Nancy Dunlap Baudean

This was a banner year with the Junior League of Annapolis, Inc. making tremendous progress in having the vision to move ahead and stay focused with the real mission of our League.

We made a recognizable impact in the community through our efforts in promoting volunteerism and in training women to be community leaders.

Our theme “Join Hearts & Hands” with our community was evident with our measurable success throughout the year.

Operating/ Administration:

• At the national level – The Association of Junior Leagues International worked intensely to strengthen the commitment to be a women’s organization devoted to training and developing the potential of women volunteers.
• We began our year by implementing the first year of a newly developed five (5) year Strategic Plan. This plan was the framework for all our endeavors this year, as it was the direct voice from our membership driven, board supported organization
• Goal I – Increase member awareness and knowledge of the JLA structure and AJLI.
  • A League-wide training session was held educating members on AJLI and the purpose of the Nominating/Placement committee. Leadership and volunteer training was ongoing via provisional workshops, leadership day and area group sessions.
  • The Bylaws and Policies & Procedures were revised and membership was encouraged to familiarize themselves with our governance structure.
  • A Sustainer mentor program was created (Been There-Done That) and implemented offering history, wisdom and expertise to all committees.
• Goal II – Increase community visibility and awareness
  • A League-wide training session was held educating members on AJLI and the purpose of the Nominating/Placement committee. Leadership and volunteer training was ongoing via provisional workshops, leadership day and area group sessions.
  • The Bylaws and Policies & Procedures were revised and membership was encouraged to familiarize themselves with our governance structure.
  • A Sustainer mentor program was created (Been There-Done That) and implemented offering history, wisdom and expertise to all committees.
  • We revitalized our Community Advisory Board (CAB) by encouraging more participation and extending more knowledge of our community involvement.
  • Successfully sponsored a Community Roundtable offering us the opportunity to spread our mission and become more informed of local needs and issues by collaborating with many other area community service agencies.
  • Our visibility was increased and enhanced through year-round publicity via newsletters, newspaper press releases, magazines, radio (live talk show!) and cable. Updated JLA brochures and fact sheets for distribution to the community.
  • Participated in the United Way sponsored Day of Caring, became actively involved with Anne Arundel County Council of Community Services by obtaining a Board position and recruited community leaders for involvement in League sponsored events such as County Executive John Gary and our Community Roundtable. A comprehensive list of community service organizations was created allowing us to become aware of local services provided and to have more exposure for potential members.
• Goal III – Increase membership, diversity and retention by at least 20%
  • Evaluated and acquired software program sponsored by AJLI to maintain more accurate information and records of our members.
  • The “member get a member” became a year long effort to acquire new members and promote camaraderie.
  • Membership requirements were reviewed and revised to reflect the changing lifestyles and diverse backgrounds of our members. The members voted to lower the active years required under age 40 to go Sustainer from 8 years to 5 years, thereby increasing membership retention. Placement criteria was restructured opening up the opportunity for community placement in other organizations.
  • At the members’ request, committee sizes were increased in an effort to spread out the workload. Several committees were eliminated allowing us to be more intensely focused on our abilities using the woman power available.
  • Many social events were sponsored to encourage networking, fun and bonding with fellow members. The year end Annual function was changed to a Cocktail Social Party resulting in much greater participation by spouses and members alike.
  • For the first time in the JLA we hosted two provisional classes offering more choices and flexibility for our potential members.
• Goal IV – Plan and implement a JLA Signature Project
  • We researched the feasibility of developing a signature project via survey and networking with other leagues across the country.
• Goal V – Increase financial strength
  • Groundwork was laid for an external Endowment Fund campaign to be conducted in the fall. A Solicitation Manual was created and training of membership on this was accomplished. Developed a database of all League solicitation requests while applying for grants and donations through community resulting in $13,000 worth of income.
  • Coordinated three major fundraisers and increased our fundraising income from previous year by more than 10%.
  • Planned and implemented new fall fundraiser netting over $4,000 from non-League members and simultaneously recognizing and encouraging community volunteers.
  • Continued to successfully market our prized cookbook Of Tide and Thyme having a 2nd, 3rd and 4th printing this year along with participating in local festivals and craft shows promoting not only the cookbook, but also membership recruitment. This resulted in a net income of over $50,000.
  • Carousel was again a success in spite of snow and many unforeseen circumstances. This rally effort netted a profit of $16,000.
  • There were also various mini-fundraisers throughout the year bringing additional income of around $3,000. All of the fundraisers were scrutinized with regard to time versus profit with the hopes of streamlining our fundraising efforts most efficiently.
• As was hoped, many of these goals were accomplished through cross-functional efforts where several committees worked together to achieve success.
• Our financial records were upgraded through new software and a more efficient tracking system was created for individual fundraisers.
• The Assistant Treasurer position was voted out by membership and a bookkeeping service was contracted thereby providing us with more updated and factual expertise in all areas of finance.
• A new copier was acquired allowing us to produce more professional in-house publications.
• The League office received a facelift with fresh paint and new conference room chairs along with a much-needed clean out.

Community Impact:

• We reviewed and awarded grant money to organizations of projects in need.
• We awarded a $1,500 scholarship on volunteerism along with honoring many outstanding community volunteers via our Excellence in Volunteerism award and our Hats Off to Volunteers recognition event.
• We funded and staffed five different community service committees.
• The Kids on the Block committee again touched the lives of thousands of local elementary school children by interacting and performing educational puppet shows on diversity, disabilities, divorce and child abuse.
• The Kiva committee continued a dedicated task of working with troubled teens and nurturing their self-esteem educational and emotional needs that would not otherwise have been fulfilled.
• The Done in a Day committee provided school supplies for 1,300 needy children, participated in the American Diabetes Walktoberfest and in Children’s Book Week. They provided two holiday baskets for needy families and coordinated efforts benefiting the Lighthouse Shelter and Christmas in April.
• A Car Safety Seat program was implemented in collaboration with Nordstrom and Maryland Kids in Safety Seats.
• The Emergency Baby Pantry committee in its first year of existence touched the lives of more than 80 needy children in Anne Arundel County by providing emergency items such as food, clothing, diapers, etc. It sponsored many drives and rallies to acquire donations of goods and funds to stock the pantries, which over the course of a year increased from three to eight pantries. An internal tracking system was created to monitor activity and inventory usage. This proved to be an extremely successful collaboration with the Department of Social Services and Foodlink, Inc.
• The Public Policy committee was voted in as a standing committee ensuring its continued viability from year to year. This committee researched current political issues at hand involving our focus of family support, educated our membership on these matters and lobbied heavily for their passages.

Getting Connected:

Our members celebrated all these accomplishments and successes at a cocktail party in May offering another social opportunity for not only the members but also their spouses.  To have been successful at achieving so many goals in our Strategic plan is something with which we should take pride.