5-Year Strategic Plan: 2024-2029

Executive Committee Members 

Susan Dana, Co-President
Gloria McMahon, Co-President
Margot Towl, Recording Secretary
Stephanie Bradford, Treasurer
Jeanne Davidson, Awards
Tania Deary, Floral Design
Lynn Edelstein, Communications
Janet Pumphrey, Policy
Ginger Schwartz, Nominating
Megan Schwarzkopf, Horticulture
Anna Smith, Conservation (acting)
Lenore Sundberg, Conservation (on medical leave)
Kathy Tremblay, Membership
KK Zutter, Program

Strategic Planning Committee Members 

Pamela Johnson, Chair
Susan Dana
Mary Manning
Loretta Scheel
Deb Deres (until the end of September)

Implementation 

This Strategic Plan represents a significant undertaking of the club to examine many aspects of the organization and how it is functioning to meet the current needs and expectations of its members. It is intended to guide the activities of the club for the next 5 years. It will be implemented gradually, with the full participation of membership, and it will be treated as a living document with periodic review, revision, and reporting by the Executive Committee.

Overview

After the disruption of the pandemic, the Club was experiencing difficulty in returning to  ‘normal’. There were rumblings of discontent, leadership was being questioned and it was hard to get people to sign up for positions of responsibility. The Executive Committee decided that the club needed a Strategic Plan to guide future activity and chartered a Strategic Planning Committee, with members chosen by the President, to create a plan for Executive Committee approval. The President secured volunteer help for the group from Debbie Edwards, one of the architects of the GCA Strategic Plan and an experienced mentor of several clubs.

The work of the Committee

March 1, 2024, The Executive Committee approved the formation of a Strategic Plan Steering Committee (SPC) to examine the short- and long-term viability of the club.

March 14, 2024, President Deb Deres selected 4 people, plus herself, for the SPC.

April/May 2024 SPC did 23 in-depth one-on-one interviews of respected members to explore perceptions and concerns surrounding the club to become the basis for a full club survey.

June 2024 The full club survey was constructed and distributed via email. Data was collected anonymously.

July 26, 2024, The survey closed, and analysis commenced.

August 2024 The results revealed a level of concern around leadership and created discomfort within the SPC.

September 2024 Deb Deres resigned as President.

October 2024 The Nominating committee quickly named new officers who in turn shored up the Executive Committee.

November 8, 2024, Presentation to EC on the survey findings and recommendations.

The EC ratified the areas of strategic focus and asked for the SPC to complete a draft Strategic Plan for presentation on 12/6/2023. The EC chartered two task teams, one to propose a set of values, the other to research other clubs’ structures.

The draft plan proposed to the Executive Committee includes strategic objectives (indicated in bold font) and some examples of actions that might be taken to achieve them.

Core Organizational messages

Mission  

The mission of the Lenox Garden Club is to develop and stimulate interest and participation in horticulture, floral design, civic beautification, and environmental concerns among our members and the public through education, volunteerism, and financial support. The club also shares in the objectives of The Garden Club of America of which we have been a member since 1913.  (subject to review and modification as part of the strategic planning process)

Values  

The core values are Commitment and Respect which are explained, supported, and defined by the subset of complementary values.

              Commitment                               Respect

Action                                                     Cordiality

Responsibility                                        Friendship

Collaboration                                         Trust

Knowledge

Areas of Strategic Focus 

  • Leadership
  • Structure
  • Membership
  • Communications
  • Mission and Values

In each area of strategic focus, the primary strategies are shown in bold. These were voted on and approved by the Executive Committee. The other elements are clarifications and suggestions from the SPC that the EC might find useful in creating implementation plans.

Leadership

  • Employ a model of leadership that recognizes that this is an organization of volunteers.
    • Develop a culture of motivation and support that prioritizes:
      •  transparency of decision-making,
      • encourages innovation and idea generation throughout the membership,
      • acknowledges actions, successes, and results that enhance the club’s standing in the community and
      • expects everyone to be treated with respect and cordiality.
  • Clarify roles & expectations of leaders.
    • Consider providing training in leading volunteer organizations.
      • Berkshire Taconic and Berkshire Volunteer Center may be resources.
    • Consider flexibility in leadership role definitions to allow for variations depending on who fills the roles.
    • Empower committee and project chairs to manage their affairs within approved budgets.

Structure 

  • Streamline the organization to recognize the realities of members’ lives and responsibilities.
  • Simplify to reduce the number of committees.
    • Consider eradicating or pausing committees that do not secure much interest.
    • Consider combining committees and allowing them to set up task and/or topic-specific sub-groups which dissolve on task completion.
  • Explore, with zone leadership and other clubs, alternative governance, and committee structures to identify best practices.
  • Balance members’ choosing their committees with encouragement to try new things.
  • Review and revise, as needed, the financial management system to align it with changes to the mission and structure.
  • Review and revise by-laws to align them with changes to mission and structure.

Membership

  • Create a plan to support the active engagement of current and new members. o
    • Align committee assignments with members’ interests.
    • Periodically seek member input on what they want and expect.
    • Provide opportunities for meaningful interaction to foster friendships.
      • Community projects
      • Workshops
      • Social events with ‘get to know you’ activities.
  • Create multiple ways to integrate new members e.g.
    •  setting expectations of proposers in terms of introducing and mentoring,
    • activities to build a cohort of new members,
    • introductions to committees & opportunities to sample pre-official start,
    • guidance for committee chairs on involving new members.
    • consider rolling admissions.
  • Actively encourage recruitment of younger new members and plan how to get them into positions of increasing responsibility.
  • Align the calendar with member interests in terms of the number, topics, and types of meetings e.g. interactive, hybrid Zoom, optional additions to the regular monthly meeting.
  • Seek member diversification by aligning the Club with new (untapped) community organizations.

Communications

  • Develop internal & external communications plans that identify communications categories, audiences, frequency, methods of communication, and responsibilities. ○
    • Explore with the GCA Communications group what they have found to be best practices in their survey of clubs.
  • Allow for more than one way of disseminating information. For example:
    • Create an internal newsletter to keep members informed of individual committee activities & reports on significant events.
    •  Send notices via email of membership meetings and other events.
    • Provide brief introductions and reminders of events & activities at membership meetings.
    •  Develop a publicly accessible web site that showcases LGC activities, highlighting community engagement, with a private members area that provides information for and about committees, special events, interesting articles, photographs of activities, etc.
    • Create a Public Relations plan to communicate to target audiences the purpose and achievements of the LGC.
    • Set expectations in terms of civility, cordiality, and respect in all communications.

Mission & Values  

  • Review, and revise if needed, the mission statement to align it with decisions on structure and membership.
    • Review current and projected relationships with external organizations, define their strategic purpose, and clarify and formalize them as appropriate.
      •  Berkshire Botanical Gardens, The Mount, Mass. Audubon, Berkshire Natural Resources Council (BFNC), Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT), Greenagers.
    •  Consider moving to the Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values structure as per the GCA.
    • Redefine the fundraising process to link it to specific projects.
    • Create a values statement to guide culture and actions. Done, included in the introduction.

Action Steps

  • Executive Committee approval of Areas of Strategic Focus: 11-8-2023. o SPC completes proposed Strategic Plan: 11-30-2023.
  • Executive Committee reviewed, modified, and approved the Strategic Plan, and identified task teams for areas of focus: 12-6 -2023.
  • Executive Committee shares the Strategic Plan and the proposed next steps with membership: 1-10-2024
  • Executive Committee engages all interested club members in the implementation of the plan.
  • Executive Committee reviews progress at each meeting and communicates that to membership.