Have you ever wondered who the REAL decision-makers are in your city?

Every year, I lead a community leadership cohort that connects aspiring leaders with local officials and executives.

The program also generates 6-figure revenue for my non-profit.

Here’s how I do it 🧵

The program is called Leadership Salem.

There are two primary benefits to this program:

1. We connect participants with a new group of peers
2. We provide access to a behind-the-scenes look at our city

The content is great, but the relationships are the real gold.

One day a month, the group meets, gets on a bus, and travels around the city.

We tour the police station and the prison. We talk to elected officials and CEOs of our biggest companies and non-profits.

Each day the group leaves with a better understanding of who the decision-makers are and the obstacles they face.

Every day has a theme (education, legal, business, etc.).

And throughout the experience, participants connect the dots about how the ecosystem works together.

Last year was my first year running it, but the program has been in our city for 30 years.

Previous cohorts were capped at about 25 people, but this year we bumped that number up to 45.

Why 45? Because that is how many people can fit on the bus.

We were able to boost the number with some simple updates to the marketing.

• Added testimonials from influential alumni to the landing page
• Found ways to highlight Leadership Salem participants on social media and in local publications

Nothing groundbreaking.

In addition to each participant's tuition, we partner with a local university as the title sponsor.

We give them a few minutes before each day to highlight an upcoming event and remind them how they can get involved.

It's been a lucrative partnership for them.

I'm focusing on two things to continue building on the success.

1. Launching the first ever Spanish speaking cohort in our community.
2. Creating an annual Alumni event to help reconnect past participants (This should be another revenue stream for the foundation.)

I'm also brainstorming how an online community can provide similar benefits of access and companionship.

So be sure to give me a follow and stay tuned.

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