As chamber staff, it is important to have a systematic way to review our program of work so we can remain relevant to our members.
I wrote a blog post in the past on Scared Cows and how you might "Kick Them to The Curb." That post can be found HERE.
I recently read Strategic Integration by Gabriel Eckert & Bob Harris and they devoted an entire chapter to this subject, titled "Systematic Sunsetting."
They suggest and proved a great template to review your programs based on its relevance to the mission, member participation, revenue, etc.
They went on to talk about a systematic way to do this review. The following is their suggested review timetable, directly from page 62 of the book, to evaluate your programs.
- Year 1: Education
- Year 2: Events
- Year 3: Advocacy
- Year 4: Other programs and services.
- Then repeat the process starting at year 1 again.
Whatever you decide, it's important to have some system set-up and stick with that process. You'll need to decide what works best for your organization.
We only have so many resources (staff and budget) and sometimes some of our programs should be sunsetted.
Good luck!
