March 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Quotarian,

Quota Cares Month, our month-long, worldwide public awareness campaign is now underway—the whole month of March! How are you celebrating? We can't have a worldwide campaign without YOU, and my hope is that every club in Quota has a special newsworthy event planned that will share the message that Quota does indeed CARE! To learn more about Quota Cares Month, click here.

Last month, a few days before the 90th anniversary of Quota International's founding by Wanda Frey Joiner, your board of directors met together in Washington, D.C., for our mid-term meeting. We celebrated the many successes that we as an organization have achieved, and we reflected on the challenges that face us. Here now are some highlights of the board's discussions and decisions:

• We reviewed the successes and highlights from calendar year 2008, which included the organization of three new clubs and one new branch; the culmination of a worldwide Leaders as Listeners discussion of Quota's financial future at Convention 2008 in San Jose, California, U.S.A.; and the formation of the Go-Getters, a group of members who are working to launch new clubs in new Quota communities.
  
  
• We celebrated the many successes reported by our We Share Foundation, which included the receipt of the largest gift ever to Quota International and the We Share Foundation—100 hearing aids to be distributed to children in need in the United States and the renewal of this program later in the year. We also celebrated our success in Club-to-Club World Service, which now operates a record-breaking 15 projects and is receiving record-breaking donations. The board voted to accept the recommendation of the World Service Committee, approving 16 projects for the new Club-to-Club term, which begins in May 2009 and ends April 2011.
  
  
• We approved the move of District 41 clubs in the Philippines into West Area. This decision is effective immediately. The board noted that West Area is the third Quota area to enjoy membership of Quotarians from multiple countries. The other two areas that offer this special international benefit include the South Pacific Area (Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand) and South Area (Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Suriname, and the United States).
  
  
• As it does every year, the board of directors engaged in strategic discussions with a look towards Quota's financial, membership, and service future. The calendar change was reviewed as part of the annual strategic assessment of costs and operations, and the board concluded that it was in Quota International's best interest to retain the timing of the current calendar of meetings at this time. The board made one change, determining that the holding of area meetings in non-convention years was optional; area directors who come into office in a non-convention year (in July) have a minimal amount of time to plan and present area meetings, which are held in September, October, or November. That area director would make the decision on whether or not to hold a meeting that year and/or the following year.
  
  
• The membership portion of the board's strategic discussions was spent analyzing the viability of districts and ways that Quota International can help districts help strengthen themselves. This discussion resulted in the following:
  
  
  1. At 2009 District Conferences, the board of directors will offer a Leaders as Listeners strategic planning program that will help districts themselves analyze what is working well in their own districts and what changes may be needed. This program will be the primary presentation made by international representatives attending each conference. The program will collect data that will be analyzed, interpreted, and returned to the district for future discussion and use. The district will determine what, if any, changes it wishes to make based on the findings. This is a program to help districts help themselves.
     
     
  2. The board of directors discussed strategies for encouraging more district members to attend district conferences and strategies for offering a quality meeting experience at district conferences. That information will be incorporated into the training and materials provided to future district leaders.
     
     
  3. The board of directors discussed strategies for ensuring that all district leaders have the opportunity to attend the biennial Governors Seminar, held in conjunction with the biennial convention. Currently two-thirds of all districts follow this procedure. Those districts which do not will be encouraged to do one of two things to ensure the proper training of leaders:
     
     
     • Districts will be encouraged to have district leaders serve two consecutive one-year terms that coincide with the biennial convention and Governors Seminar training.
       
       
     • In the case where district leaders serve one-year terms, districts will continue to be encouraged to send lieutenant governors to the biennial Governors Seminar training.
       
       

     In cases where this is not possible, board members talked about strategies for improving the one-on-one training of incoming district leaders in non-convention years.

Among the highlights of our board meeting was our discussion of the many strengths Quota International possesses. As a group, our top two organizational strengths were our members—you!—and the service we do in our communities. You might ask your fellow club members to take a moment at your next club meeting to think about and share what they think makes their Quota International experience so special and will move your club and your district forward.

I look forward to our discussions at district conferences and urge all Quotarians to attend. This is a great opportunity for all members to participate in helping to strengthen not only their own district, but our organization. Until then, please do find ways to Give the Gift of Quota during Quota Cares Month and every month throughout our Quota year.

Yours in Quota,

Toddy Silkman
International President

(click here for the previous President's Message)
(click here for the next President's Message)

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