I recently attended an educational session on rebranding your organization and wrote this post on from my notes.
Expectations vs Reality!
Expectations vs Reality!
Change is
hard and most people don't like it. Who should
you involve in getting from A to B?
Do you use
an outside group to help in the transition?
Most will tell you this is key!
Get outside expertise to get the ball rolling.
First step
is to acknowledge that you need to change:
- Buy-in first from the CEO and then rally the troops - staff and volunteers
- Everyone needs to be on the same page
- Remember, rebranding is not about changing your logo
Brand =
Reputation
Define what
you want with this rebrand? Create and
align all your program of work that you want to do (hint, get rid of the sacred
cows)
Three phases
of the launch: 1) Preparation; 2) Internal launch; and 3) external launch.
Plan on at
least 12 months, set your strategy and then tell the story -
where we were, where we are, where we're going.
- Culture vs behavior: Create a culture that will change the behavior.
- Make the change matter - tell them why we're changing.
- Stand your ground when the naysayers show up.
You've based your decisions on data (survey work with your members). Tell the story that they were involved with from
the beginning.
Three types
of groups you'll encounter:
- They love it (small)
- I don't know how I feel (most will come around)
- They hate it and have already made up their mind (not that many but can be loud). And by the way, some may find their way out! That's ok. Focus on the new, not the old.
Measure and
do better as you go through this process.
- Who moved my cheese book - let them move their own cheese!
- Use the Horizon Initiative: Chambers 2025 report to help with the discussion on what you want to be. I'm a fan of the "fund the mission" not events. I've said it before about getting out of the ribbon cutting business, get into the advocacy business.
You'll find
that you'll have more time to focus on moving your chamber forward instead of
chasing the next event.
Think about
your monthly Board Meeting! Wouldn't you
like to get those down to a quarterly basis?
That way you can focus on getting real stuff done vs writing the minutes
and then turning right around to create the next months Board agenda.
It's a never-ending cycle!
It's a never-ending cycle!
In addition, how many
times do we complain that we can't get our board members to attend the monthly
meeting?
Maybe you'll get better attendance if you move it to a quarterly basis!
Maybe you'll get better attendance if you move it to a quarterly basis!
