Strategic Planning
A Society Priority in 2004

The year 2004 should he significant in the continuing development of our 104-year-old organization. Members of our Board of Directors and our advisory board are engaging in a strategic planning process. It will result in a clear statement of mission, vision, principles, and a series of goal statements that will direct the organization in the years to come.

Brainstorming sessions are an essential part of the process. One was held in Springfield in connection with the February 21 business meeting of the Board of Directors and the advisory board. The second will convene on Thursday afternoon, April 22, in Elgin in connection with the Annual Meeting, April 23 and 24. Such sessions are a good means of identifying a group's strengths and weaknesses, its opportunities, challenges, and threats.

Our Committees Play an Essential Role
In addition, I intend that our committees be involved in the planning process. I have asked each committee chair to convene the members and generate ideas for fine-tuning, improving, maintaining, adding, and eliminating programs, projects, and procedures. Committees did this in 2000, generating many good ideas. This time the ideas will be reviewed and synthesized, along with the ideas from the brainstorming session, into a draft strategic plan for discussion and ultimate approval by the Board of Directors later this year.

Our committees tend to fall into three clusters that reflect our three major types of activities: The first are those that provide a statewide service. These are awards to teachers, authors, and projects of local historical societies and museums; recognition of businesses and other organizations in existence for at least 100 years; and our markers program, which originated in the 1930s. Together these constitute our award and recognition functions.

Another cluster of committees deals with activities that directly serve our individual members. These focus on the written word: our popular history magazine, Illinois Heritage; our scholarly Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, now in its 96th year of publication; the Visions calendar; our book sales; and the Illinios History Symposium, which focuses on the presentation of papers. Better defining our role vis-a-vis the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which has some similar programs, is a part of our strategic planning activity.

A third group of committees reflects activities that serve the organization itself audit, finance, nomination, membership, development, and the executive committee. They represent the "governance" or infrastructure functions that all groups must have. Coming out of the planning process will be some ideas about how the work of these committees can be strengthened.

The Benefits of a Strategic Plan
Developing, carrying out, and periodically revising a strategic plan will contribute significantly to the future success and stability of our Society. A plan is helpful in the orientation of new directors and advisory board members, in the allocation of staff time on a day-to-day basis, in the continuing development of the Board of Directors in policy setting and program evaluations. A plan is vital in appealing for grants from foundations and other sources of revenue. Members themselves are likely to be more receptive to fund-raising appeals when they know that the Society has in place a well-presented plan.

The Directors Matching Fund Program
Foundations in particular are interested in how many members financially support the Society beyond membership dues and payment of fees at Society events. Accordingly, in December, the Society launched the Directors Matching Fund program. Any Society member who contributes at the level of $250 or more will have that amount matched dollar for dollar from funds contributed by members of the Board of Directors.

Already some two-dozen members have stepped forward to take advantage of this opportunity for doubling gifts to the Society. Please consider joining them. Now that is the way to impress foundations and other funders.

David W. Scott
President

Illinois Heritage | 3