1. A financial goal should be set, based on consideration of estimated necessary expenses and of possible income. A women's club that sponsors six educational meetings a year will have a much smaller financial goal than the community center that offers over a hundred courses; but unless a goal is set in both cases, financial planning is almost impossible.
The typical practice in informal adult education is to set a goal that is too low. There seems to be an expectation that educational programs cost very little money, with the result that many of them are poorly financed, poorly promoted, and provided with second-rate leadership. This accounts for many disappointments.
On the other hand, there is ample evidence that when a financial goal is set enough to provide a program with high quality, the funds necessary to achieve the goal are forthcoming. People are willing to pay for programs that are interesting and that meet their needs.