8. Staff & Leadership Development (GRADE B) - Our organization is only going to be as strong as its leaders.  

• Todd has completed over 180 hours of nonprofit management training in the last four years from the Center for Nonprofit Management and has earned certifications in fund development, program management, volunteer management, nonprofit essentials, and nonprofit leadership.  
• Thanks to a matching leadership development grant of $400 from a partnership between CNM and the Frist Foundation, our training dollars no go much farther.  
• We will continue to invest in the professional development of our leaders.  
• We are increasing this budget for 2014 and the intent is to invest the bulk of this into board development training.
• The Board of Directors continues to focus on planning and policy development, and also functioned as the SOH show committee. Keeping with best practices of fund development, all board members are now individual or sustaining donors of the chorus. The board men 15 times in the first 11 months of this year, including a board retreat, and three advisory board meetings. Some of the governance highlights of the year include:

• Conflict of interest forms signed by all board members
• Adopted policy publishing last audition date for SOH being August 31st of each year
• Approved contracting with Alix Brody Waite with Hands on Nashville to assist with event production/promotion
• Approved a leadership succession plan
• Approved updates to strategic plan
• Approved purchase of a sound system with donations from members
• Simplified mission statement
• Approved borrowing from reserve fund to fund 2013 grants and scholarships
• Approved updating core values to include philanthropy
• Approved increasing grant amounts to $750 each effective 2014
• Approved AED Policy and Procedures, awaiting grant or other funding to purchase AED device
• Approved formation of President's Council to function as defacto nominating committee and to serve as a sounding board for the board of directors
• Approved contracting with Groupon to help draw attendees to SOH.
• Announced intent to adopt a board member attendance policy effective 2014
• Approved policy eliminating discounted member pricing on merchandise items 
      
• It takes a great deal to run this organization and achieve its objectives. If you're not currently doing something besides singing, please get in touch with me, or our next President, and do what you can to help share the load. We currently have 47 unfilled positions. The worst thing we could do is lose one of our leaders because they are burnt out from carrying a workload that is larger than necessary.  

• We maintain a year-round adult music education program for our members.
• We continue to be challenged by new and fun music to sing, averaging about 10 new songs per month.  
• Learning media is provided for a vast majority of songs introduced.  
• The quality of the arrangements we sing is first rate.  
• Based on the reaction from our concert and public performance audiences, the songs selection decisions have been excellent.  
• Seven new songs were added to our repertoire in 2012. We have a music evaluation committee and an excellent music plan that looks several years into the future.
• We are blessed to have Bruce Cokeroft, Ric Domenico, Taylor Wilson and Sloan Yarborough as section leaders, Harlan serving as a mentor to the music team and Sloan serving as associate director. 
• The board of directors has approved a stipend for our associate director beginning in 2014 to show our appreciation for his incredible contributions to our musical success. 
• Our performance standards have taken a big step up from the end of 2012.  
• Increased use of audio and video recorders would help in the retention of our performance plan.

• We offer non-members, including men and women music education through Acappella Academy. Our new grant funding from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee will allow us to secure a well-known clinician to impact even more men and women with this music education program.
• We serve students through master classes on the art of acappella singing. Our new grant funding from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee will allow us to schedule a weekend event and secure a well-known clinician to draw and impact even more area youth with this music education program. 

10. Financial Development (GRADE B) - We're following the best practices of other successful nonprofits.

• We were awarded $6,300 in grant funding for operations and programs in 2014, exceeding budget in this category.
• We're on track to have 12 performances on the calendar this year, with 50% of those earning a fee.
• Even so, we only achieved 70% of budgeted revenues from paid performances, and 70% of budgeted advertising revenue.
• We continue to defray expenses through in-kind sponsorships. However, we had a critical in-kind sponsor no show at SOH. We need to consider developing written agreements between NSI and our in-kind sponsors to better communicate expectations.
• Our projected budget for 2013 was $30,810. As it stands now, we're on track to reach in excess of $27,000, including $6,300 in grant awards.
• Our revenue is diversified and comes from many different sources, including member dues, performance fees, advertising, merchandising, individual donations, sustaining donors, silent auction, events, board giving, advisory board giving, and grants.
• Future sources of funding could include major gifts, corporate sponsorships, and legacy gifts to reduce the financial burden carried by our members.
• We would benefit greatly if we had a merchandising manager focused on increasing sales, and increasing wholesale distribution opportunities.

Season of Harmony - We just finished what many tell us was our best Season of Harmony yet.

• Our previous record for revenues was $8,800 in 2011.
• This year we're in the neighborhood of $11,000.The final financial report is is still a work in progress. 
• The entertainment value, printed program, use of multimedia, professional hosts, pacing, signage, and length were top notch.
• We had some challenges with the scrolling sign and should have had some back up cheat sheets on the stage.
• Sound at FBC was awesome.
• While the system at Lifepoint was quite nice, the use of Beta 87 solo mics to capture the chorus produced a less than desirable result. Had time permitted, Harlan's AKG C1000s would have served us better.
• Lighting cues were adequate in the script, but we only had volunteers to run one of the two spots on Saturday and the one we had did not have a script.
• This was the best silent auction yet. Sarah Beatty's letters making "the ask" went out months in advance and produced great results.
• With so many volunteers brought to the fold from Hands on Nashville, the bottlenecks experienced in previous years seemed to be a thing of the past.
• Key people need to have clearcom earpieces or walkie talkies with ear pieces for discreet, internal communication during the event. This could include non-singing event producer/director, lighting operators, sound engineer, multimedia operator, stage manager, runners, box office supervisor, and musical director.
• Bolstered by a new CD, coffee, and tee shirts, our merchandising numbers were the best yet.
• Having more squares programmed with new menu buttons for Saturday like they were on Sunday would have helped us better tracks purchases. Have devices logged in ahead of time to avoid confusion.
• In terms of tickets, we need to make sure every member gets $300 worth of tickets to sell to their friends and family members. We fell short in that area this year.

AREAS THAT COULD USE SOME EXTRA ATTENTION

11. Membership (GRADE C)

• Our annual retention rate is 84%.
• 94% of our members are active with the chorus.
• We've held a few social events this year more than last.
• However, our membership numbers are short of the objectives in our strategic plan.

12. Diversity (GRADE C) - One of our long-term strategies is to develop diversity in the music we perform, our membership, our leadership, the audiences we attract, and diversity in our funding sources. We are diversifying our repertoire, income sources, advisory board and the audiences for our programs and events, but could achieve greater diversity in our membership or governing board.

13. Awards (GRADE C)

• At some point in the future, the Nashville Singers could be recognized for our philanthropic endeavors, or for utilizing best practices for organizational management in the non-profit sector. The first step is to apply for and/or nominate ourselves for awards in these areas if they are a good fit for an area where we are enjoying success. The Center for Nonprofit Management gives out many awards each year and gives away over $200,000 in prize money to the peak performing organizations in Middle Tennessee.
• We could consider entering a musical competition of some kind in the near future.  

Our overall grade for the 13 areas of importance in our strategic plan is a B (3.23)

Where do we go from here?

Our vision for the Nashville Singers includes these six cornerstone elements:

1. Nashville Singers is recognized as one of the premier choral organizations in North America, and serves as an artistic incubator.
2. Nashville Singers will continue to produce choral performances that exemplify the highest standards of musicianship, artistry and entertainment.
3. Nashville Singers will strengthen organizational sustainability by building audiences and achieving long-term sustainable funding, with corporate sponsors, major individual donors, a planned giving program, and a financial reserve.
4. Nashville Singers will increase local and national awareness of the Nashville Singers brand through public and television performances, webcasts, and by nurturing relationships with churches, schools, and other arts organizations.
5. Nashville Singers will support and enrich our members, leadership, volunteers, and designated charitable organizations.
6. Nashville Singers has artists who want to appear as guest performers with the chorus.

I am very grateful for the contributions of time and talent from my fellow board members, Lenny Farmer, Tim Mullican, Taylor Wilson, Bob Allen and Mike Casper, and the leadership guidance from our Executive Director Todd Wilson.

We have some exciting things on the horizon for 2014, including a performance at the Ryman Auditorium, and a new Spring concert with the Tunetown Show Chorus and the Music City Youth Orchestra.

Finally, I am grateful for the many hours of dedication from our members for contributing to the success of this organization, and for making 2013 and extraordinary year. I consider myself fortunate to be a part of this amazing musical ensemble with its fun, friendship, teamwork and a commitment to excellence on and off the stage.