An invitation to NESEA Chapters and Members

An invitation to NESEA Chapters

We are inviting you to work with us to build a new Chapter structure – a structure that puts NESEA’s mission, to advance the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the built environment – at the very center of our local activities, and that provides Chapters with the resources to help advance that mission.

We have outlined below what we think this new, ideal chapter structure will entail, and the NESEA board has given unanimous approval to move in this direction. We hope you’ll want to be a part of this process. If so, we’ll need to hear from you by no later than February 1, 2011.

After consideration, if, for whatever reason, you decide that you will not be participating in further defining and implementing this new chapter structure, we hope that you will still choose to be an Affiliate of NESEA. We have further defined the affiliate relationship below.

Background

For the past several months, a Chapter Advisory Committee, comprised of NESEA board members, representatives of NESEA’s staff, and Mitch Anthony, an outside strategy consultant, has been reviewing and considering the organization’s membership and Chapter system. This work is being done in the context of a new, integrated strategic plan that is focused on learning how the organization can better fulfill its mission, an how it can better serve its members.

One of our primary findings was that NESEA Chapter and Chapter membership policies are inconsistent. Over time, our Chapters have developed their own policies with respect to their membership, their branding, and their programming. Our Chapters are doing some really great work – but much of it is not done in the name of NESEA, in concert with NESEA, or in concert with other Chapters. We aim to address this inconsistency.

Help us build the ideal chapter

We would like to invite you to collaborate with us to build “the ideal chapter.” The NESEA Board has agreed to what the basics of the ideal chapter might look like, but we need your help fleshing out the details – how will it work in practice, what’s the best way to implement it, etc.

Based on the work we’ve done with the Chapter Advisory Committee so far, here’s what we think that ideal chapter might look like:

Look and Feel
• Consistent Branding – use of logo (NESEA Chapter Graphic) in literature, signage, tabling materials
• Consistent web presence
• Consistent naming protocol (ex. NESEA RI, NESEA Boston, NESEA NJ)
• Clarity that you are a chapter of NESEA (display prominently in literature and on website and/or in tag line)
• NESEA to provide: branding toolkit (including logos, PowerPoint template, suggested color palate); training in how to use it

Minimum Activity Level
• Minimum quarterly opportunity for in-person meeting. Regularly scheduled meetings to advance mission, recruit members. Meetings might include:
o Tours of high performance buildings or manufacturers’ plants
o Meet ups for networking
o Business “How To” (ex. how to green your portfolio, sustainable leadership
o Workshops (professional development, technical issues, “BE on the Road,” financing, incentives, rebates)
o Incentives/rebates/financing
o Info sessions on NESEA events. Ex. ZNEB, GBOH, JSS, BE
• Reciprocal communication: Chapter publicizes NESEA events and vice versa
• Host NESEA Award Night Annually – Celebrate member achievements!
o NESEA Members submit their best projects. One is selected per state or several per category per state – and they are honored at an awards night.
o This will help track our impact throughout the territory and it will provide good PR and networking opportunities.
• Participation in the GBOH tour
• Participation in BE
• Tabling on behalf of NESEA at local/regional conferences, fairs, expos, etc.
• Active in Chapter Caucus (participate in calls or in-person meetings at least 3X per year, share information)
• Mentor/Teach/Coach other chapters
• NESEA to provide: suggested topics and speakers for meetings, information on how chapters can get AIA or other professional development credits for their programming, content for NESEA program info sessions, support for local NESEA night

Reporting
• To help NESEA track our reach geographically (how many people are we reaching each month/year throughout the territory).
o Meeting report – (topic, speaker(s), attendees, attendee info, evals)
o Workshop Report – (topic, speaker(s), attendees, attendee info, evals)
o Annual Report
• NESEA to provide: Simple-to-use online template that chapter can populate to report speaker, topic, number of members attending

Mission and Strategic Focus
• Chapter mission must be the same as NESEA central’s, although there may be room for chapters to use different strategies to achieve that mission, so long as they are also willing to support NESEA’s strategies

Membership
• All chapter members must be NESEA members.

If you are interested in helping us to flesh out this new chapter structure, we invite you to be part of that process.

What’s the alternative?

If, for whatever reason, your Chapter does not notify NESEA by February 1, 2011 that you want to participate in building this new chapter structure, we would still like to maintain an affiliate relationship with your organization, and continue to work with each other to advance our respective missions. An affiliate relationship would entail the following:

• Logo exchange for use on website/social media/PR
• Live link exchange
• Share email lists (when appropriate)
• Help promote each other’s activities
• Calendar exchanges
• Membership in each other’s organizations (your organization would be a Business Level 1 member of NESEA, and NESEA would have an equivalent membership level within your organization.)

There will be no dues sharing with affiliates. Affiliates will maintain their own members, and NESEA will maintain its own members. (We have, however, created a tool kit for affiliate organizations to help them administer their own membership and notify their members of the change.)

Catch-up call

We want to provide more detail and hear your ideas and questions. We’ve scheduled a group conference call on Tuesday, November 30th at noon Eastern. The call-in details are:

Dial in: 866-675-4248
Passcode: 774-6051

Come prepared with your suggestions, questions and ideas.

NESEA is committed to serving its members. We are committed to serving their efforts, and your efforts, to advance the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the built environment. How can we help you to do this on a local level? We hope you’ll accept this invitation to help grow the organization to meet these goals.

Warm Regards,