Archive for June, 2009

Advisory Board members as a group are overwhelmingly men and women who themselves have full and demanding lives, careers, and families, yet consistently give graciously and seemingly tirelessly of their time, talent and treasure. When people ask us why, we generally tend to respond by saying something like “Oh, the Salvation Army does such good work.” But there are lots of organizations whose purported purposes are the same or similar to the Salvation Army’s. But we’re not all down volunteering at the Dept. of Health and Human Services for hours every week — so it must be something else. And I suspect it’s the way the Salvation Army does what it does – its people, embued by the Holy Spirit, Doing the Most Good:

Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

From my first contact with the Salvation Army, I have been hooked by the Love in action emanating from its soldiers and officers, and inspired to do all that I can to help. And for the past three years we’ve been especially blessed at the national level by the inspiring leadership of Commissioners Israel and Eva Gaither. The Gaithers had served a succession of positions in the Eastern Territory for much of their career, before being appointed as Territorial Leaders of South Africa in 1999, followed by a very brief (103 day) stint as Eastern Territorial Leaders before Izzy’s appointment as second-in-command as Chief of Staff at International Headquarters in London. Upon returning to the U.S. after this seven year absence to take up the appointment as National Commander, Commissioner Gaither delivered an unforgettable address to the NAB at his first meeting with us, describing his feelings that he and Eva had returned to a country far different from that they had left: an America locked in a culture war, calling for compromise of principle and an abandonment of Truth. Izzy told us he and Eva thus viewed their new appointment as a Mission to America, which he later expanded into the Mission to America Vision Statement now guiding the NAB’s Strategic Planning process:

We see things as they are, and we have a vision of what can be.  We will tirelessly work for a better America and a better world for every one.

When I was Chairman of our local Advisory Board, one of the things I enjoyed most was recruiting new board members.  I would identify a person who I thought would be beneficial to the board and then go about getting an appointment with them.  If I didn’t know the individual personally, I would get another board member who may have contact with them.  We would then go about setting up a meeting over coffee, a lunch or a visit in their office. 

It seemed that every time we sat down with a new person they always began with “I don’t know a thing about the Salvation Army.”  That was the perfect opening to our conversation.  We now had the opportunity to tell our story, about the 26 programs administered by the Army, about the $35 million budget for San Diego County, about the hundreds of thousands of people who are served every year by the Army.  We would talk about the impact the Army had in our community and how many people would suffer if we were not here to serve them.  We would talk about the 700 people employed and the number of vendors who depend on the Army to purchase their goods and services.  And then we would talk about how businesses would suffer if the Army wasn’t taking care of people. 

Sometimes we had more than one meeting with an individual.  Each time they learned more about The Salvation Army and the good work they do.  Not every person became a member of our board but a few good ones did.  Some individuals actually became donors.  They all felt they knew more about the Army than when we first met. 

Of course the next step after you bring someone onboard, they must be engaged.  They need to know their contribution is valuable, not only monetarily but their knowledge and skill.  It is an honor to serve on a Salvation Army Advisory Board and each member of the board has to feel that they are making a difference and helping the Officers do their work.  They will become great ambassadors in the community and influence others to become involved as well.

Keep your board informed, engaged and challenged and they will look forward to attending meetings and join in serving the Army.

We recently had a change in our leadership in San Diego.  To introduce the new Sierra Del Mar Divisional Commander, a luncheon was planned to include business, community and non-profit leaders. 

We were also introducing the Chairman of our National Advisory Board who had recently moved into the San Diego community.  It was our good fortune to have the National Commander visiting at that same time which was an added bonus.  As a result, we received publicity from all of the major media in San Diego.  It was a wonderful opportunity to make new friends for the Army, develop new relationships and strengthen our position in the community.  Many people attended who had no previous involvement with the Army, and in some cases, no knowledge of what role the Salvation Army plays in our community. 

There will be lasting benefits to the Army as a result of this luncheon.  Are there ways that you can bring people together for this kind of a gathering?  Commissioner Gaither’s message of coming together, not competing with one another, came across loud and clear.  A lot of networking took place and good things will come from contacts made here.