Board sets goal of growing to 500 members by January 2011 – 5×11
UPDATE: WE MADE IT! Come join us in celebrating reaching this goal and continuing to grow at our February Third Thursday on February 17th, 2011 at Hilton Slussen in Stockholm!
At its 2009 August planning retreat, our Board made a commitment to grow our Club from 300+, to 500 Members – by 2011! Our “5by11” goal this represents more than a 50% increase in membership in over just 15 months.
At year-end 2010, it appears we may have reached our goal but we are still accounting for prior members who have not renewed their membership. At the very least, we know we’re close! And that’s exactly what we intend to celebrate at our February 17th Third Thursday in 2011. Watch our website for details!
Below you will find an outline of how the Board proposed to get our club to 5by11. Reaching our goal hinged on 5 key strategies, comprised of 11 action items – yet another example of 5by11!
| I. OFFER VALUE ADDED MEMBERSHIP: Provide added-value for ACS Membership. | Promote new Family Membership class and offer more family-oriented events. |
| Provide a Membership premium to Members joining mid-year. | |
| Establish an Events bulletin board where the entire Swedish-American | |
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community in Sweden can post events of common interest.
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| II. DEVELOP STRATEGIC ALLIANCES: Pursue new, and solidify existing alliances with organizations that will benefit from knowing of ACS, and arrange activities and information-sharing of joint interest. | Strengthen ties to U.S. Embassy, including US Embassy Community |
| Association (USECA). | |
| Establish ties with the Stockholm office of the Fulbright Commission to | |
| attract new members and benefit from volunteer administrative services. | |
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III. INCREASE CLUB VISIBILITY: Increase awareness of ACS among the Swedish-American community throughout Sweden, and in the US. |
Expand partnership with Nordstjernan newspaper in US, to open avenues for |
| new members and communications with the Swedish-American community. | |
| Provide Members with branding tools such as lapel pins, branded shirts and more | |
| Promote networking opportunities for current Members to introduce others to our club | |
| IV. ENGAGE IN COMMUNITY SERVICE: Demonstrate the American spirit of volunteerism in Sweden. | Pursue community service activities that enable Members to become personally involved in projects that improve the welfare of others. |
| Enlist and enable Club members to be more active in volunteering their time and skills. | |
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V. STRENGTHEN CLUB ADMINISTRATION: Conduct an “extreme makeover” of current routines and platforms to ensure an adequate foundation for future Club growth. |
Revamp Club Treasury and IT functions to increase business efficiencies around membership dues, registration and payments for, and posting of, Club events |