“It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute,” Will Rogers as told to me by the late Lowell Hedges, professor, the Ohio State University.
Isn’t that right? We as economic development professionals spend our lifetime building a good reputation, through trust, and transparency. I can add setting expectations, follow-through, and meeting (exceeding) those expectations. Your communities, colleagues and family members expect and rely on it. You expect it with your people and organizations.
One of the ways is to provide our members with the financial status of the organization. The NREDA Board takes its fiscal responsibilities very seriously and reviews month-end financial statements at each of its six board meetings throughout the year. The FY21 financials can find these documents in the members-only section of the NREDA website:
here. Please take a moment to review them and if you have questions, let us know.
Another important way is to provide two-way communication between the membership and the board thru the
biannual member survey. Board leaders want to provide value for your membership dollars and while it’s a bit long – it is chock full of valuable information from members on the services NREDA provides to rural economic developers.
The NREDA Board takes these survey results into their biannual strategic planning exercise, trying to make the rubber meet the road. Each committee (Membership, Publications & Marketing, Professional Development, Annual Conference, Rural Issues, Strategic Alliances) drills down on the questions/answers for their specific responsibilities.
NREDA conducts the ‘business of the association’ at the Annual Meeting held each year during the annual conference. This is the chance for open, public discussion about how the association is faring, what the association is working on, and ratifying the election of directors or any bylaws changes.
As an organization, we value and thank you for your investment in NREDA as a trusted source of economic development training, networking, and information. We ask for your continued input and questions grace as we continue to work to build on our reputation and your trust. We will focus on setting and exceeding your expectations as our members, with your help.
Until next month, keep the faith!
Dan Boysel, NREDA President
