers of Neighborhood Networks Community Technology Centers can ensure success. It is more than just a marketing tool; its fleshes out the mission and structure of the center. This plan is the first step in identifying the purpose, goals, and objectives of the center. It is a tool that allows Neighborhood Network planners to THINK through their ideas, solidify their intentions and objectives, and work efficiently with a plan toward specific goals. Fewer errors are made because actions will be based on research and analysis.

There is no single best format for a business plan. This one incorporates items and concepts from the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Business Plan, which has been used successfully by thousands of small businesses. This also incorporates comments received on the Draft Neighborhood Networks Monitoring Notice proposed under the July and August 1997 "What's New" section of the Neighborhood Networks National Web site (address above).

Key points when developing this plan

Through experience, HUD has found that every Neighborhood Networks community learning center is different because each one is locally created by people according to their needs and interests. As such, it is very difficult to compare one to another.

The objective of any Neighborhood Network Business Plan is to provide a "first step" that is consistent for those who are developing the community learning centers. It also provides a framework and means for evaluating results and successful operations.

Individual center planners may find that this format must be modified to suit the needs of the center, property, and residents. This plan serves as only the minimum information needed. There may be instances where more information is necessary. Some good rules of thumb to follow when preparing the plans are:

Plan from the start to be self sufficient. Many centers, from the beginning, request minimal resources or assistance from HUD. If this is the situation, you may modify the Neighborhood Networks Business/Evaluation Plan to suit the needs of the owner, property, residents, and center. However, HUD strongly encourages all centers to have a plan in place to ensure success for all involved. The plan is a road map to follow with goals and action steps to guide decision-making. It also provides a way to communicate the center's operations, goals, and philosophy to personnel, residents, community partners, foundations, and other financial and business contacts.

It is essential that all Neighborhood Networks centers become self-sustaining. The goal should be to progress from substantial reliance on federal grants and funding to self-sustaining status within 3 years. HUD strongly encourages all centers to incorporate this goal into their NN Business Plan.

Budget for financial sustainability. If the center is requesting more than $25,000 or $350 per unit per year, whichever is greater, from HUD (either through a rent increase, release of reserves, unit offline, or other funds), a detailed budget including how the money will be spent and how the property will maintain activities/equipment once the funding ends is required.

Are the residents involved in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of the community learning center? Resident involvement and "ownership" of the process is a necessity and is key to the center's success. Residents are ultimately the customers. All plans should include a section describing resident involvement either as designers or operators as well as customers.

Evaluate the successes. All plans should include how the center will record its results and successes. This could mean picking a baseline figure or some aspects of the center that can be measured. Recording "Success Stories" is also encouraged. This evaluation will be very useful in attracting other potential funding resources and partners.

Attached to this NN Business Plan, we have provided a list of potential focus areas and an Assessment/Evaluation report format. It is not necessary to use all the measures and a center may have additional benchmarks to include in its evaluation. The evaluation report should be completed on an annual basis, in conjunction with the project's fiscal year and/or annual financial statement submission.

Where significant federal funds are involved (see budget information above), a methodology to measure results and successes is required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. At the minimum, those properties seeking property/HUD funding should provide all the information contained in this assessment and evaluation report format attached.

Access to the Internet. HUD encourages all NN community learning centers to have at least one computer with Internet capability. The Internet can be used as a tool to connect with services, information, and people as well as the opportunity for the world to connect with the center. It can also be used to market the successes of your program. Monthly charges for an Internet account for the center are an approvable project expense.

Continue to build local partnerships. Local partners are a necessity in sustaining the NN community learning center. It is important to include in the plan ways for the center and property to continue to build local partners.

Remain sensitive to possible federal/national partnerships. There are numerous benefits in combining efforts with other programs both on the local and national levels. Collective efforts will gain increasing national recognition and thereby help in obtaining self-sufficiency. It is important to include in the plan ways for the center and the property to continue to build federal/national partnerships.

Content current as of 12 November 2002

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Neighborhood Networks Business Plan Outline & Guidance; Community Technology Center Assessment and Evaluation

Neighborhood Networks Business Plan Outline and Guidance

Document: Guidance for Developing the Neighborhood Networks Business Plan

Key points when developing this plan

Document:
Guidance for Developing the Neighborhood Networks Business Plan