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Last Updated: Apr. 11, 2008
New England Nordic Ski Association
Strategic Plan 2007 - 2008
Mission:
It is the mission of the New England Nordic Ski Association to implement educational, recreational, and competitive programs at all levels of cross-country skiing. NENSA works to sustain a vital and active skiing community in New England, and to provide the support structure necessary to bring cross-country skiers to their highest potential at regional, national, and international events.Vision:
The primary goal of the New England Nordic Ski Association is to create an environment that promotes the athletic development of New England cross-country skiers, supports skiing organizations, and encourages the growth of the sport of cross-country skiing. NENSA's long-term programs assist the individuals and the organizations that deliver services, in line with NENSA's Mission, to the cross-country skiing community. In cases where structures do not exist to deliver necessary services, NENSA may elect to initiate events or services to stimulate desired development. NENSA staff or NENSA-based committees may take on the short-term responsibilities of delivering such services, but it is not the responsibility of NENSA to be a primary service provider for ongoing services, nor should significant portions of the NENSA budget be allocated to provide services that can be delivered by other organizations such as clubs, schools, and cross-country ski centers.
NENSA's direct contributions to growing and supporting a healthy skiing culture can be separated into the areas of communications and coordination, education and certification. As the conduit between individuals, organizations, schools, clubs, ski centers, race sites, and industry, NENSA creates and maintains the communications vital to the health of the sport. NENSA's links allow for the coordination of scheduling, siting, and promoting of events and activities by individuals and organizations. NENSA's educational programs are designed to serve the skiing community with clinics and workshops in areas such as ski technique and race organization, and seminars on issues such as youth development and club development. NENSA's Coaches and Officials Education and Certification programs develop standards and teachers of standards that improve the quality and consistency of athlete development across the region.
NENSA's Long Range Goals:
1. Development: supporting the growth of the Nordic Skiing community in New England.
2. Supporting Excellence: helping New England athletes achieve their potential.
3. Organizational: making NENSA a high-performance organization.
Long Range Goals & Objectives
Development: supporting the growth of the Nordic Skiing community in New England.
Rationale: NENSA will benefit from expansion of its membership and athlete participation base for several reasons. First, it will improve the long-term health of skiing through the energy and commitment of additional NENSA members and those who utilize our programs and events. Second, it will increase our viability with other constituencies with whom we interact, including regional sponsors, clubs, schools, and event organizers. A larger membership will make NENSA more attractive to both corporate sponsors and private foundations, while also generating greater revenue in and of itself. Third, bringing more skiers into the bottom of the membership pyramid will result in more skiers and more talented skiers following the development path to the top of the pyramid.
1) Foster and facilitate growth of NENSA clubs open to all ages.
a) Benchmarks:
i) increases in # of clubs, membership in clubs, and variety of programming dedicated to all age groups
ii) increase in annual percentage of membership belonging to clubs
2) Identify and recruit youth skiers not currently in BKYSL.
a) Benchmarks:
i) increase in annual BKL numbers
ii) increase in number of BKL clubs
iii) increased attendance at BKL clinics
3) Build mutually supportive and where appropriate reciprocal relationships with other governing bodies, ski centers, ski organizations and organizations supporting crossover sports & activities.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Increase in number of relationships
ii) Attendance of NENSA staff at other organizations' meetings
4) Foster and facilitate selective entry-level programming into cross country skiing.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Increases in attendance at Women's Day
ii) Participation in the new citizen series
iii) number of Women's Day-like events that event evolve without NENSA as primary provider, eg Vermont Ski for Women
iv) number of first-time skiers ("prospects")in un-timed division of Marathons
v) number of primary and middle schools interacting with NENSA through Bill Koch League or other avenues
vi) number of high school skiers who become part of NENSA through Eastern Cups, Clubs, etc.
5) Identify & recruit fitness skiers in NE who are not currently NENSA members.
a) "Fitness skier" denotes those skiers who understand that both conditioning and technique are important aspects of cross-country skiing. This group includes un-timed participants in Marathon Series and Eastern Cup events as well as many Club Series and citizen race skiers.
b) Benchmarks:
i) annual summary of NENSA "prospects" who join NENSA
ii) annual total of Master skiers numbers
iii) increases in numbers in touring/participatory activities
6) Foster and facilitate recreational cross country skiing
a) Benchmarks:
i) Growth in participation in xc skiing in New England
7) Pursue grants to establish new programs and expand existing ones.
a) Benchmarks:
i) summary of grants and analysis of implementation
8) Build relationships with xc ski areas.
a) Benchmarks:
i) numbers of ski areas involved in "X-C areas of NENSA" program
ii) number of NENSA and BKL clubs affiliated with x-c areas
iii) number of x-c areas holding NENSA-sanctioned races.
9) Foster and facilitate access to groomed trail systems [with snow!] in New England.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Number of NE ski areas using snow-farming and other techniques to enable grooming with minimal snow
ii) Number of NE areas with snow-making capability
iii) Number of new areas in under-served regions (CT?)
Supporting excellence: helping NE athletes achieve their potential
Rationale
As the conduit between individuals, organizations, schools, clubs, ski centers, race sites, and industry, NENSA creates and maintains the communications vital to the health of the sport. NENSA's unique position allows for the coordination of scheduling, siting, and promoting of events and activities by individuals, clubs, and organizations, as well as the identification of appropriate programming to support New England skiers at all levels of ability. Through NENSA various entities within the New England ski community are able to form mutually beneficial relationships.
1) Update and facilitate educational programming for coaches, officials and race organizations.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Sales & distribution of manuals & handbooks
ii) updates to Coaches manual, Race Organizer's handbook, BKL Manual
iii) increases in numbers of NE coaches who have attended coaches clinics
iv) increases in numbers of certified coaches
2) Build mutually supportive and where appropriate reciprocal relationships with other governing bodies; college coaches, high school and prep school principals' associations, coaches & secondary programming.
a) Benchmarks:
i) number of links to other websites
ii) attendance of NENSA staff at other organizations' meetings
iii) number of reciprocal memberships with other organizations
3) Foster and facilitate growth of NENSA clubs open to all ages.
a) Benchmarks: see Development
i) Increase in numbers of clubs bringing skiers to JOQ and EC races.
ii) Increase in number of clubs providing year round coaching and programming.
4) Provide clear pathways to achieving personal excellence for skiers of all ages and ability levels.
a) Benchmarks:
i) analysis of national and international success by NENSA athletes
ii) increase in participation at JO qualifiers
iii) increase of attendance at state qualifiers for EHSC and J-2 teams
iv) increase in BKL J-3's who join NENSA as J-2's
v) annual analysis of training and competitive options in and out of region for all ages
5) Foster and facilitate access to groomed trail systems [with snow!] in New England.
a) Benchmarks: see Development
Organizational - making NENSA a high-performance organization.
Rationale
In the last 10 years NENSA has experienced steady growth from a concept to a thriving non-profit with three fulltime staff, two part-time staff, several thousand members, year-round programming, and prominent sponsorship while remaining overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors and committees. NENSA must continually evaluate and improve, where deemed necessary, its mechanisms for oversight, feedback, and evaluation.
NENSA must balance all its sources of revenue so that no one source affects the viability of the organization. Unearned income from sponsorship and donors, if not matched with other sources of earned and unearned income, could pose a risk preventing the organization from achieving the financial stability necessary to sustain its programs and support its staff with desired confidence.
1) Maintain an updated website with interactive resources.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Increases in numbers of visits and numbers of unique visitors
ii) web statistics indicating use of multiple pages
iii) success of website in attracting sales and advertising
iv) strong open rates of e-news
2) Prepare a Resource Acquisition Plan with contingencies relating to levels of success.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Board approval of a Resource Acquisition plan accommodating multiple contingencies
ii) Annual growth in the annual appeal income
iii) Annual summary of grants and sponsors
iv) Year ending budget summary
3) Expand visibility of cross country skiing and NENSA in media.
a) Benchmarks:
i) Increase in number of articles, interviews, TV shows, etc. in NE media
4) Construct a Board with the ability to facilitate NENSA's Strategic Plan.
a) Benchmarks:
i) creation of a Board Development Plan
ii) twice yearly review of progress on Strategic Plan
5) Continue to build the endowment fund.
a) Benchmark
i) approval of a Board plan for building the NENSA endowment
ii) annual additions to the endowment fund
iii) annual report on endowment status
6) Do cost-benefit analysis linking Staff time and NENSA programs.
a) Benchmarks
i) production every three years of a summary linking staff time and programs
7) Evaluate services delivered to the ski community.
a) Benchmarks
i) race site evaluation forms
ii) periodic surveys of NENSA membership
iii) website "Comments and Suggestions" forum
iv) clinic evaluation forms
8) Identify, develop and recognize outstanding professional and volunteer leadership.
a) Benchmarks
i) Board approval of a process for volunteer recognition
ii) Four month reviews of staff workload and staff performance
iii) salary and benefits for staff commensurate with industry standard relative to the organization's financial health
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