Nashville Singers Is Seeking Additional Community and/or Organizational Leaders to Serve on our 2013 Advisory Board  

Advisory Board FAQ 

• Providing advice on developing an audience 
• Providing advice on how to move to the "next level" 
• Providing advice on management 
• Providing advice on marketing 
• Providing advice on potential collaborations 
• Providing advice on fund raising 
• Providing names of advisory board candidates 
• Serving as goodwill ambassadors; 
• Evaluating the work of the board of directors 
• Evaluating what the chorus has accomplished 
• Recruiting members who will make a support commitment with respect to matters within the areas of their experience and expertise. 

• Two (2) concert tickets "comped" annually 
• Your name/company name on the Advisory Board page of Nashville Singers website (6000 visitors annually) 
• Your name/company name added to masthead of Nashville Singers weekly email newsletter, plus one newsletter article showcasing you and your organization annually. (45,000 emails sent annually) 
• Your name/company name in our concert program (300 average attendees at our first two concerts) 
• Your name/company name on our Facebook and LinkedIn profile pages. (1400 friends) 
• One (1) free copy of a Nashville Singers CD, "The Journey Begins"   

If you are interested in serving as a member of the 2013 Nashville Singers Advisory Board, please download and complete the Candidate Application Form and Candidate Questionnaire and return both documents to Executive Director, Todd Wilson by August 15, 2012. If you would prefer these documents in Word format, they will be provided on request. If selected, an orientation meeting would be held at a (Nashville Singers provided) dinner meeting scheduled from 7:00pm to 9:00pm on September 27, 2012 at Nero's Grill.   

For more information, visit the advisory board member page of our website. 

2012 Mid-Year Review        

ACQUISITIONS: The chorus was able to purchase four used Wenger choral risers, valued at $2000, for $100.   

ALLIANCES/PARTNERSHIPS: The Executive Director held networking meetings with two dozen leaders of other Middle Tennessee organizations to explore collaborative opportunities on events and/or programs.   

COMMUNICATION: 25,506 Nashville Singers electronic newsletters were distributed over 26 issues. With an average of 981 newsletters per week, this publication had an average open rate of 19.20%, and an average click-through rate of 15.9%. The template for the newsletter was updated to include more social media buttons and more logos of alliance organizations 

COMMUNITY OUTREACH: The chorus presented four free performances in the community, impacting a combined 780 people.   

EVENTS: All nine of the new songs intended for the 2012 concert were introduced in January. Memorization of these selections is ahead of schedule. Lunch Break was secured for an encore performance as our guest act for the 2012 Season of Harmony Concert on November 17, 2012.   

FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Updates were made to the Nashville Singers GivingMatters and Guidestar profiles. A donation of recording equipment and an electric guitar was received. Including $340 from board giving, the chorus received $865 in donations in the first five months of the year.  

GOVERNANCE: The board met seven times in the first six months, including the first meeting with the Advisory Board. A conflict of interest form was signed by all board members. The board giving policy and form was presented to new board members. The board began using Dropbox to share official documents. The board approved a Corporate Credit Card policy recommended by the Executive Director. A Season of Harmony venue search task force, and a Music Evaluation Committee were created. The Advisory Board expanded to eight members. A separate bank account was opened to manage reserve funding.  

GRANTS: The Executive Director met with our part-time contract grant writer (Beverly Scott) on January 3, February 24, June 12, and June 27. Three applications yielded one professional development grant from the Center for Nonprofit Management, through a partnership with the Frist Foundation 

IN-KIND SPONSORSHIPS: Agreements were reached with Ventress Design Group to handle the layout and design of the 2012 concert program, and Playground Studios to provide free studio time for recording the upcoming Christmas CD project 

MARKETING: The mailing list increased by 5%. The Facebook advertising campaign conducted in February and March to promote the Acappella Academy event resulted in: 592,194 Impressions, 127 Clicks (visits to our website), 4 New Social Media Connections, 0.021% CTR click-through rate, $117.00 Spent, $0.20 CPM (cost per 1000 impressions), $0.92 CPC (cost per click); The Facebook advertising campaign conducted year round to attract new singing members resulted in: 1,422,842 Impressions, 497 Clicks (visits to our website), 10 New Social Media Connections, 0.035% CTR click-through rate, $294.44 Spent, $0.21 CPM (cost per 1000 impressions), $0.59 CPC (cost per click) 

MEMBERSHIP: Membership increased by 7%. A member satisfaction survey was conducted with 92% participation. Results of this survey were published in May 7th issue of the Nashville Singers Newsletter. 

MERCHANDISING: Cuts from the Nashville Singers release "The Journey Begins" became available on iTunes, Emusic, GooglePlay, IODA, TuneGenie, Amazon, Amazon UK, Ebay's Digital Music Center, MOG, Amplified, CD Universe on March 17. A new credit card reader from www.squareup.com was secured to efficiently handle credit card transactions for CD purchases, concert tickets, dues and silent auction purchases; 

MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAM: Director of Music rolled out new music and learning media to nine new songs for the 2012 Season of Harmony Concert. The songs included: Bad Day, Beyond the Sea, Birthday of a King, Blew By You, Bring Him Home, How High the Moon, Let it Snow, Sleigh Ride, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. By May 7, four of the five (80%) new non-holiday songs had been performed in public. Five members of the Nashville Singers and performance coach Grace Thomson presented a master class on the "Art of Acappella Singing" at John Overton High School on January 24. Acappella Academy was held on March 24 and attracted 27 participants, a 300% increase over the previous year. Self-assessment survey data from a sampling of 50% of attendees indicated skills of participants increased on average 33%. Music Evaluation Committee assisted Director of Music in selection of eight song candidates for 2013 by May 31, 2012.  

PAID PERFORMANCES: The chorus performed for 4,000 people on April 14 at the Titanic - Pigeon Forge Attraction in Sevier County and earned our largest performance fee to date 

PHILANTHROPY: The board reviewed seven applications for the 2012 Music Makes a Difference Grant, and three applications for the 2012 Educator of the Future scholarship. NSI staff visited with music educators at the top three finalist schools. Two $500 grants were awarded to Oliver Middle School and Lakeview Design Center. A $1000 college scholarship was awarded to McGavock HS graduate Michael Collins. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The Executive Director earned a certificate in "Nonprofit Essentials" from the Center for Nonprofit Management, and has taken 43.5 hours of coursework from the Center for Nonprofit Management and Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee since January 1st. 

PUBLIC RELATIONS: Five (5) press releases to resulted in media "hits" with the following print or online publications: The Tennessean, Williamson Herald, Family Practitioner, Nashville Business Journal, Metro Nashville Public Schools website, ChoralNet website, Fox 17, Allevents, and Whereevent.com.  

RECOGNITION/SOCIAL: The annual awards banquet for 2011 was held in 2012. Two dozen members earned a combined 22 awards.  

STRATEGIC PLANNING: The strategic plan was updated in April of 2012.  

WEB DEVELOPMENT: The website was updated 87 times and had a complete redesign to better reflect our branding on collateral materials. E-commerce capabilities were added to process orders for our CD.  

Todd Wilson Executive Director Director of Music

Question of the Week       

Q: Nashville Singers is a small, all volunteer organization with no facilities or paid staff. How have you been able to establish such a presence in Music City in just over three years?   

A: It all starts with creation of a business and strategic plan built around sound strategies:

This Day in Music      

July 2, 1955 - ABC Television premiered "The Lawrence Welk Show." The series aired nationally from 1955 to 1971, and in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982.  

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