IPRA Today

With our new board in place, and new Chair Rick Hanetho at the helm, we are ready to start our new 2015 work plan — a part of our rolling strategic plan — which we recently updated for the next five years. Below is a summarized list of items you can expect to see us working on throughout 2015, as part of this new plan:

•    Reach new target audiences for membership and events.
•    Further develop our relationships with other state associations to provide joint education to better serve professionals in the area, adding to the members’ networking opportunities, and elevating IPRA’s image.
•    Pursue new areas of revenue growth to support our mission, including grants and sponsorships.
•    Pursue new ways to support our members and this will help us grow.
•    Streamline the scholarship process for students and professionals through the foundation.
•    Roll out our new online communities.
•    Partner with schools to create stronger connections with students.
•    Educate the public about the value of parks and recreation.
•    Actively pursue improvements to our conference.
•    Elevate IPRA’s image in the media and the public, which will allow us to be more effective in educating the public about parks and recreation.
•    Develop our reputation with our donors.
•    Actively benchmark ourselves related to diversity and inclusion, creating strategies to develop a diverse membership and conference attendance base.           
•    Implement programs to support our young professional (under 40) members.           
•    Identify services which may specifically benefit people in the Central and Southern regions.   
•    Create a Volunteer Career Path to allow for members to get more involved with IPRA, making room for new leaders to gain experience.             
•    Develop our board through an annual board evaluation and ongoing board governance education.
•    Develop research collaborations and funding opportunities.           
•    Develop new ways that we can gather and distribute information to our members, including through networking.           
•    Continue the ProConnect program and continue to build on it.
•    Diversify our revenue streams to that we are less dependent on any one area of funding, protecting our financial base.           

As Chair Rick Hanetho says in his article, we are always starting with the "why." And the "why" behind this plan is the same as when it was designed in the summer of 2013. We want to compete with ourselves first, to be the best the association for you, our members. We want to provide quality services to you in an accessible way and we want to continue to identify new ways to serve you through new programs. A key piece in our strategic plan is rolling out our public education campaign, "Unplug Illinois" and this is to help you do your jobs better by raising an interest in your local communities and helping to bring people to your programs through our Community Calendar and the consumer website that we plan to roll out in 2015. To do this, we have to manage our expansions by finding ways to pay for them and that comes with sponsorship, grants, and revenue development. When we put it all together, the "why" is because we believe we can listen to our members needs and always strive to serve you better. With that in mind, I hope you will join us in these new programs and the exciting year ahead of us!

Debbie Trueblood, CAE
Executive Director

 

We all know what we do, some of us know how we do it, but very few can clearly articulate why we do what we do.  Simon Sinek, leadership expert and author of the book "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action," breaks down this concept in great detail. He notes that the most successful organizations and people think inside out. Start with Why, then How, and then What.

If we don’t start with Why, our industry’s incredibly powerful message and story is often lost because we focus too much time, energy, and effort on what we do.  We get caught up in the speed of light lifestyle texting, e-mailing, juggling task to task, in a manic frenzy only to leave work exhausted with little sense of real accomplishment.  We are overwhelmed, stressed out, burned out, and frustrated.

We need to change how we do business.  We need to start with Why! 

Let me share a story related to how changing our thinking from what we do to why we do it can lead to an extremely powerful message.

Every January we mail W-2 forms to our employees.  That is what we do.

Most organizations send them through the United States Postal Service.  That is how we do it.

Why?  Because it is required by law. But, wait. Perhaps there is a story that is worth telling that reinforces why our industry is so vital and unique compared to any other industry? Consider the following:

In 2014 the Northbrook Park District issued 769 W-2’s.  So what!?

 56% (429) of those W-2’s went to teens and young adult’s ages 16 – 25 totaling just over 1.2 million dollars in gross wages.

So, why is this important?  Please read the following testimonials.



So Why is this so important?

1.    W-2 data has validated that we are the largest employer of teens and young adults.
2.    1.2 Million Dollars in gross wages is an investment in our future not a burden on tax payers.
3.    Teens spend a significant portion of their money locally enhancing the local economy.
4.    Working for a park district teaches invaluable life skills no matter what industry you choose to pursue.

Imagine if we told this story on a statewide or national basis.  Does it change your perspective?  Start with Why.

Rick Hanetho
Executive Director, Northbrook Park District