Festival Choir of Madison: Strategic Plan

Festival Choir of Madison (FCM) brings together approximately 60 vocalists from diverse backgrounds who share a commitment to choral excellence. The ensemble presents three annual concerts and proudly serves as the choir for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s celebrated performances of Handel’s Messiah.

FCM is a nonprofit organization that relies almost exclusively on volunteers for its operational and administrative functions.

Intellerate provided full strategic planning services to SAW from February–May 2025, including organizational research, survey development, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, strategic plan retreat development and facilitation, and writing the final strategic plan in consultation with stakeholder groups.

To say that Laurie Silverberg was a gift to the Festival Choir of Madison’s strategic planning process would be an understatement. Laurie guided the strategic planning from start to finish brilliantly, with meticulous attention to planning, and precise and timely follow-through on implementation. She has a particular capacity to keep her eye on the big picture (systems level thinking and analysis), on the granular details, and on the human beings involved, too. Her leadership was simply superb.

Beth Binhammer
Chair, Festival Choir of Madison Board of Directors