“Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation.” – Romans 12:12
I am still riding the high from hearing the stories shared by our team on the Staying Connected call last Friday. Wes, Melissa, Sam, Brenda, Becca, Yasuko, Cassandra, Jenna, Wyatt, and Sybil … the excitement each of you conveyed for the work you and your teammates are doing was incredibly uplifting for me and for our entire organization. The heart of our organization was on full display, and there is no doubt what makes us great – YOU and your passion for making a difference in someone’s life. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins defines greatness in what he calls the Hedgehog Principle: when a company is the best in the world at its core business, the driving force for its operation comes from its passion for its core work, and the core business drives its economic engine. In my mind, we have been great because of the commitment and dedication from each of you. Your devotion to people is what defines you and our Y, and that defines greatness. You go the extra mile for people, like right now – smiling through your mask, maintaining a safe facility, and opening our Y so people can live their lives. You are making the ultimate sacrifice for others. That is greatness!
Having passion for our work has been the driving force for our Y, enabling us to navigate the most daunting circumstances we could ever imagine. Hearing from Toko Thompson (Vice President and Chief Financial Officer) that we did not have to borrow one dollar in 2020 seems miraculous, a tribute to the collective resolve of our team. We have been steadfast in our effort to engage the community and reconstruct our economic engine. Rolling out swim lessons and in-person gymnastics and arts classes lifted everyone’s spirits (seeing youth in our community centers once again); as of Friday afternoon, we had 1,924 youth in program. When you think about the fact that our centers were closed for 175 days, it is amazing we were able to finish 2020 at a negative operational net of just $444,000 (revenue minus expenses). Back in March, when we first closed our centers, the board approved Toko securing a $5 million line of credit from the bank as a safety net, which was only to be the first line of defense for our Y. During that time, we had also begun having serious conversations about selling assets, if necessary (which was a measure other Ys were forced to take as a result of the pandemic). Toko and her small but mighty team of Lorraine Young (Accounts Receivable Specialist), John Sankovich (Finance Manager), and now Deena Wallis (Controller) used every bit of their financial wizardry to help get us to our current state; there was a lot of late-night and weekend work completed by this team.
Throughout the pandemic, the YMCA Child Care team has performed heroically. Listening to Sybil Goodkin (Program Director, YMCA Child Care) share how it feels to try to adapt to the uncertainty is incredibly humbling. The schools are constantly changing their plans, and our team has not missed a beat. Child Care finished 2020 with a positive operational net, which is nothing short of miraculous when you consider the capacity restrictions and the lower fees we charged in our desire to accommodate our families. Today, the team will be opening the new center in University Place under the leadership of Ashley Perkins (Senior Early Learning Director, YMCA Child Care) and Jennifer Johnson (our new Early Learning Director). As of Friday, we had 52 youth enrolled, but the interest is extremely strong, a tribute to the great work of Ashley and Diane Jackson (Marketing and Development Director, YMCA Camp Seymour and YMCA Child Care). Opening a new operation with the potential for growth is very exciting for our Y. Tara Harkness (Executive Director, YMCA Child Care) and Ashley are exploring opportunities to expand upon our footprint in the Puyallup community as well. This is another example of how our team has embraced the challenges we face; we continue to push forward, undaunted in our commitment to reinvent ourselves and discover new ways to deliver services and rebuild our economic engine. It is an incredible story, and a tribute to the people you all are.
In the latter part of 2020, Carol Kowalski (Director of Planned Giving) coordinated a tremendous effort by the executive directors to thank our donors for their generosity to the Y in 2020. With the help of the marketing team, the executive directors produced hundreds of personalized thank-you videos. It was a powerful effort, and the response has been extremely positive, with our most significant donor proclaiming, “It was the very best thank you I ever received.” As Toko shared in her report on Friday, a significant component of our fiscal picture in 2020 was our ability to raise money. Toko highlighted the fact that we received nearly $2 million in grants in November and December, a tribute to the amazing work of Jessie Palmer (Senior Association Development Director). In total, our Y raised over $4 million in 2020. As we rebuild our economic engine, navigating the continued uncertainty as to when this pandemic will subside, raising money becomes even more critical than ever before. Our Y plays a vital role in the emergency response to this crisis:
- Child Care is providing free services to families of healthcare workers and first responders
- Amy Rogala (Food Program Specialist, YMCA Camp Seymour) and her kitchen team continue to prepare meals (as they have these past 10 months) to feed isolated seniors
- Amber Evans-Wynn (Senior Program Director, YMCA Center for Community Impact) and the team are connecting to youth through Y on the Fly
- Our Operations team made 35,000 care calls to connect with isolated seniors
Our Y continues to step up in a big way, and it is a powerful story to be told.
We are very fortunate to have a strong financial development team: Carol, Jessie, Toby Roberts (Director of Philanthropy), and Kristy Kunkle (Donor Database Manager). With the departure of Lee Ann Jansen as Vice President and Chief Development Officer, I am taking some time to determine the structure we need for the longer term. Lee Ann did a great job organizing and coordinating a very comprehensive fundraising effort. We have become much more sophisticated in our approach to fundraising, recently adding a very high-level endowment investment committee to help position our Y into the future. Lee Ann was able to bring together an extremely experienced group of volunteers who are devoted to the Y – it may have been her most significant contribution to our organization. Carol sits on the committee and is highly competent in guiding this important work. For the past two years, Carol has been very effective in developing our endowment and planned giving effort. She has secured many contributions and intentions, which bodes well for our future, but she has also introduced a number of new donors to our Y, helping us to innervate Kitsap County through her many connections. I have asked Carol to lead our annual campaign efforts alongside Toby. In addition, we will look to add another director of philanthropy to concentrate on supporting the work in East Pierce County. Carol and Toby form a strong nucleus to our annual campaign, along with Steve Triller (Executive Director, Tom Taylor Family YMCA), Loren Johnson (Property Management and Facility Development Director), Scotty Jackson (Executive Director, YMCA Camp Seymour), and Harold Shea (Executive Director, Bremerton and Haselwood Family YMCAs). I also know the importance of my role in this effort – this is one of those instances where title and responsibility should, and does, play a critical role. I will be an active participant in this effort.
We have long celebrated Jessie’s performance in securing grants for our Y. He has been remarkable for us. He has also been leading our efforts with government relations, which will be very important with our desire to secure funding for a potential early learning center in Puyallup and to complete the Names Family YMCA project. In addition, Jessie has been working with the City of Gig Harbor on the sports complex, supporting our intent to complete the work on the Sumner playfields project, and helping navigate the Bremerton pool negotiations. For quite some time, we have wanted to provide Jessie resources to assist him in securing grants, affording us additional opportunities to secure grants. Jessie will be working to hire a part-time grant writer.
Before she left, Lee Ann emphasized the need for us to provide support to Kristy, our lone database manager. We had thousands of donor transactions in 2020, and only Kristy to process them. One of the areas we have celebrated these past few years is our high percentage of pledge collections and the professionalism in our donor processing. Lee Ann highlighted how this expertise translated to thousands of dollars and confidence in our ability to treat donors professionally. Kristy has been a revelation for our Y, and she will be working with Jessie to bring an additional part-time staff person on to assist her in this incredible lift. In addition, Kristy and Jessie, along with Bruce Caudill (Vice President and Chief Information Officer) and a contracted staff person, will be leading the very important project of integrating our huge database of donors into our new membership software. This is a six-month project, and it will pay significant dividends to have our donor database integrated into our membership software.
I am able to take this step to assess and determine what structure will be best for our Y moving forward in the all-important area of fundraising because of the talent we have on the team and throughout our Y. We have a great story to tell, which inspires the community to give. We have passionate, servant leaders in all of you, and the community responds to that as well. You will all need to play a role in our fundraising efforts, which will be critical as we rebuild our economic engine, but, as Brian Flattum (Vice President and Chief Operating Officer) likes to say, we will play to our strengths. You can help in our stewardship efforts to thank and cultivate our donors. As we saw with the thank-you effort at the end of the year, this plays a powerful part in the overall fundraising effort. In addition, we need everyone to help identify new donors, working with others on the team who are strong in asking for the contribution, forming a strong team effort to help raise money and sustain our Y. The brightest light that has shined for us during this crisis has been our ability to come together and capitalize on the amazing gifts that exist in our association. You continue to be the hope for this Y, and for our community. We are “One Y” – stronger as one. Thank you.
#StayStrong #StayWithUs