2. Board Planning &
Development
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“I have a 25 year career in non-profit management; the last eight in the Chamber industry. One of the
things I am passionate about is getting non-profits to be clear about the fact that ‘non-profit’ is just a tax
status and NOT a philosophy for running the ‘business’ of their organization. Going through the exercise
of strategic planning is invaluable for organizational success in order to ensure sustainable growth,
effective reach and increased value. These results will, of course, directly affect your membership, but if
accountability and implementation of the plan are taken seriously, then the overarching result will be
your organization becoming a greater asset for the entire community.”
4. BoardDevelopmentRetreat
Board Development
The more aligned and strategic your board of directors is the more
successful your organization will be. The Executive and Staff can and
should handle the daily work of the organization, but they must be
supported by a strong BOD! Professional development for your BOD, in
a setting outside the normal “board meeting” space, resulting in a solid
program of work for your organization are a must for moving forward
effectively.
Board Retreat $2500 Full Day
$1500 Half Day
Board retreats are very individual and the agenda can and should
vary from year to year. Here are the components of your board
retreat:
• An agenda that reflects what you MOST need to work on for the
following year.
• A timeframe that will allow you to establish the goals that need to
be set. Half or full day depends on what you hope to accomplish.
• The agenda and retreat goals will be established in phone
meetings between the facilitator, Executive and Board Chair/Chair
Elect.
• Your board retreat will have a follow up report that will highlight
the work from the day, list established goals and objectives and
provide recommendations for next steps.
**In addition to fees for packages, the organization will cover
all travel expenses for the facilitator. A 50% deposit is required
at the execution of the contract.
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6. 6
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. As we move through the
process of strategic planning, in this document, start with the following
infographic highlight of just what you are looking to accomplish. This will
give you a visual memory as you get into the details following.
9. 9
Following is a proposed timeline for each phase including meeting dates, times and groups involved.
This table also includes fees and payment schedule.
Organization staff will be responsible for the following:
• Travel and meals for the facilitator. This will include mileage to and from Union County and meals
during on site visits.
• Securing locations for all scheduled meetings.
• Coordinating the planning committee; meeting schedule, reminders, materials.
• Sending out the membership survey using organization email/database.
• Setting up the interviews with local stakeholders identified in Phase 1.
• Disseminating information at the request of facilitator.
• IMPLEMENTATION!! We are creating a “living” document. The most important part of a strategic
plan is accountability. A scorecard and KPIs will be included in your final plan.
PLANNING PHASE DATE MEETING TIMES
FEE STRUCTURE
ATTENDEES
Phase 1:
Setting the Stage
Work begins upon
contract execution.
Ongoing
Fee:
$2500 due with
contract
Facilitator
Chamber President
Chairman of Board
Phase 2:
Asking the Questions
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
7:30-11:30 am
Fee:
$2500 due
10:30
TBD
4:00-5:30 pm
Board, Planning Committee, Staff
Survey to membership deploys from
Chamber.
Facilitator interviews with local
stakeholders.
Focus Group
Phase 3:
Plotting the Course
TBD
TBD
7:30-9:30 am
Email delivery of
review materials for
final presentation
Planning Committee
Chamber Staff
Board of Directors
Planning Committee
Phase 4:
Moving Ahead and
Keeping Score
TBD
TBD
7:30-9:30
Facilitator makes
revisions following
7/28 meeting.
Email Delivery of
Final Report
Final Fee:
$2500 due
Chamber Staff
Board of Directors
Planning Committee
Copies to:
Planning Committee
Board of Directors
Chamber Staff
10. Phase1:SettingtheStage
Upon execution of the contract Facilitator will conference with Chamber
President and Board Chair to set the stage for the planning.
Facilitator will require the following information from the Chamber:
Three years financial statement + current YTD statement
President’s reports to BOD; 18 months
Three years of Annual Reports
Value statements (Benefits of Membership)
# of investors at each level of investment
# of sponsors and at what total annual sponsorship investment
Current income sources
Definition of service area
Current business climate; urgent issues that are being undertaken or
pending.
Facilitator will:
Provide ongoing progress reports throughout the planning
Provide an agenda to Chamber staff for distribution to all attending
scheduled meetings.
Chamber President and Staff will:
Send all materials required by Facilitator
Make housing arrangements for Facilitator’s on-site visits
Keep an excel workbook with a tab for each group in the process with their
contact information; staff, BOD, Planning Committee, Stakeholders for
interviews, Focus Group participants
Send timely invitations and reminders for meetings
Send task reminders throughout the process as tasks are assigned
10
11. Phase1:SettingtheStage
Chamber President and Board Chair will select members of planning
committee. A group of no more than 15, selected from the following:
Board Members
Chamber Staff
Upper Level Investors
Small Business Investors
Past BOD Chairs
Community Partners
THE PLANNING TEAM
Strategic planning should be conducted by a planning team. Consider the
following guidelines when developing the team:
The group should be a manageable size, preferably around 15 and should
be a cross section of staff, board leadership, organization members,
organization partners, community stakeholders.
The Chamber President should be included in the planning group, and
should drive development and implementation of the plan.
Involve someone to administrate the process, including arranging meetings,
helping to record key information, helping with flipcharts, monitoring status of
preparation, etc.
Establish clear expectations and clarify roles for participants; there are roles
for those directly involved in planning, those who will provide key information
(interviews and focus group participants) to the process, those who will
review the plan document (Staff, BOD and Planning Committee), those who
will authorize the document (BOD), etc. Each participant should understand
the overall direction of the process and her/his independent roles.
11
12. Phase2:AskingtheQuestions
12
This will be a 4 hour workshop of the Planning Committee intended to determine
answers to the following:
• Where are we?
• What do we have to work with?
• Where do we want to be?
• How do we get there?
Workshop Tasks:
• Review Statements of Purpose; Mission, Vision, Core Values
• SWOT analysis
• Environmental Scan
Internal Audit:
HR including succession planning for President
Operation Systems (Policy & Procedure)
Communications Systems
Programs and Events
Committees
Board succession planning
External Audit:
Community dynamics
Organization relationships/partnerships
Geographical challenges
Industry overview
Economic climate
Leadership
Governments
Perception of Chamber
Define the competition
• Identify community stakeholders for interviews with facilitator.
• Identify members for focus group.
• Determine questions for membership survey.
Outcomes:
Facilitator Compile data
Email progress reports to Planning Committee
Chamber President Set stakeholder appointments
Invitations to Focus Group
Lay out member survey
Email member survey
13. Phase3:PlottingtheCourse
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A two hour Planning Committee session to work through all collected data and set
up goals, objectives and measurements for success.
Review:
Membership survey results
Interview results
Focus Groups feedback
Data collected to date
SWOT results
Facilitator recommendations
Establish the following:
Organizational profile
Customer profile (member)
Set goals, objectives and priorities
Connect strategies directly to needs, assets and desired outcomes
Action items and assignments
Timeline
Scorecard
Outcomes:
Documents developed for each of the elements listed above.
Facilitator progress report with documents distributed to all to be read and
ready to discuss at final meeting.
14. Phase4:MovingAheadand
KeepingScore
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Following the presentation of the report in final meetings, the report will be
edited, completed and disseminated.
Completion Date: TBD
Tasks for this Phase:
• Facilitator will make any revisions to the report that are discussed in the
final meeting.
• Facilitator will email the final report in a print ready format, to the Chamber
President.
• Chamber President will generate spiral bound copies of the report and
distribute a copy to all members of each of the following groups:
Chamber Staff
Planning Committee
Board of Directors
• Facilitator will schedule check in calls for six months and 12 months to
encourage follow through of the plan.
15. 15
AbouttheFacilitator
Annette Medlin, IOM
Annette has been in non-profit management for over
25 years; the last eight years as a chamber
Executive. Honored as the South Carolina Chamber
Executive of the year in 2009, she has held
leadership roles in industry professional
organizations including the Carolina’s Association of
Chamber of Commerce Executives and with the US
Chamber Institute for Organization Management as
a student, a class advisor, a member of the Board of
Regents and this coming summer as faculty at the
Villanova Campus for North East.
Annette has recently been added to the team of the
Women Speakers Association, promoting the voice
of women in 120 countries on 6 continents. In
addition to her work in membership development,
Annette brings training to clients in the areas of
board development, strategic planning, executive
coaching, risk management, women and
community, leadership and diversity. She also
manages her own coaching business for both
personal and business coaching.
annette@membership180.com
(866) 960 9789 ext. 101
Blog: http://annettemedlin.blogspot.com
LinkeIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annettemedlin/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/coachmedlin
FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/MedlinInYourBusiness
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kamedlin/
Twitter: @annette_medlin
phone: 866-960-9789/ www.membership180.com/email: info@membership180.com
