Strategic plan

Thank you to Tom Romito for providing this draft of a strategic plan. Please contact me at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net for the latest draft.  

Strategic Plan 

for the

Friends of Euclid Creek

2013-2016

Introduction

FOEC is a grass-roots non-profit organization that loves the Euclid Creek watershed and has a storied history of successes in protecting it.  However, FOEC is faced with many challenges.  In order to continue creating awareness of the Euclid Creek watershed and protecting land and water there, the board of FOEC decided in late 2012 to undergo a strategic planning process.  This document is the result of that process.

We, the board of FOEC, have a goal of advocating for the health of the watershed.  A number of barriers exist that we must overcome in order to achieve our goal.  We lack organizational structure, procedures, and a defined focus, which limit our visibility.  The watershed contains many communities with differing laws that slow down projects we could do to take care of the watershed.  Many citizens and public officials are unconcerned about keeping the watershed healthy.  We live in a developed urban environment, which contributes to flooding, pollution, and storm water runoff and degrades our quality of life.  We have limited funds, which prohibits us from protecting parcels of land.

We have invested ourselves in the watershed for a variety of reasons.  We aspire to a high quality of life by living here.  We believe we are working for the benefit of future generations who will live here.  We experience spiritual rejuvenation by advocating for health in the watershed.  We value the watershed for what it is.  In fact, we believe we are partners with the watershed itself.  We want other people to become FOEC members, help them to do so, and mentor them once they are.  These are our values, and they support our vision of being the citizen voice for the watershed.

Given all of these factors, we decided that our mission is to raise awareness and preserve the natural features of the Euclid Creek watershed.  We chose a slogan to go with it, and it is “Euclid Creek” – Your Natural Neighbor.”  It means that Euclid Creek is in our backyards; that it should have rights and protection just like any neighbor; that we want all FOEC members, to be good neighbors to it because what happens in our yards doesn’t stay in our yards; our behavior influences our neighbor.

We spent a great deal of time during the strategic planning process analyzing our internal strengths and weaknesses.  We know what they are; some of them became known to us in a member survey we conducted on August 7, 2012.  We also looked at opportunities in the community we can exploit to have chances for success.  Lastly, we examined forces in the community and the world that threaten the environment and FOEC.  Based on this soul-searching and research, we developed three core strategies that will direct our efforts in the coming years.

We rely on the volunteer spirit of FOEC members, present and future, to help us implement these strategies, achieve our vision, and accomplish our mission.

Goal, Vision, and Mission

Goal

To advocate for the health of the Euclid Creek watershed.

Vision

FOEC is the citizen voice for the Euclid Creek watershed.

Mission

To raise awareness and preserve the natural features of the Euclid Creek watershed.

  

Organizational History and Profile

Organizational History

A small group of concerned citizens formed the Friends of Euclid Creek in 2000 to address a need for stewardship of the natural resources of Euclid Creek.  Following are some of the highlights of FOEC activities since its formation:

·                FOEC members have taken part in a number of community events (Greenwood Farm, Beachwood Green Dream, Lyndhurst Home Days, South Euclid Home Days) to educate people about watersheds and watershed issues.

·                In 2006, FOEC evaluated benefits and challenges of rain gardens in Euclid Creek and installed four demonstration gardens with educational signage in watershed communities.  Funding came from the Ohio Lake Erie Commission and Lake Erie Protection Fund.

·                In 2007, FOEC received grant funding to design and install signage raising community awareness throughout the watershed and created brochures about Euclid Creek.  Funding came from the Ohio EPA-Ohio Environmental Education Fund.

·                In 2008, FOEC worked with Cuyahoga Soil and Conservation District and Mayfield City Schools to create a conservation easement for 12 acres of dusty goldenrod meadow in Highland Heights.  Dusty goldenrod is a rare plant.

·                FOEC members have volunteered for numerous rain barrel workshops in partnership with CSWCD.

·                FOEC has sponsored numerous bioswale clean ups at Wildwood State Park with CSWCD.

·                FOEC members have planted wetland plants as part of a restoration project for CSWCD.

·                FOEC developed a $500 college scholarship for high school seniors living in the watershed and studying environmental science.

·                FOEC provides monthly educational meetings and/or field trips for members and friends - all meetings open to the public.

·                FOEC has helped plant trees and clean up Marcella property in Euclid.

·                FOEC members have attended numerous city councils meetings to educate officials about fracking.

Organizational Profile

The Friends of Euclid Creek is comprised of 125 citizens of a multi-community area within the Euclid Creek watershed.  A 16-member board directs FOEC’s activities.

Summary of Core Strategies

1.  Raise awareness about our public profile to increase our visibility in the community. 

We want FOEC to be the sought-after or “go-to” group for advocacy of the Euclid Creek watershed.  In order to achieve that reputation, we need excellent internal and external lines of communication and cooperation with members, other citizens, and public officials in the community.  We believe we can do this by forming working relationships with the Euclid Creek Watershed Council and our city councils, partnering with like-minded organizations to share our mission, and engaging the media to convey our mission and successes to a broader audience.

2.  Strengthen the internal organization (including financial structure in order to sustain FOEC.

A consistent, critical mass of committed board members have been driving FOEC.  As in most non-profit organizations, however, our efforts are fragmented by a myriad of non-prioritized projects and many of our officers are getting tired.  We need to find capable officers, prioritize projects, raise funds for those projects, recruit members who will be active in the organization, and market our brand.  We also need to develop a smooth transition from one administration to the next and memorialize each administration’s accomplishments in an annual report.  Without these strengths, we won’t be able to pursue ambitious projects we have in mind, and in a worst-case scenario, a personnel drain and erosion of funds could cause FOEC to dissolve as an organization.

3.  Support the implementation of the Euclid Creek Watershed Action Plan to develop conservation priorities for FOEC.

A seminal moment occurred during the strategic planning process when the FOEC board stated that it was disconnected from the Euclid Creek Watershed Council.  We weren’t a player in this network, and thus weren’t privy to information contained in the Watershed Action Plan that would help FOEC plan projects toward attaining our goal of advocating for the health of the watershed.  This discussion led to an invitation from Watershed Coordinator Claire Posius, who was on the strategic planning committee, for FOEC board members to attend meetings of the Watershed Council and make our presence known to the council members.  Several FOEC board members attended the Watershed Council on February 14.  Now that we have begun to form a relationship with the Watershed Council, we plan to encourage a partnership to do joint projects.