The SDCAP Board of Directors has a retreat coming up on 12/1/18. Board Retreats are a standard shindig for non-profits, as they’re a way for Board members to bond while talking about the big picture for the organization. SDCAP has retreats 2-3 times per year for 1-2 full weekend days. No voting takes place at Board Retreats, which means we don’t make decisions about how to spend money. We use the time to hash out future-oriented ideas that don’t fall neatly under the business we conduct at regular Board Meetings.
Agenda topics for this upcoming retreat are related to YOUtopia and BOD governance. Agenda highlights include:
- Possible changes to YOUtopia production model
- Streamlining YOUtopia budget process
- Implementing standardized process for YOUtopia Wrap-Up
- Strategy to improve communications and collaboration between BOD, YOUtopia Production Team, and community at large
The biggest thing we’re covering is that first bullet point: whether to change the YOUtopia production model. This is something that’s been on our radar for a while and we’ve been reviewing alternate models used in other regions, with a focus on North American Regional Burns of a similar size to YOUtopia. We’re one of few Regional Burns that employs a Co-Producer Model; most comparable Regionals use small teams or committees to lead their events. Sometimes these teams overlap with the managing entity (be it a BOD or LLC), sometimes they don’t.
As part of our decision-making process, we’re asking the 2018 Production Team and anyone we can scrounge up from 2017 or prior to weigh in with their thoughts about whether we should try a different model in 2019. If you’ve volunteered for YOUtopia in the past as a Producer, Hub Lead, or Department Lead, we’d love to hear from you before 12/1/18. Please fill out this super-short survey to let us know what you think!
We’ll have a follow-up blog post in the week after the retreat so we can share outcomes.
