Is your society successful and growing? Or do you belong to a status quo society?
When you offer a suggestion or a new way of doing something, does the leadership in your genealogical society say, “No. We’ve always done it this way” or do your leaders say, “Let’s discuss and give it a try”?
When questioned about rising costs and diminishing revenue, do your board members shrug their shoulders and blame forces beyond their control or do they set up working teams to address issues and provide solutions?
George G. Morgan, in the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ webinar, The Shape of the 21st Century Genealogical Society, describes genealogical societies who do not change as status quo societies. Even with membership dwindling, status quo societies do not want or do not know how to adapt to today’s trends.
In this free one-hour webinar, Mr. Morgan offers several best practices of successful societies to help stimulate those who may be struggling for new ideas. The boards of societies interested in growing and thriving should watch this webinar. At the very least, it will generate an interesting discussion among the board members.
Here is a sampling of some of the best practices Mr. Morgan discusses.
- Give your society a public face. Get out in the public. Expand your visibility.
- Involve your society in local public events.
- Develop outreach programs.
- Run your society like a company.
- Provide tangible value to your members by offering training in traditional and technological resources.
- Create a dynamic website and blog.
- Develop two-way communication with your members.
- Intersperse technology programs with traditional programs.
- Form special interest groups.
- Engage speakers for electronic presentations via webinars or Skype.
The webinar is part of the FGS strategy series and it includes a three-page handout.
