Recently, while considering all the work to do in the yard, I thought, “I wish we could grow Sertoma as easily as Mother Nature grows things.” Mother Nature grows using three key ingredients – water, soil, and sunlight. Leave one out, and even Mother Nature cannot fight those odds. So it got me thinking, what are the key ingredients to grow Sertoma? What is it we are trying to grow?
Sertoma grows benefits for our community – the outcomes from our mission activities. The ingredients: Revenue. Like water, nothing grows without it. Leadership. It is like soil that holds and provides nutrients. And people. Like sunlight, they provide the energy that converts revenue and leadership into a growing mission.
How do our clubs stack up to Mother Nature?
First, do we know what we are trying to grow (do we have a clear mission)? Are we able to generate the revenue that sustains us? Do we have leadership that helps us come together, focused on common objectives and goals? And finally, can we engage people who want to give of both their time and talent? If not, what can we do? We might consider a bit of pruning. Over the years, Mission Activities can branch out and become a bit overgrown. It is one of the reasons Sertoma has moved to a primary focus on hearing health. Even though it has required some pruning, we see new growth with great potential starting to appear.
What about a bit of fertilizer, and loosing up that compacted soil? Sertoma has invested in new leadership development tools and services to inject some new energy, and to help turn the soil – providing new ways for us to support our mission. How is the water supply? Water delivery is not free, and it is something you will have to work for. Sertoma is developing a new event and new ideas to help you access “other people’s money,” but it is up to us to make it happen. Now all we need is some sunlight and energy to bring it together.
People have a lot of options when being asked to support needs in their community. Would they prefer to pour their light on barren soil? Or a weed choked or overgrown garden? Or upon the well tended and nurtured? In the coming weeks we will be sharing more details on the website and in our publications about new programs and activities to help grow Sertoma. Let’s start with a little “Mother Nature” inspection – so we can focus on those key ingredients we need to get Sertoma growing.
Steven Murphy
Executive Director
