Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, August 16, 2022
“That they may all be one.” – John 17:21
Many of you heard on last Friday’s Staying Connected call, as Deena Wallis-York shared the monthly finance report, that our Y fell short of covering expenses in July by $67,000 (though we still maintain a positive variance of $284,000 for the year). It is important for all of us to take stock of this accomplishment; it is certainly no small feat amidst these challenging conditions. You have all performed extremely well and under extreme duress. I celebrate that. It is also important, though, to recognize that we are still operating short of our objectives. As Deena pointed out, we are required to achieve 15% above total expenses as part of our fiscal goal, a long-standing board policy that has proven to be a hallmark of this Y’s success over the years. (Year-to-date, we are behind our budgeted goal by $4.3 million.) This commitment has enabled us to maintain a discipline of reinvesting into maintaining all of our community centers, establishing a standard of excellence our members now expect from us. This commitment also instills confidence from the lending institutions because they know we are required to set aside these funds to cover our debt repayment as well. Only once in our association’s history have we missed a debt payment and that came in 2020 when we had to close our centers because of the pandemic. In concert with our bank, our board of directors made the decision that it would be best to conserve our resources at that time amidst the uncertainty of the future. In addition, Toko Thompson communicates regularly with our bank, providing them with regular updates on our performance. Clearly, there are many eyes tracking our Y’s performance.
This past week, the finance committee of our board also reviewed the July financial performance. After their review, the board members and staff had a deeper discussion concerning the current trajectory of our organization, trying to understand what lies ahead for our Y. This is not a comfortable conversation, but one we must face. For the past two and a half years, we have had to adjust our strategies constantly in an effort to adapt to the ever-changing conditions. This summer, our camps have been exceeding expectations, offsetting the summer dip in membership. Thus far, in August, this trend is continuing, and the positive results from our golf tournament that Steve Triller shared on Friday will certainly help our overall performance. The other piece of good news Steve shared (that Jessie Palmer secured a $500,000 gift toward the field project in Gig Harbor) is also a huge part of our overall strategy. Being able to add outdoor fields in Gig Harbor as well as in Sumner will give our Y a big boost, enabling us to expand youth sports and day camp participation at both locations. Five years ago, a market study indicated that these two projects would grow membership by up to 20% each. In addition to the two outdoor field projects, a market study also indicated that the new Scott and Sis Names Family Y would increase Morgan Y membership by at least 25%, elevating the importance of this project. (The new Y will also save us thousands of dollars in maintenance expenses that will continue to be necessary to maintain the 45-year-old facility.)
When I put the question in front of our VPs, they were confident in our current plan, believing strongly in the October rollout, which includes adding virtual-plus membership, an October promotion, expanded hours of operation (to include Sundays), and a Child Care “refresh.” I, too, am confident in our plan, especially seeing how hard everyone is working to ensure success for our Y. When our team works together, the results are significantly better. Over the past few months, I have seen how HR, marketing, and IT have worked hard to find a rhythm with the staff in our centers. It is not an easy process. Addressing the needs of members demands the attention of staff, making it difficult to find time to work on strategy. It is critical that Association Office staff recognize the challenges our staff on the frontline face, but equally as important are the contributions the Association Office staff are making as well. The Association Office staff are bringing essential gifts in expertise and strategic guidance, but these gifts are not realized unless a collaborative spirit is achieved. This requires both groups to recognize the importance of the other. When we rallied around the concept of One Y, it was with the recognition that we could only overcome the formidable conditions we were facing through a collaborative effort that recognized the synergy of working together as the true objective: that the team was more important than the individual.
This past week, I sat in two very important meetings, each to strengthen a critical part of our plan that is designed to advance our Y – the Child Care refresh and the virtual-plus membership. The success of these initiatives is critically dependent on various groups coming together, building on input from one another in order to create something better for our Y. These meetings have been going on for months and there has been great work done. In the case of Child Care, Noor Bergman and Nat Nabass have been working furiously with James Van Eddy and Holly Tedford to recruit candidates that will fill childcare sites so we can better meet the demand for more before and after school service offerings to youth and families. Scott Smith and Chantel Ross from our marketing department are working hard with the Child Care team to develop a solid communications platform that will effectively connect the stakeholders to the great services we are delivering to our community. We believe this work will transform the impact our Y can have on youth and families, but it will require us to prioritize the collaboration and the importance each person plays in the overall success.
Similarly, in the case of our virtual programming and the rollout of the new virtual-plus membership, we will all play a role. To this point, virtual programming has been the work of a few – Annie Doyle, Michael Marquez, a few program directors, and the IT team. For it to reach the level we need it to, we must integrate it into the body of our overall operations. This will require all of us to believe virtual is an integral part of our core. We have made a significant investment in making the virtual platform a strategic part of our future: building a studio in the Tacoma Center Y, dedicating Annie full-time to developing the programming (as well as utilizing significant parts of Michael’s, Bruce Caudill’s, and Roseann Yumang’s hours), and now adding the unique talents of Daniel Ly to the mix. With so many moving parts and it being such a new part of our Y, it will require our entire team to see the value in it and help promote it to our members.
The strength of our Y lies in our team – all of you. You bring passion and commitment that are core to the service you deliver on a daily basis. For two-plus years, we have been operating under extremely adverse conditions, demanding that we adapt in order to find a path forward. We have worked hard to explore and discover potential solutions, and now we feel we have built a good plan. The success of our plan lies in how well we work together to implement it. From the outset of the pandemic, the one constant has been the heart and commitment of this team. I am convinced we are on the precipice of success. I believe that because I believe in the heart of this organization – you! There is nothing we can’t do together; we are strongest as One Y. Thank you for what you bring to our Y and what you do on a daily basis to make this Y great for the communities we serve.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs