The letter below was recently sent to current and past EGA members and it’s being shared in the blog for the benefit of anyone who didn’t receive it.
Dear EGA member/past member:
We need your help! Please share your thoughts and opinions with us as we work on the Securing Our Future initiative.
Over the past months, the EGA board has been working diligently to build a strategic plan that will secure the future of our organization. More than 50 volunteers have come together to evaluate our current operations, learn from past successes and failures, and develop a plan that will guide EGA successfully into the future.
EGA cannot continue to operate in the same manner as we have been doing and expect to be here in the future. We all know that our world has changed dramatically and we must adapt to survive. Our membership base has dwindled, attendance at seminars has declined, and we have a shortage of willing leadership across the organization. Our goal with the Securing Our Future initiative is to shore up these and other areas so that generations of stitchers to come will be able to enjoy the benefits of EGA membership.
The Securing Our Future initiative is based around the following three tenets; each overarching category includes many specific areas that are being explored by the volunteer team.
Closing the Gap: EGA has been operating on a deficit budget for a number of years. In order to close this financial gap, we are looking for ways to increase revenue and decrease expenses in all areas of EGA operations.
Building Stronger Chapters and Member-At-large Engagement: We are investigating ways to help local chapters strengthen leadership, recruit members, and provide desired programming. In addition, we are working to increase engagement opportunities for members-at-large in order to provide a greater sense of community for this growing population.
Growing Our Educational Opportunities: We believe it is imperative that EGA continue to develop virtual educational opportunities along with our more traditional offerings in order to provide learning avenues for a broader audience base.
We need your help in developing these plans for the future. A series of brief surveys will be sent out according to the following schedule:
Over the next two months, please watch for any and all survey(s) appropriate for an audience to which you belong. We appreciate your candid feedback in helping us build a stronger organization for the future.
Yours in stitches,
Karen Hamilton
President
EGA
The piece featured above is Checkerboard Sampler by Father Max Pauli and is part of our Permanent Collection.
