Running An Efficient Organization
and The Use of Multimedia
2015 Midyear COSP Planning Committee
Key Aspects of A Strong Organization
Organizational Goals
• Have a clear vision, mission statement, and measure
of success. By creating a clear “to-do” list with
specific goals, deadlines, and the end in sight; the
board can more easily take the steps toward
completion of the goal.
• Use the mnemonic SMART when developing goals.
This stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable,
Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related.
Lead From The Front
• Leaders should spend the majority of their time doing the
tasks that only they can complete. This is one of the hardest
lessons for leaders to learn.
• Delegation is a vital leadership task. Not only does it prevent
overworking/burnout of a single individual, it also promotes
diversity of thought, and incorporates the strengths of
multiple individuals.
• When possible assign management responsibilities to other
members of the board. This helps to train board members
other than the president skills such as management,
organization of thought, and public speaking.
Tips For A New Board of Directors
• Have each individual share what they define as their
strengths and weaknesses. This allows board
members to recognize each others strengths, and
allows them to provide support for each others
weaknesses.
• Determine the interest, and passions of each
individual. Rather than assigning a job, ask new
members what their interest are, and which project
they would be interested in working on.
NSNA Board of Directors Advice
• Encourage state presidents to develop and maintain professional
relationships with each state board member.
• Do not hesitate to ask for help when needed.
• Connect with previous state presidents, and the presidents of other
states for advice.
• Use your previous knowledge and experience to your advantage.
• Listen to all board members equally and fairly, and develop a “Rules
of Engagement” document for standards of conduct.
• For the sake of progression, you may call the question during
circular discussion.
NSNA Board of Directors Advice
• Develop methods of accountability such as “Rules of Engagement”,
time standards, and teamwork.
• Be confident in yourself, the board, and board goals.
• Develop positive methods of conflict resolution by regularly
providing resources on conflict resolution, and by providing a
supportive team environment.
• Continuously study and practice parliamentary procedure
• Maintain proper personal health and fitness to reduce stress, and to
promote a clear mind.
• Begin your term of office with the end goal in mind, this improves
time management, and efficient.
Communication and Email Services
Google Docs:
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Google Docs is an office productivity suite not unlike Open Office or Microsoft Office.
Which may be used to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. Documents
are saved to Google's servers and as such can be accessed from anywhere and are easy to
share with others to collaborate on documents in real time
• Benefit Include:
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Free Non-Profit Resources
Create dynamic shared documents
Import a variety of document types
Export to PDF and other document formats
Efficient board turn over with all files stored on Google Drive
Along with many more beneficial features
Communication and Email Services
Doodle.com:
• An effective tool for finding common, available meeting times
for a group of individuals. Each person selects their availability
on a simple color coded calendar which shows the most
widely available time to meet.
FreeConference.com:
• An another conference scheduling option suggested by
presidents on the COSP Facebook page.
Communication and Email Services
Mad Mimi – www.madmimi.com
• Easy to set up bulk email messages with a variety of templates.
• Statistics including number of emails opened or bounced.
• Email list can be imported and updated; allows recipients to manage their
own subscription (i.e., unsubscribe – an option to unsubscribe is required
by law)
• Free Plan:
• Store up to 2,500 contacts and send to 12,500 recipients per month.
That means if you have 2,500 contacts, you can send 5 message per
month (5 x 2,500 = 12,500)
• Paid Plans:
• Basic - $10/mo for 500 contacts and unlimited recipients
• Pro - $42/mo for 10,000 contacts and unlimited recipients (2x speed)
• Notes:
• Unless there are more than 2,500 contacts (or you need to send
blasts more than once a week), the free plan should suffice.
Event Planning
Eventbrite:
• Eventbrite.com is the most popular event planning tool in
this category.
• The Eventbrite platform is intuitive, easily navigated,
provides a vast number of resources.
• Event pages look professional, are easily created, and
easily spread through social media.
• Sales, refunds, and event check-ins are efficient and well
managed.
• Easily manage multiple events with multiple invite lists
• Setup available for affiliate marketing opportunities,
allowing others to promote the event.
• Cost - Charges a minimal fee on ticket sales which may be
added to or absorbed in the price.
Event Planning
Facebook Events:
• Allows for individuals to “invite friends” as a
simple and effective feature to spread
opportunities online.
• Consider making your Facebook event stand
out by marketing a chat or live-stream of the
event. This allows people this allows people
unable to attend to participate and promote
the event.
Event Planning
VITE- http://vite.io/
• Free, easy, simple, and quick invite tool on
Twitter. With the ability to shared Facebook,
Instagram or Google+
• Fast and easy set-up of an event, ability for
participants to RSVP, increased ability to
spread the event through social
Event Planning
Google Maps – https://maps.google.com/
• If the event involves multiple venues or for
participants to travel by vehicle, a Google
map can be created to provide information
on the location and directions.
• Google maps also provides users with
restaurants and businesses in close
proximity of the given location.
Online Forms and Payments
JotForm – www.jotform.com
• Used by NSNA
• Includes multiple integrations
• Connect to Dropbox or Google Drive (and Google
Sheets) to store submission info (including uploaded
files)
• Connect to MadMimi and MailChimp
• Connect to Paypal along with other payment services
to receive payments
• Free Plan
• 100 entries/mo; 100MB storage; unlimited forms
Smartphone Apps
Yapp - www.yapp.us
 Do it yourself App builder within the Yapp App. This is
Perfect for displaying event information.
• Through Yapp, you can create an event with pages with:
• Information on the event
• Schedules
• Speakers or other individuals such as Board Members
• Polls
• Videos/Photos
• A unique URL is assigned to your app. Send this link to your
members. When they click the link from their mobile
device, your event opens directly in the Yapp app (free for
iOS/Android). If the user does not already have the Yapp
app installed, then your link will automatically forward to
iOS or Google app store page for easy/immediate
installation.