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What’s Your Perception?

June 30 2019 admin TRC, Uncategorized, YGM 0 comments

Perception.

So much of the way each of our lives are arranged is based upon perception – our perception of the world around us, our perception of ourselves, the perception of the people around us.

Perception, though, is not always reality. That’s why you rarely see the ‘real life’ of anyone through the photos on Facebook and Instagram. Take a moment… how often do you see a photo of someone not looking his or her best?

Recently, I was in a hotel and took the photo above depicting a beautiful, tranquil view of a stunning sunset. The actual photo is below – see all the bird poop out there? Did I utilize the balcony? No. But I easily could have edited this photo to make it seem like the photo I described above.

When my social media contacts saw the photos, they would have seen what I wanted them to see. Their perception of the photo would have created a new reality of the scene.

Your business members are no different from my social media contacts. They have perceptions of your Chamber and the value your Chamber provides to their businesses.

When you think of your sponsorships, think of the perceived value of them, not the actual value. Think of it another way… consider the perception of your sponsorship, not the actual cost of the sponsorship.

For a majority of your sponsorships, the perceived value of your top-level sponsorships should be much higher in the value of deliverable benefits.

In contrast, the sponsorship for the table decorations at the annual meeting will likely not sell for what it costs you to purchase the centerpieces. The perceived value on this particular sponsorship is simply much lower than others.

Does that mean you don’t offer that as a sponsorship? Of course not! You’re just going to price it with the sponsor in mind. The flowers might cost you $2,500. Your sponsorship will probably only be priced at $500… perception is at play here.

Chambers often over-give benefits to validate the cost of a sponsorship when what they need to do is properly evaluate the perceived value. You’ll go bankrupt trying to “make the sponsorship worth the cost.” Instead, do an honest evaluation of what the perception of the sponsorship really is and base both the level and the price on that.

Perceived value is the tactic businesses use to price their goods, products, and services. Supply and demand are influenced by perceived value. Starting pricing your Chamber’s goods with perceived value in mind.

When you begin pricing sponsorships with perceived value in mind, you’ll begin to serve your Chamber better.

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Who is the Best TRC Chair for your Campaign?

March 21 2018 admin Uncategorized, Volunteers, YGM 0 comments Tags: chair, total resource campaign, TRC, volunteers

If you have ever conducted a Total Resource Campaign, you know that in many ways, they become synonymous with their chairs. When I begin to discuss a TRC with a Chamber and to strategize for it, thinking of who would be an ideal chair is one of the first things we bring into focus.

As with most things in a TRC, there is no cookie cutter answer to the question,

“Who would be a good Chair?”

You have to consider various factors. And you have to consider them every single year. A TRC is ever-changing, and if you want it to be ever-successful, you have to change with it. Let’s look at some of the factors you should consider when selecting the individual to lead your campaign and to serve as the public face of the endeavor.

This person should be high-profile in the community. You want people in your community talking about the TRC. Having a CEO or influential business leader whom people know and respect will stir conversations and get that chatter about the TRC going. It will also lend instant credibility to the Campaign simply because of the character of the chair.

This person should have enough contacts in the community to be able to easily select a team of vice chairs or team captains. Your chair will need to have a broad reach of contacts within the community so that he or she can select additional campaign leaders from a variety of business communities. The greater the reach the campaign has, the more successful it will be. Be sure to encourage new chairs each year. Going to the same people each year will yield the same results each year. Growth is always the goal.

Ideally, your chair will come from a business which will be able to field a volunteer team in the TRC. A potential chair who cannot bring a full team of volunteers suggests to me that this individual does not have enough personal business contacts of his or her own to successfully lead a TRC. Consider the sphere of influence.

Is this your first TRC or your third? If you are on your third or fourth annual campaign, you may notice a stagnation in your volunteers and in your success if you aren’t shaking things up. If all of your volunteers stay the same from year to year, and if you simply move a Vice Chair to Chair each year, you aren’t injecting the Campaign with new blood. Thus, no new businesses will be reached, and no growth will be achieved.

A Chamber I have worked with for years came to me as they were beginning their 4th year campaign. The staff leadership approached me with the idea of asking the CEO of a construction company, someone who had never been involved in the campaign.

I pointed out that this individual had been involved as he and his company had purchased multiple sponsorships in many of their prior TRCs and had been quite supportive of their endeavors. He also had the potential to open doors to both volunteers and sponsors in a variety of new businesses that this chamber had not tapped previously.

As I listed the array of potential businesses that might become sponsors, members, and volunteers because of the involvement of this one individual – who did meet the above criteria – the staff quickly became excited about their own idea.

Look beyond the pool of volunteers and executives you work with already. Don’t be afraid to shake things up. Without new voices, there cannot be new growth.

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Don’t forget to show the love to your volunteers this Valentine’s Day

February 12 2018 admin People, TRC, Volunteers, YGM 0 comments

As I spent some time this weekend thinking about Valentine’s Day, I was reminded of a post I wrote a couple years ago about showing love for our volunteers – at Valentine’s and throughout the years.

When I went back and read the post again, I found that all of the tips I gave still hold true. Volunteers are the backbone of a Total Resource Campaign (TRC) and, really, of any good endeavor.

I do have a few new ideas that I would like to share with you.

Sometimes we roll our eyes at suggestions and ideas that we deem “cheesy” or “corny,” but those are often the simplest to execute and the best received ideas.

Today, run out to a local market and buy a box of Valentine cards – you know the ones… you have likely purchased them for your children. Buy a box or two – or 10 – and think of the volunteers to whom you would like to send an unexpected surprise.

Sign the cards “We love our TRC Volunteers,” or “We love what you do for our TRC,” or “We love the support you give our Chamber.” Customize it for your volunteers. Add a piece or a tiny bag of Valentine candy & you have a wonderful surprise. Spend tomorrow and Wednesday dropping these gifts off at their offices around town. Without a doubt you will start to see little thank yous start to show up on social media from grateful volunteers.

Speaking of social media, don’t forget to use these handy tools. You should have gotten your volunteers’ social media information and can post photos and congrats/words of appreciate on your social media, linking to each volunteer’s personal accounts. Everyone enjoys kind words of appreciation and recognition. Feature not just your campaign’s top three producers but all of those volunteers who make your chamber’s events and programs special.

While Valentine’s Day is an easy tie-in to sharing some love for your volunteers, don’t stop there. The very best TRCs are done by organizations that support and encourage their volunteers throughout the year. Diane Poole of the Trussville (Ala.) Area Chamber of Commerce sent sparklers to their volunteers on the 4th of July with notes saying, “You make us sparkle and shine! Thanks for all you do for the Chamber and our TRC!”

With volunteers and TRCs, little things mean a lot. The work done throughout the year can pay big dividends during the TRC itself.

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It’s never too late to keep your resolutions

February 07 2018 admin Blog, TRC, YGM 0 comments

It’s now early February, and we are well into 2018.

When you and your staff began planning 2018 last year, did you approach it with a wish list of desired accomplishments? Did you and your Board conduct strategic planning meetings and lay out a plan for what you hoped 2018 would bring?

Now that January has concluded and we are a week in February, do some of those goals and plans feel more like New Year’s resolutions than actual goals – excellent ideas but difficult to set into motion?

Like resolutions, goals should always be approached with the mindset that it is never too late to start over… or to simply start.

When you and your staff and your Board began to make your goals for 2018, was a Total Resource Campaign (TRC) on your list? Was adding more members, improving your volunteer base, finding innovative programs, or improving attendance at current events on your list?

A TRC is not simply about the end results of financial stability, though that is certainly nice. A TRC provides more than just financial resources for your organization.
• A TRC engages more members than ever before into your program of work.
• A TRC draws more new volunteers into your organization.
• A TRC creates a grassroots marketing campaign for your organization in your community.

Despite all of these benefits, one of the best advantages of a TRC is that it serves as a strategic planning tool and an organizational checklist for you and your organization as you plan for your campaign. While laying the ground work for your campaign, you have the opportunity to take a hard look at your organization and see your strengths and to see places where improvements can be made.

Before the campaign ever begins its public phase, the detailed work of strategically reviewing your organization’s events, programs and possibilities begins. It is during this time that you can begin to see new opportunities and can also begin to see places where changes can be made. Growth is often experienced during this planning phase.

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Get Creative with your Team Motivation

December 20 2017 admin Blog, Chambers, TRC, Volunteers, YGM 0 comments Tags: total resource campaign, TRC, volunteers

We talk a lot about how important it is to motivate our volunteers, both during the Total Resource Campaign and following the campaign. But it can be challenging to find ways to motivate those volunteers. Finding creative ways can be even more challenging.

Even if it sounds cheesy – or worse, lazy – take the opportunity to use obvious things and holidays around you. People love cheesy, and it makes for great entertainment and motivation.

At a recent Rally Session at the Ozark Chamber, the keynote speaker was Harold Phillips of Ozark Bank. He presented the following poem to the group. (Many thanks to Mr. Phillips for allowing us to use his creation.)

An Adaptation of the Night Before Christmas

By Clement C. Moore

Twas the month before Christmas and all through the town
You could hear the teams stirring both uphill and down
The goals had been set and summed up with great care
The Total Resource Campaign finally was there

The teams had been chosen with captains as heads
With visions and strategies their teams they led
Some days they wore kerchiefs and sometimes a cap
They talked TRC and they’re closing the gap

For out on the street you can hear all the clatter
The Chamber is working for those things that matter
They found business sponsors for trade goods or cash
They all hit the streets and it spread like a flash

Their message was fresh as the new fallen snow
Did their work for the Chamber they’re still on the go
And what are they selling? You ask without fear
They’re selling the future for those who live here

They were cheered by their leader in high heels and britches
You all know her name yes she’s Andrea Sitzes
More rapid than eagles these coursers they came
If you’ll give me a second, I’ll tell you each name

There is an Angel and Griffin, Jadonna and Abbye
Tenye and Lisa, Amanda and Cathi
Heather, Joy, Jenna, Mike, Lisa, and Jane,
Melanie, Cindy, Michaela, and Shane,
Marrhya and Joshua, Stacy and John
Sometimes it seems lists of names just go on

To the top of the list to the top of the Wall!
You’re doing great work said Campaign Chair Jane Paul

And then in a twinkling I heard their successes
The way that they work – well it really impresses
So out to each business those coursers they flew
With sponsorships, spotlights and vendor booths too

Their eyes how they twinkled their voices how merry
The work that they’re doing is great! Oh yes very!
They’re wrapping the Resource Campaign in a week
And just let me say their performance is sleek!

If that jolly old elf who each year in December
Were standing here now he would say please remember
With a wink of his eye and a “Twist” of his head
He would tell you that you have not one thing to dread

For the teams sprang to action and took to their work
They are getting so close to the goal! Go berserk!
Then laying his finger aside of his nose
Watch the total he’d say and see how high it goes

Then he’d spring to his sleigh to his team give a whistle
And away they would fly like the down of a thistle
You would hear him exclaim as he drove out of sight
Total Resource Campaigns a success! Now Good Night!

Be creative with your volunteers. Motivate them. Appreciate them.

Merry Christmas from YGM.

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Taking the Uncertainty out of Sponsorship

October 15 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: chamber, sponsorship development, total resource campaign, TRC, YGM

If your chamber is thinking about a sponsorship plan, there isn’t one perfect plan, just like there isn’t one perfect chamber. Your leadership needs to evaluate various types of plans and determine what will work best for your chamber.

There are four types of sponsorship plans:

Per event
Annual bundled program
Sponsorships through tiered memberships
Total resource campaigns.

Once your chamber identifies what type of plan it has or would like to execute, it needs to determine the goals of the plan.

Are you looking strictly for financial revenue?
Do you want to initiate organizational pride?
Are you looking for an increase in awareness for your organization throughout the community?

Next, your chamber will need to determine what inventory will be included in the plan. Items we are seeing trending nationally include:

Workforce Development/Education programming and events
Women’s initiatives
Medical events & First Responder recognition programs

Educational seminars during the lunch hour (aka “Boxed Lunch & Learn” series with attendance cost of $10-25) are being replaced with substantial professional development programs – at least half a day – with at least $100 admission. Chamber leadership programs are being reinvented to include professional development components as business leaders are saying “city field trips” aren’t enough any more.

Selling the Inventory

Once your inventory is established, you have to make certain you can articulate your programs. If you can’t explain it in a very short narrative, you probably won’t be able to sell it because your sponsor won’t be able to sell it to their customer base either.

You also need to be sure you can answer what the program is really worth. Beyond the budget, is the topic relevant and unique, and is the audience popular to the sponsorship.

Think through the real value of each sponsorship, of how a business could market it, of how a business could benefit from it.

If you need help working through the details of sponsorships, contact YGM at ebey@nullygmtrc.com. We will be happy to discuss it with you.

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Looking to Increase Sponsorships

October 09 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, sponsorship development, TRC, YGM

Be the Change Your Chamber Needs

This summer’s 2016 ACCE Conference in Savannah, Ga., was amazing, and I keep thinking about how sponsorship development was the hot topic. We were delighted that all the sessions on sponsorship were relocated into the overflow room due to such tremendous interest.

I co-presented “Sponsorship Strategy: Organizing for Success” with Loren Traylor of the Birmingham Business Alliance at the ACCE.

The great tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” His theory applies to most of life, but especially to sponsorship development.

Define Sponsorships

In creating a sponsorship plan, a chamber must first have sponsorship. Nationally, we are seeing a trend with many nonprofit organizations – from schools to churches to regional charities – using the term “sponsor” for a variety of meanings. This is affecting the corporate landscape and how chambers are able to secure sponsorship dollars.

When YGM trains volunteers all over the country to execute a Total Resource Campaign – just one form of an organized sponsorship plan – many volunteers will express a sense of exhaustion of having to volunteer to go secure another sponsorship.

They will say “we just had to get a sponsor for Sally’s soccer uniform last week” or “Johnny’s Boy Scout troop was just getting sponsors for camp last month.” However, following training and securing an understanding of Chamber sponsorships, they quickly articulate “these are not sponsorships.”

How TRC Sponsorships are Different

What a YGM sponsorship is all about is talking to business contacts about utilizing the chamber for marketing and advertising of their business. Asking business owners about these sponsorships are much different – and often much easier – asks.

An organized sponsorship plan will increase your financial resources, grassroots marketing, and volunteer involvement while providing the chambers with both program and staff development.

The fall is an excellent time to begin planning for your chamber’s future. If you would like to speak with us at YGM about how we can help, you may reach us at ebey@nullygmtrc.com.

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Building New Ties This Summer

June 20 2016 admin YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, American Chamber of Commerce Executives, conferences, Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives, Institute, Mississippi Economic Development Council, TCCE, TRC

Last week, I saw lots of posts about the Midwest Institute program. As I was packing for the first conference I would attend this summer with YGM, I couldn’t help but think about what I love most about conferences and Institute programs.

When I was a Chamber executive myself – especially when I first began chamber work – I made a point to attend every educational opportunity possible. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the chamber industry so that I could bring the “next big thing” back to my Chamber.

What I soon realized was that I gained something at these events that was more important than the educational information. I gained relationships that benefitted me both personally and professionally.

Many of my Institute friends shared in the joy of the birth of my daughters. People I met at conferences have given me valuable ideas for both my own chambers and chambers I have assisted during my time at YGM.

Just last week, I texted a chamber friend to ask the name of a sponsorship I knew that friend’s chamber had done and that I wanted to suggest for a new client. We have worked together through the years to make one another better.

Now that I’m on the consultant side of the table, I am a vendor at conferences hoping to share new educational information with chamber executives. My favorite part of conferences is still meeting new people and building strong relationships. It’s also good to catch up with old friends.

If you find yourself at a conference this summer and see the YGM booth, please stop by. If I am speaking at a presentation you attend, take an extra moment to stop and introduce yourself when the presentation is finished. I would love to meet you and discover what we could learn from one another.

I would also love to share with you the benefits of a TRC , learn more about your chamber, and just get to know you personally. I’m here at the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Conference until Tuesday. I was a panelist in the session on “The ABCs of TRCs” and had a wonderful time meeting some great folks.

Here is my summer conference schedule:

* TCCE: Until tomorrow (June 21)

* Mississippi Economic Development Council: June 22-24

Connections2016 Chamber Track Presenter

* Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives: July 20-22

* American Chamber of Commerce Executives: August 9-12

Panelist: Sponsorship Strategy: Organizing for Success

I look forward to seeing you at a conference this summer. Enjoy your time learning about how to make your chamber better. Remember that the best things you learn this summer will probably not be things at all. Those new relationships will probably be the best building blocks in your career that you could add all summer.

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Why Education Initiatives Build Chambers and Communities

May 06 2016 admin Chambers, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, education, Horizon Initiative, National Education Week, TRC, US Chamber of Commerce

If you can read this, you should thank a teacher.

This has been National Teacher Appreciation Week, which is sponsored by the National Education Association. At YGM, we’re quite fond of teachers. We respect them, honor them, and deeply appreciate them.

When I begin working with a Chamber and see that they have a strong Education program, I am encouraged by their commitment to the community.

The US Chamber of Commerce says, “A strong education system is crucial to preparing young people for good jobs and bright futures and sustaining a 21st century workforce that can compete in the global economy.”

Their position is that few initiatives have a greater impact on the future of this country and its prosperity and competitive standing in the world than our educational system.

According to recent statistics provided by the US Chamber of Commerce, approximately 70 percent of students in the United States aren’t proficient in reading or math on an international level.

If you aren’t sure how your state measures up or why this matters, Achieving Tomorrow has a map that can help. The interactive map of the country allows users to click each state and see educational demographics such as state standards and assessments, reading and math proficiencies, and the skills gap on post-secondary education.

As per the Achieving Tomorrow website, approximately 60 percent of first-year college students require remediation in English or math.

The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) discussed the importance of education in their recent report: Horizon Initiative: Chambers 2025.

In 2014, the ACCE launched the Horizon Initiative Task Force to tap into the collective chamber wisdom as well as other resources to predict how each organization might evolve during the coming decade.

The Scarcity and Abundance Influence section of the report states, “By fostering education attainment initiatives, chambers can address skills-jobs disconnects and tap the abundance of employment opportunities.”

“Half of the children who enter ninth grade in urban public schools will not come out of high school ready for career or college,” the report states in the Population Shift Influence section.

These are the statistics that reinforce why it is so important for Chambers, businesses and individuals to rally behind the movement to improve our educational system.

As we all know, investing Chamber dollars in educational programming is investing in the future of the community.

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Show Some Volunteer Love this Valentine’s Day

February 12 2016 admin Volunteers, YGM 0 comments Tags: volunteers

This is Valentine’s weekend. I’m not stating anything overly obvious, as I’m sure everyone has had a florist or two drop by the office today with deliveries of flowers or chocolates. Or if you happen to be stuck in an airport, I’m sure you’ve watched more than one fellow traveler pick out a pink or red gift from the duty free store to take home.

Whether you think Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year or the most commercial, it is a pretty easy opportunity to capitalize on the calendar in order to show your volunteers some love.

Volunteer Love
When I talk with Total Resource Campaign (TRC) clients about their campaigns and the follow-up needed after the campaign, I always stress that it is all about making the volunteers feel important and valued.

A volunteer who feels like he or she is really integral to the Chamber and the life of the programs at the Chamber is a volunteer who will continue to bring in new sponsorships and members for years to come.

And while there are layers upon layers of ways to make those volunteers feel special throughout the year, this commercial love-filled holiday gives you a ready-made opportunity. Seize it.

Love Notes
Many chambers use Constant Contact to communicate with their volunteers via email (ALL should, as Constant Contact provides its services to Chambers of Commerce at a discount.). The email marketing website has pre-made Valentine’s Day templates ready for you to use.

Just log on, pick your template, write a quick message to your volunteers telling them how ‘sweet’ you think each and every one of them is, choose the appropriate mail list, and you’re done.

In about 15 minutes, you’ve sent your volunteers a note to tell them how special they are.

Public Professions of Love
Take it to the streets, so to speak. Flip through those group shots of your volunteers and post a few on your social media sites with captions telling how grateful you are to have such supportive volunteers. Tag everyone in the photos to make sure the photos show up where their friends and co-workers will see them.

Post a few photos to your Chamber website if you have a photo gallery. Post links to the gallery on your social media sites to encourage traffic, both for your Chamber exposure and for your volunteers to get that little boost in exposure as well. Send a quick link to the CEOs of those volunteers’ businesses.

Love Lottery
If your Chamber is hosting a fund-raiser this weekend or in the coming weeks, do a random drawing from the names of the volunteers and give away two free tickets to the event.

You’ll make one volunteer’s day, and you’re sure to get some free publicity for the event from all of the social media posts the volunteer will give you.

Love your Volunteers
Chambers who do well are grateful for their volunteers. They nurture that relationship year-round. And while it may seem silly, they take the opportunities to thank them and to make them feel appreciated, even if those opportunities are commercial and hokey.

Go on, spread some volunteer love this afternoon.

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