Whenever I walk into a room full of Vibha volunteers, it always brings in a renewed vigor and spirit in me. The amount of collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas I typically see in any Vibha meeting, constantly amazes me. ‘Peer enthusiasm’ is truly what drives, the success of Vibha as an organization.
One of the other key reasons for Vibha’s success is that we have been a volunteer-driven organization. This is why it becomes imperative that our volunteers are stakeholders in driving the organizational strategy and growth. The recent ‘Annual Planning Meeting’ held in Bay Area, California was a true testimony to that. Traditionally, the Board Members and the Executive Team members have been the participants of this meeting. Starting next year, we are embarking upon an ambitious goal to elevate our fundraising targets and scale our project support through the next five years. Not only that, we are also striving to mature from being just a ‘funding’ organization to becoming a ‘cure-disbursal’ platform (learn more about this in the five year plan presentation). In this respect, engaging the Vibha leadership across the board to shape the strategy for achieving these goals became even more critical.Thanks to the Action Center Coordinators and Volunteer representatives from Atlanta, Austin, Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minnesota and Sacramento, we had a fabulous attendance at this year’s Planning meeting. The primary objectives of the 2010 meeting were – Five Year Planning and enabling ACC’s to address key challenges; primarily volunteer recruitment and retention. The two day long affair had a tight schedule, yet everyone was deeply engaged from start to finish. After a series of brainstorming sessions, debates and lengthy discussions, a high level action plan was laid out. Going forward, there will be a more rational and strategic approach towards defining our organizational year-to-year targets. The outcomes of this meeting will definitely go a long way in accelerating Vibha’s growth and making a bigger social impact.
Now, it is the turn of each and every Vibha volunteer to contribute in the bigger decision making process and to bring in new ideas to the table. We request all our volunteers to get in touch with their Action Center Coordinator and check out the planning meeting presentations; ask questions, discuss, participate and shape the plans collaboratively. We cannot achieve our Vision 2015; without you, your energy, and your support!