Projects for 2021
Chippawa Lions Club
- Rachelle Larocque
- Katie McQuestion
- Beth Bracken
Communication was key for this entire project. Communication between the group members as well as communication with the PAC members.
Working with the Chippawa Lions Club, the group’s initial goal was to assist in setting up a virtual network for seniors to eat meals together “No One Eats Alone.”
This evolved over the project into creating a project planning resource. The purpose of this was to assist the Chippawa Lions Club in organizing and executing this and future projects.
Community Crew
- Jason Lennard
- Karrie Haynes
- Tara Stephens
- Catherine Wark
Different perspectives on the same problem and trouble-shooting together to help local youth was rewarding.
The Community Crew project group initially worked with the Community Crew on the Night of Miracles Gala. They were tasked with engaging their companies and their known key influencers to sponsor the annual event. As well, the group was asked to promote the event through social media and other platforms. Since the event happened mid-way through the ACL+ program, the group was able to pivot and assist the organization with a new focus.
Generating promotional ideas to support the Twelve for Twelve Monthly Donor Program. They were able to successfully create a donor retention program that consisted of monthly engagement emails as well as promotional materials to new donors.
Cause Chippawa Matters
- Alyson Montovani-Ozaki
- Ellen Schonewille
- Hafsah Shaikh
Working on this project has also helped us gain a stronger understanding of the challenges many non-profit organizations face in Niagara.
Working with Candy Harris from Cause Chippawa Matters, the group’s main goal was to help Candy find a way to support Chippawa around food security. Since there was a strong interest for Cause Chippawa Matters leading a shared garden in Chippawa – the group developed a plan for establishing a community garden initiative. The plan included:
- Creating and maintaining a shared garden space while educating and bringing the community together,
- Establishing community interest,
- Feasibility considerations, and
- A community garden guide.
Niagara Nutrition Partners (NNP)
- Nina Hardman
- Bunmi Okuwa
- Amanda Dyson
- Jennifer Douglas
We also took some time to think about how we can translate our learning and experience from Leadership Niagara into action in the community.
Niagara Nutrition Partners, like many organizations during COVID-19, was faced with finding new digital fundraising solutions in order to raise funds to run their programs. The NNP Group was tasked with exploring potential opportunities that could replace the funds raised from their annual Breakfast Gala.
The group initially identified a ‘virtual baking experience’ to help the organization raise the required funds. The group put together a marketing plan, explored potential vendors and partners, as well as explored what the experience boxes sent to peoples’ homes would include. Unfortunately, due to funding issues, the event was not initialized and the group was able to pivot onto a new initiative quickly.
The group identified and adjusted their plan to a ‘Greeting Card Fundraising Initiative’ which the organization had successfully run as a short event in the previous year. After exploring vendors, packaging and shipping costs, as well as proving a cost analysis, the group was able to create a year-round initiative that worked with Niagara Nutrition Partners.
Lions Den Radio
- Christopher Yendt
- Jonna Wolfenburg
We tried to use this sector analysis as an opportunity to showcase that, listen – you can do this project, but it’s important that you go through the right steps to do it.
One of our LN groups was tasked with a new radio program that runs out of Chippiawa. The Lion’s Den Radio (formerly known as Northern Tributes Radio) approached the group to find out more about their current and potential listenership.
The group determined that the best approach to this project was to create a Sector Analysis. This analysis would measure the competition in the area and suggest opportunities to expand its listener base. Through the analysis, the group was able to advise that the station connects with its competitors to determine opportunities for collaboration and partnership. It was also determined that a ‘local focus’ would be the best area of focus to secure consumer listenership and differentiate itself from other stations. The final recommendation was to incorporate Lion’s Den Radio as a not-for-profit organization.
NOTL Rotary
- Julia Wiens
- Rima Boles
- TC Murray
I think that this whole learning experience through this action learning project and Leadership Niagara has definitely inspired us to continue to be involved in the community. And also, we can hopefully be involved with Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary after this.
The NOTL Rotary needed to shift its fundraising initiatives to an online platform due to COVID-19. The group determined three main goals for this project; A best practice manual for future fundraising events with traditional, hybrid and online models, Recommendations on how to apply these practices to the Rotary’s current events and, Create new events based on research that the Rotary could easily implement.