GOING TO KANSAS CITY in 2013

AMSOV members who choose to attend the 39th Biennial Conference in Kansas City May 16 through 19, 2013 will be treated to special places and special occasions. You'll learn more about Kansas City, the largest city in the state of Missouri with a metro area of 2.1 million people. Founded in 1838 at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, Kansas City, Missouri is situated opposite Kansas City, Kansas. In March 2012, downtown Kansas City was selected as one of America's Best Downtowns by Forbes magazine. The city was cited for its rich culture in arts, numerus fountains, upscale shopping and cuisine.

 Kansas City Skyline Photo by Kevin Sink

A 43-Year Volunteer Tradition Puts Kansas City on the Map - Again

Kansas City Symphony

Karen Hardcastle

The Kansas City Symphony Designers' Showhouse breathes life into old homes - and its Symphony.

Everything's up to date in Kansas City, even a 43-year-old volunteer project that continues to evolve as times have changed - and this fundraising effort is as shiny and effective as ever. Each year, the Kansas City Symphony Alliance (KCSA) selects a beautiful mansion that is, for lack of a better phrase, a bit time-worn.
 

1991 Designers' Showcase House

Most of the homes have rich histories, having been owned by celebrities or people of historical significance. Once the home is chosen, the volunteer group recruits a multitude of interior, exterior and landscape designers to renovate the entire property, with each design group revitalizing a specific area or room.

1996 Designers' Showcase House

The designers coordinate their efforts, deftly managed by the volunteer organization, so that the finished product is a beautiful array of thematically coherent spaces. KCSA sells tickets so that people can visit the houses both before and after the project, and the transformations are simply incredible. So incredible that the project has raised millions of dollars for the Kansas City Symphony and is the longest continuously running Showcase House project in the United States.

Recent Designers' Showcase House.

Seeing one of these transformations play out is just one of many rich experiences that next May's AMSOV Biennial Conference visitors will encounter in Kansas City.

In 2012 alone, the one-month Designers' Showcase House project raised $85,000 for the Kansas City Symphony. In all, the Kansas City Symphony's five volunteer auxiliaries regularly support about 15 percent of the Symphony's total budget - a number that is highly regarded throughout North America. Along with KCSA, the Jewel Ball, the Symphony Guild, the Symphony League and the Symphony Women's Association contribute to this extraordinary effort.

May 16-19, 2013, don't miss the opportunity to attend the AMSOV Conference in Kansas City. Included in the registration fee will be a very special treat - a visit to the 2013 Designers' Showcase House. You will see this traditional, yet innovative fundraising effort with your own eyes. It is a rare treat. And it just may inspire you to think of equally innovative approaches for your own city.

Anyone who has ever volunteered for anything understands that long-term, consistently successful campaigns are always the most difficult to conceive and adapt through time. Kansas City's Symphony Designers' Showcase House has passed the test of time, and has become an ongoing franchise worthy of note.

UP-TO-DATE in KANSAS CITY
Site of the Upcoming 39th AMSOV Biennial Conference 

New Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Music Director Michael Stern Conducts the Kansas City Symphony

Music Director Michael Stern last March directed Kansas City-native mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato when she performed with the Kansas City Symphony. The concert was filmed to be part of the 2012 PBS Arts Summer Festival. This Festival takes viewers on an exploration of nearly 20 cities around the globe and offers an in-depth look at music, theater, art, architecture and cultural history from some of the world's unique locations. Architect Moshe Safdie's new Kauffman Center for the
Performing Arts provided the backdrop for this performance-documentary.

 

On July 20th, PBS aired the documentary Homecoming: the Kansas City Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato. Viewers can see it online at www.PBS.org. It shows beautiful views of the new Helzberg Hall, part of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The performance is also available on  DVD.

 

AMSOV Conference attendees can look forward to hearing the Kansas City Symphony perform on Saturday evening, April 20th. A catered dinner at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts followed by a performance of the Kansas City Symphony conducted by Michael Stern in Herzberg Hall is included in the registration fee. It is a tradition to hear the host city's symphony perform, and this tradition continues at the 39th Biennial Conference.

 

The following paper I delivered June 5, 2012 to the League of American Orchestras Volunteer Council at their annual conference in Dallas. I hope it will be meaningful to you. - Helen Shaffer

Identifying Leaders - Seeing the Big Picture
 

Leadership should be born out of an understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it. - Marion Anderson

Leadership skills provide the basis for growth and prosperity and a successful longevity for your organizations. Leadership has evolved from an autocratic style to this day and age where it requires an understanding of deep human qualities. We now know that it is imperative to nurture our members and provide an environment in which they will grow, thrive and become the future leaders.

We should identify new leaders and find a way to identify each individual's strengths. We must be prepared to turn over the reins to new leaders as they are ready, willing and able to accept it. We will have to gracefully step aside and celebrate that we have successfully moved on. Yet, we cannot have a revolving door.

Membership retention is crucial. Have you thought of a Past President's Board of Advisors that oversees the growth and success of the organization? Past presidents carry a history of the organization which is important in making decisions. How do you keep your "retired" leadership connected? Do you offer a mentoring program for new members? If you do, how are the mentors trained to assist the new members in becoming connected to your organization? What criteria do you use to pair mentors with the new members? Do you offer a retreat for your members and keep them aware of the health of the organization? Does your program last two years and have you placed new members in meaningful tasks or roles?

Consider who is ready, willing and able to be a leader.It is imperative that our organizations embrace and communicate a feeling of welcome to a change of leadership. Have those who are ready, willing and able embraced the mission and vision of the organization? Once you have identified a member's strengths, do you place the member in tasks which would best fit? Do you communicate the group's evaluation of their strengths and skills and encourage them to stretch? How considerate and thoughtful are we when our members are having crises? Are we compassionate and help them find a way to move forward? Are you able to make them feel comfortable taking a new job? They must feel safe and feel they can be successful in the task.

How does your group transition? Do you have planned transition meetings between committee chairs? What is the role of the President in the follow-up? Do you rotate tasks? Consider that you must look at an individual from many angles. All individuals do not shine in all tasks. Do you have a tool that allows the members to identify where they would like to be placed? Do you follow this with an interview? Who is responsible for the interview - a mentor or an officer of the board? It is my opinion that individuals should remain in one job no longer than two years.

What are the expectations for your group? Do you require that members contribute to your Annual Fund? Should your organization include a way that all members support the organization financially? Do your members subscribe to your orchestra's concerts? Consider how your members are connected and why they became members.

The Nominating Committee is crucial to the success of your organization. How is your Nominating Committee selected? I trust that they are members who have the organization's best interest in their heart. To serve on the Nominating Committee is not a social or popularity contest; it is business. This is the Committee that will see that the organization thrives. The Nominating Committee should be an ongoing committee and undertake the challenge that the organization will remain strong and relevant. Leadership of this committee is crucial. I trust that friends are not discussed but you concentrate on strengths of leadership that your members have identified. This has to be a committee that is objective and only has the concerns that are relevant to the organization in their heart. All members of the Nominating Committee should do their homework and know the strengths of your members.

What is the structure of your Board? Many organizations are moving to a Vice-President structure, allowing a great way to promote from within. This structure offers the opportunity to see how a member performs as a leader, and it helps identify future presidents.

Strategic planning is the map for your organization.The planning process outlines where you are going and how you are going to get there. Are we in sync with our orchestra's vision, goals and core objectives? The Strategic Planning Committee is the second most important committee following the Nominating Committee. It is important that members of the Strategic Planning Committee are given guidelines by the leadership of your organization. What do you want to happen? How does our volunteer group fit into the big picture? How can we ensure that all members are focused on the vision, goals and objectives in order to make a difference?

Let's next identify characteristics of a leader:

• Believes in the mission and vision.
• Can identify talents of individuals.
• Can nurture, question, invite, and guide all members.

A great leader learns how to unleash another human's greatest gifts and potential. A leader's gift is to have more creative, productive and inspired members who will continue to elevate the organization. See the box on the left, which includes words that I use to identify leaders. Can you add to this list?

All the leaders you want are right there in your own organization. I wish you the best in identifying them. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Our chief want in this life is somebody who shall make us do what we can."

• Your membership renewal will automatically enter you in the AMSOV Member Organization Directory, and you will receive a hard copy of this exceptional networking tool.
   
• You will automatically qualify to attend the next Biennial AMSOV Conference, scheduled for May 16-19, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri.
   
• The information you provide on your membership form ensures accuracy about you in the AMSOV Member Organization Directory.
   
• You will receive our electronic newsletters, AMSOV eNEWS, and your invitation to the Conference.
   
• You will be able to access on-going support from members of the Board.
   
• Your support provides the funds that enable AMSOV to provide services, expand networking capabilities, and support the volunteers undertaking the responsibility for the 2013 Biennial Conference.
   
• Use the membership forms located on the AMSOV web site to renew: www.amsov.org.

BOOK REVIEW

 by Arlyss Burkett

Los  Angeles Philharmonic
  

Arlyss Burkett

Leap of Reason, Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity - by Mario Morino

As we bounce past the second quarter of 2012, AMSOV members are well aware of the scarcity of resources in our society. To work around this scarcity, veteran philanthropist and author Mario Morino offers a blueprint in Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity.

This book is the product of decades of management insights from Morino, McKinsey & Company, and more than a dozen experts and practitioners whose essays appear at the end of the book.

The premise of Leap of Reason is that nonprofits can improve their impact by more rigorously identifying and then measuring the outcomes they seek. Morino advises us to quantify our mission and ultimately our success. This will help us find funders; that is, corporations willing to place their philanthropy budget in a successfully documented organization. Morino calls it a disciplined investment. Nonprofits and businesses have used this book to examine how they operate, and foundations would find it inspirational. It reads like a business book but contains many examples to clarify the author's points.

Managing to outcomes is primarily about culture and people - not numbers. Morino emphasizes that the technology behind data systems is not nearly as important as the mindset of leaders who put these systems in place. He advises to strive for a mindset that encompasses a culture of openness and transparency. He insists that organizations that manage to outcomes successfully have courageous leaders who foster a performance culture. However, to reach a performance culture might require a significant culture shift.

How do you make a culture shift? Morino devotes an entire chapter, "Culture Is Key," to discussing how nonprofit leaders can drive culture change within their organizations to support a relentless focus on doing the most good for those they serve. This chapter alone makes Leap of Reason worth a read by AMSOV members.

Performance Culture

Morino contends that an organization's culture has a huge impact on whether the organization can achieve what it hopes to achieve for those it serves. For one thing, volunteer organizations that manage to outcomes successfully have courageous leaders. Leaders foster a performance culture among the membership. Members understand the mission, and they feel appreciated for their role in fulfilling it. The end result is that members have a mindset to do what they need to do as well as possible, and seek to do even better.

A great culture starts with great people. To nurture a performance culture, Morino advises to begin with recruiting, developing, and retaining the talented people you need to fulfill your mission. Does this place the Nominating Committee in an important role for a volunteer organization? You bet it does. The key lies in the people who execute the plans. Ask yourself this basic question: Do you have the right talent, leadership, and judgment in place to execute your mission? Or do you need to nurture a culture change?

Morino admits that in our volunteer organizations, leaders cannot simply create by edict the organizational culture they desire because any organizational culture is a complex, organic system. He advises that the best leaders can do is to influence culture through their words and deeds, what he calls "walk the talk."

How do leaders walk the talk?

• Recruit people whose personalities, attitudes, values, and competencies exemplify the culture to which your volunteer organization hopes to evolve.
• Practice the behavior that they want others to practice.
• Flesh out core beliefs and guiding principles.
• Ensure that everyone is moving toward the same destination.
• Ensure a balance between leaders and doers, and leaders should be clear and direct about what they expect.
• Encourage self-improvement and personal growth.

 When you combine all of the above with respect and genuine caring, Morino states, you almost inevitably shape an organizational culture in which people take pride in what they do and are eager to excel and play a role in fulfilling the organization's mission. Let's accept the challenge and get started.