Standards of Excellence Committee

April 29, 2015

Attendees: Paul Scott, AIDS Services of Austin; Kent Herring, Family Eldercare; Sam Woollard, WNA; Lily Wein, WNA

The following are highlights and action items from the meeting:

  • 2015 Buddy Program

Attendees paired the following buddies:

Budding Buddy Program

  • Emily Cicchini, BookSpring with Suki Steinhauser, Communities In Schools
  • Parc Smith, American YouthWorks with Mark Kiester, Boys and Girls Club
  • Andy Miller, Any Baby Can with George Miller, CommUnityCare

Peer to Peer Buddy Program

  • Paul Scott, AIDS Services of Austin with Andy Miller, Any Baby Can

Action Items: Paul will ask Susan McDowell if she can continue to participate as a seasoned ED mentor this year. Lily will ask Ginger Stieber, the new ED of the Christi Center, if she would like to participate in the Budding Buddy Program. If so, she can be paired with Amy Temperley.

  • Focus on Standards Trainings & Critical Conversations in 2015
  • Recap of standards discussion at membership meeting – Keeping the Wheels On When Key Employees Leave

At the April membership discussion on how to deal when key employees leave, members expressed interest in having a list of member-vetted resources. Based on this, the Standards Committee proposed the following:

  1. Develop a list of members that have gone through transitional issues and are willing to be contacted by other members on those issues. Potential resource areas could include: merger acquisition; leadership transition change/key staff change; facilities updates/construction; IT changes; website redesign; effective dashboard indicators (finance, development, and programmatic), and grant requirement compliance.
  2. Develop a list of Executive Directors who have used different vendors, firms, and systems and are willing be contacted by other members about their experience. Potential topics could include: software (development, accounting, programmatic), marketing/communications, consultants, and IT.
  3. Develop a list of recommended questions for EDs to ask consultants or transition firms they are considering.

Action Items: The Standards Committee will run these ideas by the membership to determine interest. Sam and Paul will schedule a meeting with Matt Kouri and/or Tara Kirkland at Greenlights to discuss the need for interim fundraising and finance leadership.

  • Review draft RFA for trainer

Attendees reviewed the draft RFA and proposed minor changes. Action Items: Sam will incorporate the final changes. Paul and Kent will send Sam and Lily the contact information for consultants whom they would like to receive the RFA.

  • Discuss/plan for upcoming trainings

Attendees discussed holding a training on national labor standard changes (related to exempt vs. non-exempt employees, social media restrictions on employees, etc) in September. Action Items: Sam will ask Karen Delaney Smith if she would be willing to lead this training.

  • Other Ways to Amplify Standards

Attendees discussed creating opportunities for members to submit questions (via hard copy questionnaire, OVCT newsletter, website, etc), that the Standards Committee could answer at the membership meetings. The responses could also be posted in a FAQ section on the website. Action Items: Paul will propose to the Executive Committee that 15 minutes is designated at membership meetings for a “Have You Heard” Standards Q&A.