STRATEGIC PLANNING Getting from A to B

2 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.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING Process

5 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 /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. 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 /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 PHASEDATEMEETING 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 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 7:30-9:30 am delivery of review materials for final presentation Planning Committee Chamber Staff Board of Directors Planning Committee Phase 4: Moving Ahead and Keeping Score TBD 7:30-9:30 Facilitator makes revisions following 7/28 meeting. Delivery of Final Report Final Fee: $2500 due Chamber Staff Board of Directors Planning Committee Copies to: Planning Committee Board of Directors Chamber Staff

Phase 1: Setting the Stage 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 6

Phase 1: Setting the Stage 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. 7

Phase 2: Asking the Questions 8 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: FacilitatorCompile data progress reports to Planning Committee Chamber PresidentSet stakeholder appointments Invitations to Focus Group Lay out member survey member survey

Phase 3: Plotting the Course 9 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.

Phase 4: Moving Ahead and Keeping Score 10 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 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.

About the Facilitator Annette Medlin, IOM Annette has been in non-profit management for over 25 years; for eight years as a chamber Executive. She has held leadership roles in industry professional organizations as President of 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 now as faculty. Annette was honored by her peers as South Carolina Executive of the Year in 2008.Carolina’s Association of Chamber of Commerce ExecutivesUS Chamber Institute for Organization Management In April of 2012 she co-founded Membership180 with Jay Handler. M180 is a sustainable membership development company devoted to seeing chambers of commerce and associations grow through engaging current members while recruiting new ones. Annette is a regular speaker, facilitator and coach/consultant to clients in the areas of board development, strategic planning, executive coaching, capitalizing on capacity, feminine leadership and community partnerships. In addition to her successful blogposts on membership180.com, Annette is frequently a guest blogger for Institute. (866) ext. 101 Website/Blog: LinkeIn: FaceBook: FaceBook: Pinterest: phone: /