IFEA World Board Letter

BY DIANA MAYHEW, CFEE

BUILD BACK BRIGHTER

As the 2022 Chair of the IFEA World Board, I am committed to providing leadership to the Board of Directors, and to supporting our IFEA membership around the world. Together, I look forward to continuing our organizational focus on programs and resources that will allow us all to get to the light at the end of the very long tunnel that we have been going through for the last two years.

As we look to the year ahead, yes, uncertainty continues to be prevalent. In my own organization, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, we continue to re-evaluate and shift priorities as our surrounding circumstances are changing at a fast pace and our spring event is only a few months away. As we all know by now, we need to constantly evolve to keep up with it. As we evaluate our own realities, knowing the questions to ask are often more important than knowing the answers. Do our current sponsors and their mission still align? How are the behaviors and expectations of those we serve changing? Do we have the right staff in place to make the necessary changes? What is working or not working with our peers? Why or why not? Most importantly, are our short-term solutions contributing to the long-term strategic plan and sustainability of our organization? As we refer to our organization’s strategic road map, we keep an eye on the destination (desired results) and make sure that we are still headed in the right direction. I personally always tackle anything with the end in mind. What do we want people to say about the experience we provided? How do we want them to feel about the brand of the organization and the programming we presented? What do we want the media headlines to say?

We know that being informed, and strong relationships and consistent networking with our peers, is critical as we navigate what’s around the corner. We regularly look to the IFEA, and the benefits from our membership - including engagement opportunities with our professional peers - to help us along the way. IFEA serves as a funnel for industry information and has the mechanisms in place to share and keep us connected. The benefits of understanding different perspectives; what new practices are being tested or adopted; and sharing what is working for others, as we strategize and evolve under these ever-changing times, is critical.

Even during these challenging times, the IFEA has been there, working harder than ever on our behalf, while facing many of the same challenges that each of us face…including limited financial and staffing resources, and reserve funds that have been largely depleted during the continuing pandemic.

The IFEA continues to support our global industry, providing resources, programs, and other support however we can, but we, too, need to build back our reserves, expand our staff, and replace aging technology, so that we can continue to deliver all of this, and so much more, in the future.

To that end, we ask that you rally with us in 2022, to give back and support the IFEA, who has been there for all of us for the past 66 years.

Continuing to build our membership is the first important step. As we continue to learn from one another, the more voices and experience at the IFEA table, the more valuable it is for everyone. So, in addition to renewing your own membership, we ask that you further show your support by encouraging new IFEA memberships, as well.

We also ask that you join us in rebuilding the IFEA’s ‘Fund for the Future’. The “Fund for the Future” is an ongoing, joint fundraising effort, by the combined IFEA Foundation and IFEA World Board of Directors, separate from the annual IFEA Foundation Auction, whose purpose is to help raise monies to support IFEA’s educational and professional programs that are a part of the regular annual budget.

The ‘Fund for the Future’ was created to specifically protect the organization from things like the current pandemic, ensuring that the IFEA will continue to lead, serve and support our global industry, especially when it is in need, for many years to come. That includes building protections against current and future economic realities and keeping pace with new technologies that will allow us to expand our services, programming, and support, and to keep our professional network connected under any circumstances.

We appreciate the important support of all those who have given/pledged in past years, and encourage everyone with a tie (direct or indirect) to our common global industry to consider a(nother) gift toward this important effort. I have linked you here to more information about how you can donate.

We are all part of an important industry, that is more relevant and needed now than ever, providing hope, and resilience, and bringing our global communities together, safely, in uncertain times. Together we can build back for a brighter and even more creative future than ever!

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