|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||
Essentials in
Board
Board Minutes-November 2002 Exhibit C
November 2002 Exhibit C: Harmony Foundation Report
Updated: 12/2/2002 11:35:00 AM
November 2, 2002 Society Board Minutes Exhibit C
Harmony Foundation Address To
SPEBSQSA Board of Directors
Leadership Forum - November 2, 2002
By Terry Aramian
Thank you, President Roger…Gentlemen:
It is a great honor for me to speak to the leaders of the Society for the year 2003. There is a lot on our minds and a lot of questions you have that we need to answer. If you have further questions after the next few minutes, please ask me or one of the other Trustees who are here this weekend. We will be happy to answer all your questions. The Harmony Foundation Trustees in attendance are; Digger MacDougall, Ed Waesche, and Foundation general counsel, Jim Warner.
By walking the halls and talking with guys, rubbing elbows and overhearing conversations. It has become evident that there are some genuine concerns. I’ve heard concerns about the changes that recently have been made at Harmony Foundation. Concerns that recent action has been taken hastily, without due consideration, and in a very precipitous manner. Gentlemen, I assure you, that is not the case. We are simply at a point in the process of maturing.
Remember, every decision we make at the International level, and I hope at the District level as well, is driven by the Society vision statement, which begins…..“the Society is to be—an ever-growing fraternity… an ever-growing fraternity!! That thought recognizes the fact that unless we continue to grow in numbers, we will cease to exist. Why, because we are an aging Society. We are losing members at a rate of 300 per year just through death and infirmity. And, we are not bringing in new people to take the place of those men we used to sing with. Where are those people going to come from? They are going to come from the young people of America. Oh sure, we are going to get our share of 35 and 40 and 45 year old men, but we need to start nurturing that growth, and filling the pipeline from the bottom up. And so, the Society adopts a vision statement which says….”to preserve our musical legacy through support of vocal music education in our schools and communities. And that does it. But, does that alone do it?
Well, with the help of Harmony Foundation who intends to fund that growth, and intends to fund that mission and vision statement, it can happen.
In the wisdom of our Foundation forefathers, (I happen to be included) we adopted a vision statement that we thought would support the vision of the Society. The vision was….”that Harmony Foundation is to be a leading philanthropic force nurturing vocal music education in our schools and communities, and other special educational causes.”
Over the years it became clear to us, in a variety of ways, that this statement was so broad, we couldn’t get our arms around it enough to embrace the concept. It was so broad that we know there wasn’t enough money in the world to fill that ocean. So just over a month ago, and after a few years of study, we adopted a new vision statement for the Harmony Foundation. “Harmony Foundation is to be a leading philanthropic force dedicated to perpetuating the Barbershop Harmony art form for present and future generations to enjoy.” That statement says that our mission is to perpetuate Barbershop, and to perpetuate the Society. Now, with this new focus, we can embrace it, we can get our arms around it, we can become passionate about preserving our Society, preserving it by filling that pipeline with young men.
We are seeking to hire an executive director who will take us to a new level. The Executive Director will be a man or woman who not only has the administrative, marketing, and leadership skills to successfully manage Harmony Foundation but will also be able to demonstrate numerous successes in raising large amounts of capital. He or she will be able to point to the doors we can expect to be opened to us and tell us how much we can reasonably expect to raise on an annual basis. Then they will be held to that standard.
There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to attract three to five million dollars a year – new dollars. Not from Barbershoppers but from corporate America, private foundations and trusts. But that will only be possible once we believe in a basic fact of life. When we go into the outside world and ask for three million dollars, their first question is going to be, “how much are your members donating to this cause”? What we can answer right now is that our September mailing for the General Fund, bearing the signature of Dick Van Dyke, has yielded just under $32,000. That’s one dollar per man. When we tell the outside world that we can, without a doubt, raise $1 per man, they will laugh in our face.
Gentlemen, we need to be raising, on an annual basis, $30 per man. That’s not a lot of money. That’s little more than 50 cents a week. But that small amount of money equates to one million dollars in new money year after year after year. We’d be able to point to that kind fund raising effort to corporate America, and they’ll match it, and they’ll surpass it. And, with that money, we’re going to be able to fill that pipeline, especially when combined with what we hope will be 800+ chapters doing their good works locally. Good works like holding local high school quartet contests, workshops and festivals or singing to benefit a local high school vocal music program.
Harmony Foundation last year was able to give $75,000 to the Society for Harmony Explosion Camps. That’s not enough to make a dent. It needs to be $300,000, or $500,000 a year for Harmony Explosion camps, so that there are not just 3 nationally, but 10 or 16—one in each district every year. Because when you put Barbershop in front of a high school kid, boy does he grab on to it. If you looked at that film yesterday, in the last scene the little boy said, “I want to do this forever.” He will sing forever. That’s what we need; we need to get Barbershop in front of high school kids. And, we can’t do it on one dollar per year. We can do it with one million dollars from this organization, because that’s going to be the seed money to produce three to five million dollars a year from outside sources.
Gentlemen, we have been ineffectual in stirring a fire in your heart. When you look at that little boy, if that doesn’t stir fire and passion in you for perpetuating our Society, then you don’t understand what it is all about. For that we apologize, because it means we haven’t done our job. But believe me, from here on out, we’re going to do our job. I promise you that.
Yes, we can make a huge impact if we all work together and if we all keep the fire in our hearts and keep the passion alive and transmit that passion to the people we come in contact with. Because, gentlemen, you are the leaders of this great Society. Your peers have elected you because they respect you; not just because you have the time to do the job.
So Lead! Lead by example, lead by your words, and lead by your deeds.
Gentlemen, join with us and dedicate yourself to perpetuating this Society for present and future generations to enjoy.
Thank you.
Save a PDF
Save original
Email Story
Print Story
Related Items
 |