What if there was a way to secure a seasoned professional to support the goals, needs and important plans of your organization or emerging group?

What if that help, designed with your input, resulted in improved competencies and expanded relationships that could assist your organization going forward?

And what if your commitment to a focused process, benefitting from thoughtful outside viewpoints, left an afterglow of generosity and good will?

Welcome to the Peer Advisor Network (PAN), a subsidized short-term consulting service. It can help your organization navigate the shifting grounds and economic uncertainties of this new era. It's a peer-to-peer system that connects people and knowledge and is available to your organization through an innovative partnership between the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism and five regional cultural service agencies. This year, the CT Humanities Council and the Heritage Resource Center Web site join with PAN to broaden the program's ability to support constituents.

Here are the basics. The Peer Advisor Network:

• is a flexible, affordable way to build the capacity of your organization or group;
• provides a simple and educational application process without deadlines;
• equates to consulting at the incredibly low rate of $100 per day;
• matches a non-profit cultural organization or community cultural group with a designated Advisor for a minimum of a half-day to a maximum of two days of consulting;
• features a roster of specially trained Advisors made up of executive directors, finance directors, marketing directors, business consultants and other exceptional people with a wealth of skills and experience and a desire to share;
• can help you to develop as a leader capable of keen insight and improved performance.

What have others said?

"Our organization now has the framework to move beyond any confusion or problem areas we had in the past. We now have internal organizational strength to move forward in a positive and consistent direction," said one recent client.

The program provides consulting services in broad issue areas:

• Planning
• Organizational Development
• Financial Management & Fund Raising
• Evaluation
• Technology
• Marketing & Public Relations
• Community Engagement
• Programming
• And many other skills from interpretive labeling to facility planning.

So, what are you waiting for?

Visit the Commission's PAN Web page and find the Field Office that will support your application. While you're browsing, download the PAN brochure to share with your team and, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

By John Cusano