This project was funded by a Capacity Support Grant from the MWCC Watershed Fund.
Project Description
Capacity Support funding will be used to strengthen SRWG’s board of directors, prepare for hiring a second employee for the first time in our history, and perform outreach and fundraising.
These activities are all aimed at general capacity-building – strengthening the board, staff, outreach, and financial security of SRWG. A stronger, more communicative board, & confident and well-supported staff will be better able to carry out SRWG’s mission and all of the goals stated above. The outreach and fundraising are tied to SRWG’s 30th Anniversary, which is 2024. We think tying some outreach and fundraising to this milestone, incorporated to a degree with the MWCC watershed tour this fall, will help SRWG secure a matching donor for this fundraising campaign, meaningful testimonials from partners and affected landowners, and enable us to showcase three decades of conservation and restoration – hopefully making a strong case driving donations!
Board Tour and Retreat:
Five of SRWG’s eleven board members have been on the board for less than a year, and in the 5+ years since hiring our Executive Director, SRWG has never had a board & staff retreat, tour, or team-building event. Combined with the fact that SRWG’s board only meets once per quarter, our board is not cohesive – members barely know each other and many are not familiar with the watershed outside their immediate realm of interest. SRWG proposes to spend a day together, staff and board, touring the watershed, visiting project sites and problem areas, and getting to know one another. This will enable our board to work better as a team, improving communication and productivity. This will include a brief board meeting, discussion of future trainings to improve board performance, work-planning, and activities to help the board get to know one another. Costs include coordinator time to organize and execute event, lunch, mileage reimbursement or rental for three vehicles, and meeting materials. This will directly affect 1 current and 1 future staff person and 11 board members. Indirectly, this will help the board and staff work better together and improve our ability to serve the resources and communities of the full Sun River watershed. This task supports SRWG general operations, thus supports our mission and all strategic goals.
Hiring Preparation:
SRWG has only had an employee since 2018 and has never had a second employee. MWCC and DNRC WMG funds have helped with preparations for hiring our first employee, such as work planning and developing organization policies and procedure documents. SRWG’s employee handbook has been cobbled together from examples borrowed from other organizations and tailored to suit SRWG’s needs. Before hiring a second employee in late 2024, it has been recommended that a lawyer review the employee handbook to ensure it complies with State and Federal laws. Cost is for lawyer to review and make recommendations, SRWG to incorporate those recommendations, and lawyer to do a second review. This task will improve operations for current and future staff. It will also help the board understand staff responsibilities and improve board and staff effectiveness by providing clarity. This task supports SRWG general operations, thus supports our mission and all strategic goals.
Outreach and Fundraising:
SRWG celebrates our 30th anniversary in 2024. We are seeking funds to do a nice mailer that celebrates our accomplishments in the past 30 years and our plans for the future. This mailer will function as an outreach and fundraising tool. Mailer will be designed in-house and printed professionally. The mailer will be sent hard-copy to the 229 persons on SRWG’s targeted mailing list and via email to 645 email addresses in our MailChimp data base. It will also be posted on Facebook and copies will be retained to hand out at events and meetings. SRWG’s goal will be to have a matching donor and raise a total of at least $10,000 funds between the original mailing date and January 31, 2025. This task has far-reaching indirect benefits: the outreach component will show recipients that SRWG has a history of success and will hopefully drive them to contact SRWG when they need assistance, building our pool of project opportunities. Funds raised will support SRWG’s future work, filling gaps in activities not covered by project or task-specific grants and providing more financial security for our organization. This task supports SRWG general operations, thus supports our mission and all strategic goals.
Project Outcomes and Impacts
Project in progress