Our Positioning Statement
Meeting Planners Association
How we will win: the direction and focus for the organization
We believe that budget cuts and staff reductions have resulted in an environment
in which planners will invest their time and money only if they can see an
immediate, tangible return. Therefore we must focus our programs on
maximizing ROI and invest in marketing that promotes the benefit of our
association to our target audience.
Who
Our Priority Strategies
Our Vision
Deliverables
Assessment
chair
A1
Hold annual member needs assessment to identify
professional development needs and program topics.
• Needs assessment report.
• Recommendations.
Certification
chair
A2
Convene quarterly study groups with mentors to prepare for
CMP.
• Study group sessions.
• Assigned mentors.
Education
VP
A3
Hold four single or multi-day education programs per
quarter with topics aligned to address the results of the
needs assessment.
• Education programs.
• Attendance and satisfaction
report (“Sat.” report).
Marketing
VP
A4
B1
E1
Implement awareness strategy with member testimonials to
increase awareness of the benefits of programs,
certification, networking events, and community events.
• Awareness plan executed.
• Member testimonials.
Networking
chair
B2
Hold quarterly networking events, adjusted to take into
account information gained from annual member needs
assessment, to provide networking opportunities.
• Networking events.
• Attendance and Sat. report.
Meeting
chair
C1
C2
Hold monthly membership meetings to provide education
and networking opportunities based on the use of
assessment survey and industry referrals to select quality
speakers and topics.
• Recommended topics.
• Monthly meetings.
• Attendance and Sat. report.
Marketing
VP
C5
Implement PR program to report activities to the local media
to increase awareness of the association.
• PR strategy and report.
Nominations
chair
D3
Implement leadership development committee to develop
and implement a program to recruit and formally develop
members for leadership positions.
• Leadership development
plan.
• Executed program.
• List of qualified candidates.
Community
chair
E2
Hold quarterly community outreach events to provide
association members with an opportunity to serve the
community while networking with others in the industry.
• Quarterly events.
• Attendance and Sat. report.
Our preferred picture of the
future.
Shouldn’t
your plan be
this clear?
To be the place where
meeting planners meet.
Our Mission
What we do, for whom, and the benefit.
To provide a forum for furthering the growth
and professionalism of the meetings
industry.
Our Guiding Principles
General guidelines which set the foundation for how an organization will operate.
• We believe that education is our fundamental focus. Therefore, we
offer programs that improve the industry skills of our members.
• We believe it is our responsibility to help improve our local
community. Therefore, we actively invest time and resources into
the community.
• We believe we must remain a comfortable forum for meeting
planners. Therefore, we will implement policies to ensure a suitable
membership balance between planners and suppliers.
Our Goals
Broad aims that define accomplishment of the mission.
When
Monthly
Quarterly
Annually
Our Monitoring Plan
Are we doing what we said we were going to do?
Strategy leaders will update status of action plans to ensure we are doing what we said we
were going to do. The plan coordinator will distribute a report of performance to all members of
the planning team.
Are we getting the results we want to get?
The planning team will meet to review status of strategies and progress on objectives. The
planning team will decide which current strategies to stop or continue and what new strategies
to start. The planning team will adjust objectives as warranted based on issues and priorities.
What adjustments do we need to make to our targets and our priorities?
The planning team will meet to review progress for the year, identify new barriers and critical
success factors, change objectives and re-establish priorities and action plans.
A. Education
Provide opportunities for our members to enhance
professionalism and to stay abreast of industry trends.
B. Networking
Provide an atmosphere for the sharing of ideas with
peers.
C. Membership
Maximize membership growth, retention, and
involvement.
D. Organization
Maintain sufficient financial and organizational
resources to support programs.
E. Community
Provide funds and services to support the local
community and provide a vehicle for organization
recognition.
Our Strategy Partner
Page 4
www.leadstrat.com
Strategic Plan 20XX-20XX
Page 1
B. Networking
C. Membership
D. Organization
E. Community
Page 2
Increase the number of certified meeting
professionals who are members of the
chapter.
43
55
90
2
Achieve target total number of attendees in
full-day and multi-day education programs.
192
220
300
3
Have target percentage of respondents
indicate satisfaction or high satisfaction with
the opportunities the association offers
members to enhance professionalism and
stay abreast of the industry as measured by
survey.
NA
60%
80%
1
Achieve target average number of attendees
in quarterly networking events.
76
90
120
2
Achieve target average number of attendees
in monthly meetings.
175
200
250
3
Have target percentage of respondents
indicate satisfaction or high satisfaction with
the opportunities members have to network
and share ideas with peers as measured by
survey.
NA
60%
80%
1
Increase net membership.
500
550
650
2
Annually retain target percentage of members
from prior year.
61%
65%
75%
3
Increase average attendance at monthly
meetings.
175
200
250
4
Achieve target percentage of members
actively involved in committees as measured
by attendance at 50 percent or more of the
official committee meetings/functions.
1
Achieve target financial reserves as
measured by lowest daily bank balance
during the last quarter of each year.
2
3
5%
7%
10%
15% of
annual
budget
22% of
annual
budget
40% of
annual
budget
Maintain staff and contractor fees within
target range as a percent of annual budget.
9%
8-10%
8-10%
Have an average number of qualified
candidates running per open office annually.
1.3
1.5
2.0
1
Achieve target funds raised for charities.
2
Achieve target number of members who
participate in at least one community activity.
$105K
$115K
$140K
72
90
120
NA – Not available
Our Strategies
(Critical Success Factors)
Barriers | CSFs
Third
Year
Barriers | CSFs
A. Education
First
Year
Barriers | CSFs
1
Our CSFs & Barriers
Baseline
Barriers | CSFs
Our Objectives
Barriers | CSFs
Our Goals
A1
Hold annual member needs assessment to identify
professional development needs and program topics.
A2
Convene quarterly study groups with mentors to prepare for
CMP.
A3
Hold four single or multi-day education programs per quarter
with topics aligned to address the results of the needs
assessment.
A4
Implement awareness strategy with member testimonials to
increase awareness of the benefits of programs and
certification.
B1
Implement awareness strategy with member testimonials to
increase attendance at networking events.
B2
Hold quarterly networking events, adjusted to take into
account information gained from annual member needs
assessment, to provide networking opportunities.
• Lack of awareness by all
committee chairs on how to
maximize networking in our
events.
B3
Provide recommendations to education and membership
committees on how to maximize member networking at
events.
• Dynamic presenters with
timely, substantive topics to
increase meeting attendance.
• High awareness by meeting
planners of the association
and its benefits to attract
members.
C1
Use assessment surveys and industry referrals to select
quality speakers and topics.
C2
Hold monthly membership meetings to provide education and
networking opportunities.
C3
Revise new member registration process to ask desired
committee.
• Inadequate process for
getting new members
involved results in burnout of
a few and low retention.
C4
Hold quarterly committee fairs after meetings to increase
involvement.
C5
Implement PR program to report activities to the local media
to increase awareness of the association.
D1
Create and implement reserve reporting as part of the
monthly budget report to raise awareness of the state of
reserves.
D2
Provide mandatory half-day budget training for all new
officers.
D3
Implement leadership development committee to develop
and implement a program to recruit and formally develop
members for leadership positions.
E1
Implement awareness strategy with member testimonials to
increase attendance at community outreach events.
E2
Hold quarterly community outreach events to provide
association members with an opportunity to serve the
community while networking with others in the industry.
• Wide understanding of the
benefits of a CMP.
• High perceived value of
education programs.
• Lack of understanding of the
professional development
needs of our members.
• High perceived value of
association’s networking
events and monthly
meetings.
• Frequency of events at a rate
aligned with member needs.
• Commitment from board to
building reserves and
exercising financial
prudence.
• Large number of members
desiring to serve as officers.
• Lack of understanding by
officers of budgeting
processes.
• High perceived value of
association’s community
outreach events.
• Low awareness by our
members of the charitable
need and impact we can
have.
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