Steve Meier, PhD, CPS
VP - North
What are some problems you
have experienced in your
lodge for multiple years?
What have you done to fix it?
Strategic Planning
 Looks at the big picture
 Determines
 Where an organization is going over some
time period (Usually Multi-Year)
 How it's going to get there
 How the organization knows if it achieved its
goals.
 Focus is on the entire organization
 Is revised on a periodic basis (3-5 years)
Business Planning
 Focus is usually on a
 Product
 Service
 Program.
 Need to use both techniques in your
lodge
Participants in Strategic Planning
 Usually boards of
directors or
organization
leaders
 May include other
key players or
departments
Participants in Business Planning
 Can be at the Lodge
operational level (Board
of Directors, House
Committee).
 Can be at the leadership
level (Officers)
 Can be at the
department level ( Golf
Committee)
Strategic Planning
Must Involve Others in the
Planning Process
 Get input from stakeholders
 Everyone who is responsible for any part
of the plan
 Representatives from groups who will be
effected by the plan.
 Individuals who are responsible to review
and authorize the plan.
 May be within the lodge, or Grand Lodge
So….What do you want your
lodge to be or accomplish?
• May have multiple answers
• May have conflicting opinions
• Results should be included in the mission
statement or purpose of the organization.
 Write down three
Evaluate Forces Inside and
Outside of the Lodge
 Forces that might impact your lodge
 Location (Downtown or away from people)
 Competition from other organizations or
establishments
 Federal, state and local laws/ordinances
 Tax code
 Grand Lodge Statutes
 Others
Way to do Evaluate Forces
 Use a SWOT Analysis
 Strengths of the lodge
 Weaknesses of the lodge
 Opportunities for the lodge
 Threats to the lodge
 Each needs to be evaluated
 Can use a variety of assessments, or
methods to "measure" the health of systems.
Strengths
 What strengths does your lodge have?
 Members with skill sets
 Nice facility
 Large acreage
Know your Membership
 Do you know your membership’s strengths?
 Marketing
 Accounting
 Management
 Food Prep
 Computer skills
 Review Elks Applications
 Survey the members for skill sets and interests
Lodge Application Committees
Grand Lodge Committees
 Americanism
 Charities
 Community Affairs
 Scholarships
 Essay Contests
 Drug Awareness
 Poster Contests
 Veterans Services
 Youth Activities
Local Lodge Committees
Entertainment
Conventions
Publicity
Newsletter
Auditing
Membership
Decorating
Breakfasts / Dinners
Others
Make a Spreadsheet
Name
Interests
Skill Sets
When can Help
Contact
Inf.
Assess Weaknesses of the lodge
 Lack of marketing to build up membership
 Lack of officers or volunteers
 Cost of food items compared to other
establishments
 Nothing to do except drink
 Membership angst
Lodge Opportunities
Networking with other fraternal
organizations
Golf course
Building Size
Building Location
Threats to your Lodge
 Fiscal issues
 Personality issues
and conflict
 Lodge distance from
members
 Lack of Officers or
committee chairs
 Others
Implementation
 Get input: What does your lodge want to
accomplish? - Identify goals
 Do a SWOT analysis
 Develop a plan
 Measure what you want to change
 News letter in print, email, none at all
 Implement the plan
 Measure
 Did your plan make a positive or negative
change
Business Planning
 Is related, but is different from Strategic Planning
 Uses the strategic plan but is more focused
 Can be applied to
 Systems as a whole (Golf Course)
 Parts of the Lodge (Dining and Bar)
 Organizational leadership issues
Increasing Membership
 Identifying officers and committee chairs
 Increasing community activities
 Decreasing angst among the membership

Implementation Strategies
 Identify a Target / Problem, etc.
 Identify how to Measure change
 Develop Goals
 Identify Strategies
 Create Timelines and Task Responsibilities
 Developing Documents
 Celebrate Success
Target Identification
 Increase membership
 Increasing members attending lodge meetings
 Increasing sales of hot dogs or beverages sold
Determine how to Measure
 Increasing membership, food sales, etc. is easy
 Decreasing angst is more difficult
 Number of complaints received
 Listen to the number of complaints at the bar
 Develop a frequency baseline of the issue
 Minimum 2 weeks
Develop Goals
 Goals are based on the SWOT analysis and
lodge’s mission
 Goals build on strengths of the lodge and
the membership
 Goals take advantage of opportunities
provided by your lodge
 Goals address weaknesses or threats to the
lodge
Goals Should Be SMARTER
 Specific:
 Measurable:
 Acceptable:
 Realistic:
 Time frame:
 Extending:
 Rewarding:
Develop Strategies and Objectives
to Reach Goals
 Objectives must be:
 Specific
 Timely
 Indicative of progress toward goals
 Measurable
Associate Responsibilities and
Time Lines with EACH Objective
 Create a GANT chart
 Assigned responsibilities include:
 Who does what
 When is it to be accomplished.
 Alternatives (not consequences) if something is not
accomplished.
 Write down who does what
 Generally, deadlines are set for meeting each task.
Gant Chart Example
Task
Sec. Reviews Apps.
ER Talks with PERS
Chair / Officer review
PERs contact Potential
Officers
PERs Nom. Officers
Balloting of Officers
Instillation of Officers
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Write it Down
Communicate the Plan to the Members
 If information is not written down or
communicated, it does not exist.
 Information needs to be well organized
 Written into a document
 Distributed to the organizers and membership
 Post on the wall in large font
Why
 Members do not know what is happening.
 Organizers
 Often forget that others don't know what
the organizers know.
 As plans change, it's difficult to remember
who is supposed to be doing what.
 Key stakeholders (Grand Lodge, County
Commissioners, customers, grant
funders) may request copies.
Measure
 Measure before implementing the intervention
 During the intervention
 After the intervention
 Assess if your intervention worked
 If yes, Yea!!!
 If no, Reevaluate and implement a new intervention
Acknowledge Completion and
Celebrate Success
 Is often ignored
 Can eventually undermine the success of many
of your future planning efforts.
 Can create apathy, skepticism, or cynicism
 Plan addressed some problem, you solved it
 Acknowledge your success.
 Let others know it was successful
Other Issues and Points
Marketing Plan/Sales Strategy
 Does your lodge have one?
 How does your lodge generate revenue?
 How does your lodge market membership?
 What is your marketing plan
 Lodge news letter
 Local paper
 Radio
 How frequently do you reassess or change
your plan?
Cost / Revenue Analysis
 Are your revenue and cost projections on
task?
 What can you do to expand revenue?
 Who will do what?
 Are you doing adequate inventory control?
 What are your anticipated costs?
Planning Summary
• Five Steps
•
•
•
•
•
Assessment
Capacity
Planning
Implementation
Evaluation
Assessment
 Assess needs and assets.
 Assess readiness for some change
 Identify the most pressing need that needs
changed
Capacity
 What skills and resources are available?
 What skills and resources do you need?
 Assess membership readiness
 Do we need this
 Publicize the issue and encourage
participation.
 Use targeted participation
 People usually step up when asked directly
Planning
 Assemble a planning team.
 Create an overall plan for the effort.
 Present the plan to the leadership and
membership and gather support.
 Who does what is important here
Implementation of the Plan
 Stick to your plan for the implementation
process.
 Evaluate to see if changes are needed
 Continue to pay attention to resources.
 Keep the membership informed.
Evaluation
 Evaluate the process.
 Evaluate the impact of the program.
 Evaluate the outcomes.
 Use the evaluation results to adjust the
program to be more effective.
NOTE
 Planning
 Takes time
 Takes energy
 Takes people to do the planning
With No Planning
 You continue to have the same problems
 The problems are broadly defined (if you know
what they are)
 Solutions are trial and error
 No immediate or long term strategies for a
problem
 No changes occur except discussion
 New officers have the same problem you had 5
years ago.
What to do at the Social Hour
 Identify the problems you may have in your
lodge
 Put them on paper
 Prioritize the list
 Implement the process
Comments and Discussion