Running An Efficient Organization and The Use of Multimedia

2015 Midyear COSP Planning Committee

Key Aspects of A Strong Organization

Organizational Goals• Have a clear vision, mission statement, and measure

of success. By creating a clear “to-do” list with specific goals, deadlines, and the end in sight; the board can more easily take the steps toward completion of the goal.

• Use the mnemonic SMART when developing goals. This stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related.

Lead From The Front• Leaders should spend the majority of their time doing the tasks

that only they can complete. This is one of the hardest lessons for leaders to learn.

• Delegation is a vital leadership task. Not only does it prevent overworking/burnout of a single individual, it also promotes diversity of thought, and incorporates the strengths of multiple individuals.

• When possible assign management responsibilities to other members of the board. This helps to train board members other than the president skills such as management, organization of thought, and public speaking.

Tips For A New Board of Directors

• Have each individual share what they define as their strengths and weaknesses. This allows board members to recognize each others strengths, and allows them to provide support for each others weaknesses.

• Determine the interest, and passions of each individual. Rather than assigning a job, ask new members what their interest are, and which project they would be interested in working on.

NSNA Board of Directors Advice

• Encourage state presidents to develop and maintain professional relationships with each state board member.

• Do not hesitate to ask for help when needed. • Connect with previous state presidents, and the presidents of other

states for advice.• Use your previous knowledge and experience to your advantage. • Listen to all board members equally and fairly, and develop a “Rules

of Engagement” document for standards of conduct. • For the sake of progression, you may call the question during

circular discussion.

NSNA Board of Directors Advice• Develop methods of accountability such as “Rules of Engagement”,

time standards, and teamwork.• Be confident in yourself, the board, and board goals.• Develop positive methods of conflict resolution by regularly

providing resources on conflict resolution, and by providing a supportive team environment.

• Continuously study and practice parliamentary procedure• Maintain proper personal health and fitness to reduce stress, and to

promote a clear mind.• Begin your term of office with the end goal in mind, this improves

time management, and efficient.

Communication and Email ServicesGoogle Docs:• Google Docs is an office productivity suite not unlike Open Office or Microsoft Office.

Which may be used to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. Documents are saved to Google's servers and as such can be accessed from anywhere and are easy to share with others to collaborate on documents in real time

• Benefit Include:• Free Non-Profit Resources• Create dynamic shared documents• Import a variety of document types• Export to PDF and other document formats• Efficient board turn over with all files stored on Google Drive• Along with many more beneficial features

Communication and Email Services

Doodle.com:• An effective tool for finding common, available meeting times

for a group of individuals. Each person selects their availability on a simple color coded calendar which shows the most widely available time to meet.

FreeConference.com:• An another conference scheduling option suggested by

presidents on the COSP Facebook page.

Communication and Email ServicesMad Mimi – www.madmimi.com

• Easy to set up bulk email messages with a variety of templates.• Statistics including number of emails opened or bounced.• Email list can be imported and updated; allows recipients to manage their

own subscription (i.e., unsubscribe – an option to unsubscribe is required by law)

• Free Plan:• Store up to 2,500 contacts and send to 12,500 recipients per month.

That means if you have 2,500 contacts, you can send 5 message per month (5 x 2,500 = 12,500)

• Paid Plans:• Basic - $10/mo for 500 contacts and unlimited recipients• Pro - $42/mo for 10,000 contacts and unlimited recipients (2x speed)

• Notes:• Unless there are more than 2,500 contacts (or you need to send

blasts more than once a week), the free plan should suffice.

Event PlanningEventbrite:• Eventbrite.com is the most popular event planning tool

in this category.• The Eventbrite platform is intuitive, easily navigated,

provides a vast number of resources.• Event pages look professional, are easily created, and

easily spread through social media.• Sales, refunds, and event check-ins are efficient and well

managed. • Easily manage multiple events with multiple invite lists• Setup available for affiliate marketing opportunities,

allowing others to promote the event.• Cost - Charges a minimal fee on ticket sales which may

be added to or absorbed in the price.

Event PlanningFacebook Events:• Allows for individuals to “invite friends” as a

simple and effective feature to spread opportunities online.

• Consider making your Facebook event stand out by marketing a chat or live-stream of the event. This allows people this allows people unable to attend to participate and promote the event.

Event PlanningVITE- http://vite.io/• Free, easy, simple, and quick invite tool on

Twitter. With the ability to shared Facebook, Instagram or Google+

• Fast and easy set-up of an event, ability for participants to RSVP, increased ability to spread the event through social

Event Planning

Google Maps – https://maps.google.com/• If the event involves multiple venues or for

participants to travel by vehicle, a Google map can be created to provide information on the location and directions.

• Google maps also provides users with restaurants and businesses in close proximity of the given location.

JotForm – www.jotform.com • Used by NSNA• Includes multiple integrations

• Connect to Dropbox or Google Drive (and Google Sheets) to store submission info (including uploaded files)

• Connect to MadMimi and MailChimp• Connect to Paypal along with other payment services

to receive payments• Free Plan

• 100 entries/mo; 100MB storage; unlimited forms

Online Forms and Payments

Smartphone AppsYapp - www.yapp.us Do it yourself App builder within the Yapp App. This is Perfect

for displaying event information.• Through Yapp, you can create an event with pages with:

• Information on the event• Schedules• Speakers or other individuals such as Board Members• Polls• Videos/Photos

• A unique URL is assigned to your app. Send this link to your members. When they click the link from their mobile device, your event opens directly in the Yapp app (free for iOS/Android). If the user does not already have the Yapp app installed, then your link will automatically forward to iOS or Google app store page for easy/immediate installation.