[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear ELGL members,
I’m back home (and tired as a dog) after a week with my kids at Mother-Child Camp on the Oregon Coast. It was fun and exhausting. I did hikes that overlooked views like this:
…and also ate disgusting camp food, used communal bathrooms, and had zero internet or cell reception.
I was totally disconnected from the world around me – and even though I set out of office messages on my ELGL email and Slack accounts, I’m back and worrying that I missed something that one of our members needs. I’ll review my missed messages this week and get back to y’all – but let me know if anything fell through the cracks!
Coming up this week, I’ll be starting a hard push on #ELGLPopUps registration and getting our nationwide team ready for #CityHallSelfie day on August 15. This includes ordering trophies and getting #CityHallSelfie swag store up and ready to respond to your orders for cool swag stuff.
Have a great week –
Kirsten[/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”#ELGLPopUps – Race to 50″ color=”chino”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]Ticket sales opened last week! We’re “racing to 50” to see which location can get to the first 50 tickets sold first. Here are the current standings:
As a reminder, we only have 100 spots for sale at each #ELGLPopUps location, so early registration is suggested so you don’t miss out on these great learning opportunities.[/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”ELGL Project Coordinator” color=”chino”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]As a reminder, we’re hiring an ELGL Project Coordinator. Here’s the job description and application. This is a great job for anyone who wants more experience managing a non-profit (especially one that supports local government), or for a graduate student who is looking for an engaging internship experience that will give them lots of exciting work opportunities.
[/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”Dues Increase” color=”chino”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]We recently increased ELGL dues by $5 per person for both individual and All-In members, and from $0 to $15 for students. You can read more about this change in the Board’s retreat summary. From a practical perspective, this increase hasn’t affected registrations at all. Our membership growth continues at a fast and steady pace and we continue to exceed our weekly and monthly membership goals. We were most nervous about charging students the $15 for membership (student membership had been $0 since we were founded) but I’ve seen many students registering. The biggest reason for charging a nominal fee for student membership was to ensure that all of our members had “skin in the game.” We didn’t want to have a segment of membership that signed up on a whim and never engaged with our ELGL community so this was a step toward ensuring that everyone who is on our member list, is also invested (even in a small way) with our mission. Do you have any thoughts or ideas about this dues change? Share them with me![/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”Association Management Software” color=”chino”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]Another exciting “behind the scenes” project I’m currently working on is the evaluation process for Association Management Software! For years, we’ve managed our membership rolls concurrently in a spreadsheet and also this blog’s content paywall plugin. These are fine tools for an organization with membership numbers in the hundreds, but not the thousands. So I’m going through a process of viewing demos and learning more about “AMS” systems. My goal is to narrow down the many choices to a reasonable handful, and then the newly-hired ELGL Project Coordinator and I will select two or three for the board to decide to implement. It’s not an uncommon process to what many of our members go through when they’re implementing a new civic tech solution. And I’m excited to see what solution we pick and how it will impact the effectiveness of our membership outreach and engagement!
I also joined the American Society of Association Executives. It’s a professional association for people who run professional associations. I’m really interested in learning more from people who professional manage other professional groups. So, from time to time, I’ll keep y’all updated on what I’m learning and trends in the field that can help ELGL grow and thrive.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]