The following document was drafted by the chapter and board in 2007-2008. The changes in officers, due to illness in 2008-2009, prevented its consideration as scheduled. It is now being reconsidered with a final document scheduled for 15 December 2009.
NNAS - Strategic Blueprint
2007 - 2012
This document stems from the strategic deliberations of the NNAS board and additional members, during the summer and fall of 2007. We focused on our existing strategic plan (2002 – 2007), debated “what’s going on in our world” and grappled with various possible priorities. Raw data from these sessions is recorded in the attached Strategic Appendix.
The views coming from these discussions were tested and refined with general members’ input. The resultant Strategic Blueprint represents our consensus of “Who we are, where we are going and what we will do to get there”.
Strategic Time Frame
This blueprint will guide those decisions that determine the nature and direction of our chapter from 2007 to 2012. The broad strategy outlined here, will be supported each year by operational plans and priorities contained in our Operational Handbook.
Our Fundamental Principles, Values and Beliefs – Who we are
We are a chapter of the National Audubon Society, supporting the vision, mission and strategy of that organization. Within this umbrella, our strategic, tactical and day to day decisions are guided by the following fundamental principles, values and basic beliefs:
- Birds are a joy to behold.
- We delight in passing on this joy to all generations, present and future, through active educational experiences.
- We speak for the birds – they cannot speak for themselves.
- While our advocacy is non-political, it is proactive and vigorous.
- Our interest in birds and the protection and conservation of their habitat are inextricably linked – you can’t have one without the other.
- Birds are sentinels, a visible harbinger of the health of our planet. They accurately reflect what is likely to happen in our own backyard.
- We believe that our efforts are best focused on our own area of Virginia.
- We further believe, that these efforts will contribute substantially to sharing and preserving the unique natural treasure that is the Northern Neck
Strategic Focus – Where we are going
The core “business” of this chapter revolves around birds and their habitat. Over the next five years, we will pursue a complementary, two-pronged strategy that:
- Makes it enjoyable, easy and rewarding for members, potential members and the NN community to learn more about birds and their environment
- Protects and conserves habitat in the “greater” Northern Neck through hands-on participation and vigorous advocacy
Tactical Plans – How we will get there
Driven by this strategy, our activities in the next three to five years will focus on:
Education
- Current program and activities:
- Instructional & informative members’ meetings, particularly focused on our local area and seasonally relevant
- Bird-walks & excursions
- Training programs such as “Teacher’s on the Bay” “Audubon Adventures”
- Yearly plans & priorities based on members’ inputs (see also Possible Actions in the Appendix) such as
- Developing an educational stream to appeal to younger people and specifically school age children
- Expanding our bird-walk horizon – more & different
- Considering wider ranging excursions
- Experimenting with weekend activities
- Formally adopting & promoting “Audubon at Home”
- Continue development of “in-house teachers” that can help others enhance their birding skills
- Develop back-up resources and ensure that this function is properly staffed from year to year
Preservation & Conservation
- Current Programs & activities:
- Manage existing easements and easement policy
- Manage and maintain existing preserves
- Road clean-up
- Develop active interest and resources that can be used on an as needed basis to support the Lower Rappahannock River IBA
- Develop a practical approach to more actively and visibly implement NNAS’s conservation & advocacy role as suggested by members’ input (see also Possible Actions in the Appendix)
- Recommend, from time to time, specific projects that serve as a “rallying cry”
- Develop systematic support for and liaison with “kindred organizations” that have complementary conservation objectives
- Develop back-up resources and ensure that this function is properly staffed from year to year
Public Relations & Communications
- Existing priorities & coordinated activities for
- Newsletter
- Website
- Birding hotline
- Timely, appealing public announcements
- Continued improvement of collateral materials
- Substantially increase regular reporting in text and image of “what we’ve done” in order to create a favorable exposure and support our membership & educational objectives
- Develop a cadre of guest writers to contribute articles of interest, images etc.
- In coordination with membership activities, distribute membership and promotional materials more systematically and more widely
- Ensure that NNAS is appropriately represented at public events such as Farmers’ Market and similar venues
- Develop back-up resources and ensure that this function is properly staffed from year to year
Membership
- Continue current successful membership drive activities
- Ensure our “share” of new members from folks coming to the NN
- Distribute membership and promotional materials more systematically and more widely
- Develop membership focus on young people in conjunction with our educational activities
- Expanding membership to be less Kilmarnock centric
- Attracting ‘heavy hitters” who can contribute substantially to our organizational objectives
- Keep our record “in sink” with National Audubon
- Develop back-up resources and ensure that this function is properly staffed from year to year
Revenue & Income
- Continue highly successful bird box building program
- Support merchandising activities at Farmers’ Market and similar venues
- Actively support membership function for fees and donations
- Develop resources that might be used to generate external grants
Finance & Administration
- Continue development of Operational Handbook
- Formalize appropriate reporting/recording procedures for National Audubon, legal requirements and record keeping
- Oversee the Grant committee
- Manage interaction with the Foundation
Operational Plans – Yearly Objectives
The strategy outlined in this blueprint will provide the broad guidelines for our priorities and activities over the next five years. Not all projects can be tackled at once. Project priorities will be established on a yearly basis with specific objectives for each major functional area. Details of these will be documented in the Operational Handbook.
The strategy itself should be reviewed from time to time, in light of changes and (then) current circumstances, probably no later than 2010.
STRATEGY APPENDIX
“Our World – July/August 2007”
This appendix served as a discussion piece for the strategic deliberations by board members and several others of the Northern Neck of Virginia Chapter of the National Audubon Society (NNAS). It is the result of initial discussions around those factors that affect “our world”, as well as some of our own beliefs and values that might influence our strategic direction. After an initial strategy session it was updated with corrections and additional input from team members.
The following are key words and phrases that came from discussions around their respective headings. They are not by any means an exhaustive list of answers to any strategic question, nor should they be interpreted as such. The sole purpose of these notes is to serve as “thought triggers” for members of the team who were present when this discussion took place. Future deliberations, which may include additional members, will build on these thoughts and crystallize a Strategic Blueprint for NNAS.
Our World
- What are the major factors, changes or current realities in our world that should influence the future nature and direction of our chapter in the next three to five years? Consider:
- A global picture
- Fuel shortages and alternative energy sources
- Overdevelopment
- Loss of habitat
- Global warming
- Dramatic decline of many bird species
- Decline of other bell-weather species such as bees, frogs etc.
- Active and effective conservation programs
- Mutations through chemicals and pollutants
- Threat to vital resources such as water
- The Northern Neck
- Overdevelopment in our own backyard
- Loss of habitat through land degradation
- The state of the bay
- Ineffective penalty system e.g. OMEGA in Reedville an extraction industry
- Species decline in our own backyard e.g. Bob White
- Related species increases – not necessarily positive
- Increase in invasive, non-native species
- Emergence of other (new) conservation organizations
- Water consumption in West Point
- Clear cutting and logging even in “protected” areas
- Non-enforcement of C.B.A.
- Loss of wetlands
- Shoreline “hardening”
- Our demographics are heavily skewed by retirees
- There is a large summer & weekend resident population
- Audubon at the National level
- IBAs as a focus
- The consequence of failure to follow through with VA state office
- A new, stronger VAC executive team
- A (somewhat) greater voice for chapters in the National organization
- Very visible conservation focus
- Highly effective voice in Washington
- Still relatively poor relations with chapters
- Our chapter
- Clear recognition of the need for advocacy – “it’s not just about the birds”
- Our conservation efforts are perhaps less visible than in the past
- We used to be seen to be more pro-active in conservation efforts
- We don’t toot our own horn enough
- Our successful efforts in the past were highly visible projects that people could rally around
- There is no current compelling focus that would energize our members
- Need more active and younger members
- We are somewhat Kilmarnock centric
- How can we focus effectively on young people?
- Our ties to kindred organizations are relatively random
- One person committees will not get it done – committees should involve other members, not just board members
- Closed end projects with strong leadership e.g.
- Cabin swamp
- Chesapeake Trail
- Bushmill Stream
- Refreshments & fellowship
- Some printed materials & the newsletter
- Birding hot-line
- Birdwalks
- Bird boxes
- Bluebird trail
- On going programs with the exception of the bird boxes program
- Bird-walk locations
- Covering the geographic extremes
- Distribution of printed materials
- Proactive PR
- One person committees
- Attracting heavy hitters
- Letting go of on-going programs that may have outlived their usefulness
- Using kindred organizations systematically (as opposed to based on personal relationships)
- Influencing major decisions that affect the Northern Neck
- What kindred organizations might serve as resources and partners to support our own strategic intent?
- Friends of RRVNWR – Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- NNLC – Northern Neck Land Conservancy
- NN Master Naturalists
- Nature Conservancy
- Native Plant Society
- Master Gardeners
- Local Garden Clubs
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Friends of Dragon Run
- VIMS
- VSO – Virginia Society of Ornithology
- Local Planning boards
- NAPS
- Wetlands commission
- Virginia Outdoor Foundation
- We are a chapter of the National Audubon Society, supporting the vision, mission and strategy of that organization. Within this umbrella, our strategic, tactical and day to day decisions are guided by the following fundamental principles, values and basic beliefs:
- Birds are a joy to behold. We delight in passing on this joy to all generations, present and future
- We speak for the birds – they cannot speak for themselves
- While our advocacy is non-political, it is proactive and vigorous
- Our interest in birds and the protection and conservation of their habitat are inextricably linked – you can’t have one without the other
- Birds are sentinels, a visible harbinger of the health of our planet. They accurately reflect what is likely to happen in our own backyard
- We believe that our efforts are best focused on the birds and their environment in our own area of Virginia
- We further believe, that these efforts will contribute substantially to sharing and preserving the unique natural treasure that is the Northern Neck
- The above notions of Our World and the Values we hold dear beg the question:
Therefore ..?… what are we going to do about it? Future discussions will grapple with the two key questions
- Where do we want to take this organization?, and,
- How will we get there?
Things we have done well
Things we have done not so well
Kindred Organizations
Our Fundamental Principles, Values or Beliefs
Future Direction
Possible Actions
Some possible priorities, projects and actions that will ultimately be evaluated against this blueprint were listed as follows:
- Consider conservation scholarships for local schools
- Find ways to involve more young people – both adults and school-age
- Focus on children
- Find ways to activate more of our members
- Find a suitable project focus that people can rally around with personal participation
- Pro-actively recruit top talent both as members as well as board and committee contributors – there’s lots of it in the NN
- Find ways to raise more money to fund projects
- Consider more excursions in our educational and program activities
- Provide project management and the necessary resources for the Quilt fundraiser
- Consider a teen birding club
- Participate in Audubon Birdathon
- Include more of a global picture in our newsletter
- Investigate outside grants
- Be more proactive to take advantage of what National has to offer
- Run summer programs for kids
- Use Teachers on the Bay as an entree to schools
- Consider multiple bird-walks
- Establish a council of kindred organizations focused on preservation & conservation