By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board member “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” So went the lyrics of that Nat King Cole song popular many years ago. Many of our advisory organizations view summer as just that—lazy and hazy—and suspend meetings and operations for the summer months. That is a trap we need to avoid. In [...]
By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board member “We have no advisory board. How do we start one from scratch?” I hear that question often in my training sessions. There is no joy in recognizing that you have no board, or only a fragment of one, and feeling the frustration of not knowing how to take the [...]
By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board Member How current is your long-range specific plan? If your corps is like most, you either have not updated the plan for a very long time, or perhaps you never have created a plan to begin with. The Salvation Army expects all advisory boards and corps to not only have [...]
By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board member Too many advisory board members have little or no idea what activities and programs are conducted on the corps (church) side of The Salvation Army in their community. It is discouraging to hear an advisory member make a comment like, “Well, I understand how our social programs work to [...]
By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board member Productive advisory board meetings are essential in successful interaction between officers and board members, yet many meetings are disorganized, unfocused and generally unhelpful in achieving a smooth and efficient local program. Good meetings begin with pre-planning and have a tight and meaningfully written agenda. The officer and the board chairperson should consult [...]
By Dick Hagerty It is not too early to begin planning for Christmas and the annual bell and kettle season. Here in Modesto, Calif., some 20 years ago, we took this one step further and “invented” the annual Kettle Kickoff, an event that raises amazing amounts of money in an amazingly short period of time. Over [...]
By Dick Hagerty As advisory board members, one of the most important functions we have is total involvement in all aspects of the fundraising and financial affairs of our local Salvation Army unit. The most obvious form of involvement is to make regular financial contributions. The entire board must take part in giving, following the [...]
By Dick Hagerty Active and effective committees pave the way for the success of your advisory board and local Salvation Army operations. In Modesto (Calif.) we currently have 17 working committees, and we often add another committee or combine those that are no longer vital to our operations. Additionally, we engage many community members who are [...]
By Dick Hagerty, Advisory board Member Our Salvation Army is uniquely blessed by the frequent bequests that come to us from wills and estates. Some of these are planned and expected, but many come as a complete surprise when announced. Often we receive bequests from generous people that no one on our board knew, or [...]
Dick Hagerty, Advisory board Member Tension between officers and advisory board members can be a real hindrance to the effective work and image of our Salvation Army work on the local level. Too often we see officers resisting assistance and input from board members, and board members that mistrust the power and authority of their [...]
