|
Monday, 29 June 2009 |
I don't know about you, but I have 3 beginnings in any given 12 month period: July 1st when the new fiscal year starts, after Labor Day with the beginning of the new school year, and, of course, January 1st. (Strangely, I only have 2 endings, June 30th and December 31st. Doesn't that sound like the path to immortality to you?) Three beginnings means 3 opportunities to refresh and renew -- it's like having built in do-overs.
As the FY 08/09 year draws to a close, I'm struck by how wrong our planning assumptions were this year. Several of the programs we scheduled a year ago, seemed irrelevant as the economy tanked and organizations' priorities changed. For example,the tidal wave of leadership transitions that we all predicted slowed almost to a standstill, as did plans for new acquisitions of everything from software to facilities. Capital campaigns were sidelined too, so trainings and workshops focused on any of those once-timely topics, attracted few participants in the last 2 quarters.
But now we have a chance to regroup. In the next six months, we will offer at least one fundraising workshop and one fundraising roundtable every month, many of them focused on engaging your boards more effectively. We will also be spending a lot more time talking with you about policy and advocacy and about strategic thinking and business planning.
Change is in the air. We can struggle against it or we can use our beginnings to rethink and realign. We invite you to stay connected as we start some programs - like our board member roundtables starting in July - continue our most popular programs - like BoardWorks and Peer Circles for Leaders - and maybe even stop some programs.
Which reminds me -- we're moving out of our Oakland office tomorrow. Many thanks to the East Bay Community Foundation for making that space available to us for the last 4 years and to the East Bay Resource Center before us. What a great gift to the East Bay nonprofit community! We'll let you know where to find us in Alameda County as soon as we land. In the meantime, we're only a phone call away.
Best,
Liz
No one has commented on this article. |
