President's Corner
Top Priorities
by John Shenot
On October 6, the FCAS Board will hold its annual strategic planning session. This is the time when we review the status of our organization, check whether we are meeting our goals, and identify priorities for the coming year. I wanted to take this opportunity to report to you, the membership, on some of the issues the Board will be discussing. I also invite your feedback—the sooner the better—on any topic or issue that you think should be a high priority for FCAS in 2017.
Last year the Board identified six strategic priorities for FCAS in 2016. I’m pleased to be able to report some success on most of those priorities. To begin with, we placed our highest priority in 2016 on fundraising, with the hope that we could avoid raising membership dues. And thanks to our hugely successful Birdathon in May, we exceeded my expectations. We are now in very solid shape financially and I expect (though the Board has yet to decide) that we won’t need to raise our dues for at least another year.
The results are a little mixed on other priority items. We have been able to sustain our membership levels and recruit a few new leaders to the FCAS Board, committees, and volunteer positions. However, we are still eager to boost membership and still looking for new Board and committee members going into 2017. (Let me know if you are interested!) We’ve also made significant improvements to the FCAS website, but haven’t yet completed the top-to-bottom review the Board had envisioned.
That’s still a work in progress. We’ve made progress in our quest to earn an —important bird area— designation for the Cache la Poudre Urban River Corridor, but we haven’t quite finished the job. I’m hopeful that we will cross the finish line before the end of 2016, but this priority might carry over into 2017. And finally, we’ve only just begun to discuss —legacy projects— that will benefit the public at large, while at the same time raising awareness and appreciation of FCAS.
Find FCAS on Facebook for Field Trip Information
FCAS has a Facebook page where we post announcements about upcoming field trips, last minute changes to scheduled trips, and high-lights of most of our outings. Just click on the “Like" button in the plugin to Like our page! Our announcements should then appear on your wall. You can also click on "Fort Collins Audubon Society" to be taken directly to the Facebook page. Note: All field trips are also announced in the Ptarmigan and on our website.