FHANA Strategic Plan

Mission Statement

“To Protect and Promote the KFPS Friesian Horse in North America”

Introduction

Strategic Planning is an important tool to assist organizations in setting of both long term and short term goals.  Strategic Planning also assists in developing realistic budgets to achieve these goals.  Different from classic business planning, the strategic variety involves vision, mission and outside-of-the-box thinking.  Strategic planning describes where you want your company to go, not necessarily how you’re going to get there. However, like all other “travel plans,” without knowing where you want to go, creating details on how to arrive are meaningless.  Strategic planning defines the “where” that your company is heading.

The first step for FHANA was to involve the staff and the President of the association to gain an understanding of the needs and wishes of the organization.  The next step was to involve the entire Board of Directors and Membership to understand what is important to each director and member.  Upon gaining this insight, it was then time to meet and narrow down our list to Top Priority, Priority, and Low Priority.  The plan should be reviewed on an annual basis to make sure the plan is being followed.  Additionally, the FHANA Board of Directors, Members and Staff should plan on meeting every 3-5 years to update the plan accordingly.

Background

On February 27. 2020 FHANA held a special meeting with facilitator Paul Chewning from Trek Advancement, LLC for the purpose of developing a Strategic Plan.  The input from the meeting can be found in the appendix titled “Prioritized Brainstorming”.  The input was used to put together both short term and longer priorities to be used for the future growth of FHANA.

The Members who participated in the exercise were as follows: Mark McGowan, Jack Vanderkooy, Ruth Page, Lisa Baker, Ellise Tillman, JoAnn Clough, Sharon Bechler, Will Bron, Beatrice Whiteley, Becca Eccard, Marvel Jeffcoat, Dr. Rosanne Palermo, Angie DePuydt, Marquis Laude, Eric Smith, Allison Thomas, Charlotte Dumford, Amy Rogala-Hobbs, Mathew Jenkins.

The plan was also developed with the assistance of each FHANA Committee, and the chairman of that committee.  A list of active committees can also be found in the appendix.

Strategic Plan Summary

There were two steps to the planning process.  The first step was to conduct a SWOT-Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats-exercise.  A series of interviews were conducted with key stakeholders.  Eight phone interviews were completed.  They consisted of seven questions and the responses revealed robust comments and commonalities of opinion (Appendix A).  The second step was an all-day Visioning Exercise.  Twenty individuals identified above participated in the workshop.  Each was asked to think about where FHANA would be three years from now, using a hypothetical international organization and competition for a new award recognizing outstanding improvements (Appendix B).   Participants had 30 minutes to complete the exercise.  They were asked to be creative, to be bold, to aspire with their response.  Workshop participants shared their responses with others.  Their statements were listed on poster sheets for each of the seven categories.  Participants were then asked to prioritize the responses, using adhesive dots-only one dot could be used per statement.  Each participant had three dots for each of the categories, or twenty-one dots.  Statements that receive few or no dots were eliminated and a second round of prioritization was done.  The top three statements in each category, or twenty-one in all will become the priorities areas for FHANA’s Strategic Plan

After the Visioning Exercise was completed, workshop members were asked to review the current mission statement of FHANA.  Recurring concepts were to promote, preserve and protect.  Using that as a framework, workshop members revised FHANA’s mission statement to read:

To promote and preserve the KFPS Friesian Horse in North America”.

 

 

Visioning statements and goals

1.      What does your Association stand for?

1.2   Leader in genetic research and equine wellness

1.3   Valued and respected by the KFPS

1.4   Go to organization for those wanting to know more about the Friesian Horse

2.      Association Size and Attributes

2.2   Growth through chapters by encouraging membership

2.3   Increase youth membership through youth category

2.4   FHANA fosters transparency

3.      Administration

3.2   Increased membership retention by developing a mentor program for new breeders

3.3   Developed a thriving young FHANA program

3.4   Improve communication with French and Hispanic members through member liaisons

4.      Service to Industry

4.2   Sharing education

4.3   More participation in other equine events, shows, and programs

4.4   Sponsor genetic research

5.      Sponsorships and Other Fund-Raising opportunities

5.2   Youth sponsorship program

5.3   More opportunities for smaller sponsorships

5.4   Sponsorship Committee

6.      Public Image and Awareness

6.2   Promote public awareness of the diverse use of the breed-versatility

6.3   Branding campaign with award-winning logo that is easily recognized

6.4   Enhanced presence at equine trade shows and allocate funds to support outreach

7.      Educational Programming

7.2   Outreach programs to non-traditional communities and education tailored to their respective needs

7.3   Orientation to FHANA 101

7.4   Make all FHANA educational material available

The FHANA Resource Book

THE FHANA Resource Book is now available for order. This publication is good for all NEW and SEASONED members alike. Contact FHANA to obtain your copy today.