Implementing the Capital District Strategic Plan
by Governor Tom Ganse

Now that the 2008 House of Delegates has accepted and ratified a Strategic Plan for the District, it's time to fully explain its implementation so that all of our members can understand their roles, how they contribute to the overall success, and why it benefits them as individual members serving their local communities. Promotion and awareness are critical to succeeding, since this plan ultimately is executed at the most fundamental level by those individual Kiwanians working within their individual clubs. This plan must become common knowledge and every member must know and understand his or her role in our unified success if we are to succeed.

By way of review, this plan is designed to chart this District's course to Kiwanis' 100th anniversary. Our vision is that, by 2015, 20,000 Capital District Kiwanians will provide 350,000 service hours, invest $4,400,000 to support community needs, and sponsor 860 Service Leadership Program clubs throughout Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

We will accomplish these goals by using detailed "inchstone" steps, designated action points of contact, and due dates. The Long Range Planning Committee is already working to provide this information prior to the November 15th Board meeting. With those details in place, the Board is responsible for generating "action items" and tracking them to closure. The final key ingredient to this plan's success lies in educating our membership regarding their roles, and being responsive to their input.

Perhaps for the first time, our District has aligned a true long-term vision, knowledge of the details required to accomplish that vision, and a management structure that can track the required actions to completion. But perhaps most importantly, we have a District Plan that reflects the overarching needs of our individual clubs.

Consider the five goals of the Plan as illustrated to the left:

(1) 12% annual increase in Service Hours to 350,000 by September 2015
(2) 15% annual increase in Funds Expended to $4.4 Million by September 2015
(3) 12% annual increase in number of Service Leadership Programs to 860 clubs by September 2015
(4) 12% annual increase in net Membership by September 2015
(5) Modernizing our operating environment

Every club in this District can benefit or become stronger by accomplishing these five general goals. During the coming year, your Top Gun Lieutenant Governors will be working very closely with the club Presidents and Presidents-elect to determine each club's reasonable, expected contribution in each of these five areas, and helping them identify their own, unique "inchstones" to accomplish their goals. With that done, the Lieutenant Governors will roll the club goals together to create Division Goals. By doing so, they will be creating an effective list of club requirements that the District Board will use to task and resource the District Club Support Committees, who are then charged with providing every club with the help they require!

Taking this process even farther, the Trustees will roll together the Divisions' goals to determine the Region's goals before bringing them all together to determine whether or not we are tracking toward the current District goals. Any discrepancies will be identified by the Board, and a plan to reconcile the differences will be developed by applying additional resources, as required, or adjusting our goals.

It is very important to note that 2008-2009 is a transitional year. It is the year we will build this plan or "put the meat on the skeleton". We have a general sense of where we are going and how to get there, but our individual Kiwanians and their collective knowledge remain our single most powerful resource. We are counting on every one of you to become part of the solution, not part of the problem. If you see opportunities to improve, refine or correct this process, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to hear from you!