Membership Begins to “Brand” KARDO

On January 26, 2016 members met in Salina to discuss the “branding” of KARDO.  Included was a review of a telephone survey involving the organization’s members and partners  conducted by The Austin Peters Group as a means of determining just how those involved viewed KARDO.    Beth Tatarko, Vice-President of The Austin Peters Group, facilitated discussion at that meeting; walking those present through her findings report and soliciting further explanation.

Background

According to its 2008 Articles of Incorporation, KARDO seeks to “… promote the interests of regional planning and development in the State of Kansas; increase both the capacity and capability of individual regional organizations; and devise an efficient means of service delivery in all parts of the state.”   But while that is its stated purpose, how it should go about achieving the listed goals has never been definitively spelled out.

One action item added to the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) project in late 2015 seeks to address that issue. The intent is to “brand” KARDO by identifying how the organization is perceived by those closest to it; what they want from it; and what they hope it can become.

What follows recaps the results of that discussion. It is by no means complete, but it does reflect the general tone of the day and the ideas brought forth by the group as a whole.

Definition

What makes up an organization’s “brand”?   Investopedia.com defines “Brand Identity” as how a “…business wants to be perceived by consumers”. KARDO is a membership organization which means its consumers are its members and partners. Consequently, it is their view of the organization that is most important.

Results from the survey revealed five (5) benefit categories KARDO members – its customers – would like the organization to focus on, then develop and provide services related to the subject areas.

1. Advocacy

KARDO is to be an advocate for issues deemed important to its membership and operation.

During the ensuing discussion a distinction was made between “advocacy” and “lobbying” with advocacy being defined as an individual or group’s effort to offer perspective about a given topic while lobbying involved giving gifts (e.g., cash, meals, trinkets) as a means of persuading the listener to give greater credence to a particular point of view.

Using that as a basis for action, the group determined the following to be of importance.

Short-term objectives

• Develop a resource to watch and report legislative actions with that information then passed along to all KARDO members.
  • Simple step is to identify other organizations that currently employ someone to watch and report legislative actions.   Some named at the meeting include:
    • Kansas Rural Center (KRC);
    • Kansas Association of Counties (KAC);
    • League of Kansas Municipalities (LKM);
    • Kansas Economic Development Association (KEDA)
  • Work out an arrangement with at least one of those organizations whereby KARDO can support their legislative watch efforts and, in so doing, receive and distribute a copy of the produced report(s)
• Determine what issues KARDO is most interested in and then pursue development of a database that builds and houses information related to those issues
• Further develop the website so it can host access to a number of communication resources such as the following:
  • Links to Twitter feeds
  • Shared PDF presentations and Webinars on specific subjects
  • Other

Long-term objectives

• Build a relationship with various federal and state agencies, encouraging them to consider use of regional organizations / university centers in the development and delivery of their agency programs.  Some areas of interest are:
  • Transportation
  • Water
  • Entrepreneurship
• Develop the capability to testify before legislative committees, expressing support for or against given topics.  That will require amassing information on selected topics so those acting on KARDO’s behalf have the documentation necessary to support whatever position is taken at the time.

2. Brokered Services

KARDO is to be a platform for and/or a repository of services that can be consumed by its membership.

• KARDO needs to devise a schematic diagram that illustrates the platform and how services can be offered and accessed by the membership
• KARDO needs to devise a system whereby individual members can access the services of other members.  Suggested methodologies include:
  • A matrix that can be used by individual members to select needed assistance from other members in exchange for cash or compensatory staff time.  This matrix should lay out:
    • Skill sets available within each organization
    • Man-hours available within each skill set that can be “purchased” by other members on a first come, first served basis
    • Hourly rates of compensation for requested time and effort
  • Work up a standard Request for Proposal format and selection process that individual members can use to describe the services needed and solicit responses from those remaining members interested in providing the services for a stated price.
• KARDO needs to engage others outside the organization and make them aware of what KARDO members can do or have accomplished
  • KARDO members need to produce a systematic, standard report that describes their internal knowledge and capabilities plus the outcomes of the work they have performed over set periods of time.
    • The matrix of this report needs to be agreed upon by the membership
    • John will produce an example for collective critique

3. Education

KARDO is to be a platform for member education and training.

Standard training features:

• Annual KARDO board and member orientation
  • Develop a handbook that can be distributed to all members with at least one meeting each year devoted to a review of the materials in the handbook
• Individual member board and staff orientation needs
  • Develop a brief summary of regional planning history showing its origin and evolution in Kansas
  • Compile information that compares board roles and responsibilities to those of staff
  • Identify individuals and organizations that can speak to specific issues that any one KARDO member might be faceSpecialized training features
• Learn about other statewide association models (MN, NE, IA, MO) and what services they perform for their membership
• Arrange visits with representatives of peer groups from other states
• Arrange workshops on subject areas that build awareness of tools and trends in the regional development field.  Examples include:
  • Hybrid business models, showing how nonprofits can employ for-profit techniques to improve their financial stability and delivery better service to their clientele
  • Planning programs like Strategic Doing™ that enable members to better define a problem, the steps necessary to address the problem, and who accepts responsibility for taking those steps.

4. Networking

KARDO is to be a platform that enables members to share their knowledge of and experience with federal and state officials as a means of helping other members avoid potential conflicts involving program delivery or compliance issues.

Areas to be considered are:

• EDA compliance monitors expressed likes and dislikes of each member’s CEDS.
• The consistency with which federal and state monitors interpret the rules and administrative regulations of specific programs
• Member engagement of and interaction with other economic development groups (wKREDA, NCK Rural Resource Council) and how that impacts member operations

Orphaned Programs

KARDO should be a home for orphaned / displaced programs provided these programs allow sufficient administrative overhead to break even at a minimum.

Who Should KARDO Seek as Potential Members

Also discussed was how to expand KARDO’s membership base and what steps should be taken to see that this happens.

It was pointed out that KARDO By-Laws stipulate Participating Members are defined as “multi-jurisdictional planning and development groups” established under Kansas law or as those organizations that are, or are seeking to be, recognized as Economic Development Districts or University Centers by the Economic Development Administration (EDA).   That is the commonality that forms the core of KARDO.

Associate membership, however, is available to any other organization committed to a regional approach to planning and economic development, as well as to those individuals who are planning and development consultants.

Potential Member Listing

• KARDO should develop a listing of other organizations and/or interests that compliment its goals and objectives, then issue invitations to them to join our association.  Some potential organizations and/or interests are:
  • Former USDA Resource Conservation & Development Districts (RC&Ds) now operating as 501(c)3 nonprofits
  • Certified Development Companies (CDC)
  • State Agencies
  • Skill sets
    • Those certified in Strategic Doing™
    • Those certified by the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative
    • Those experienced in private foundation grant writing
    • Those experienced in capital improvement planning

Additional Thoughts

The first four categories presented share a common thread and that is access to and provision of information in addition to service support. The fifth category, that being a repository for orphaned programs, pushes KARDO into program management mode which, while requiring access to information, also has KARDO administering the delivery of services related to those orphaned programs.  That can be done provided individual members are willing to step up and assume responsible roles in such service delivery.

Again, KARDO members need to develop an agreed upon matrix that each can (and will) use to report their respective activities and successes back to KARDO. The aggregate of that information can then be used to show the impact a regional organizational structure has across the state.  It can also be used to promote the organizations – either individually or collectively – as conduits for the delivery of federal and state programs.  Without that type of detail, it’s all anecdotal making it difficult to follow and understand for those unfamiliar with the regional system.