[NFBMT] NFB of Montana Committees

Thu Oct 5 17:10:15 UTC 2017

Good set of committees, and I will consider which would be a good fit for
me.  I'll get back soon.

Meanwhile, I wonder if we should have a Membership Committee.  Our future
depends on bringing in new members, and it would be prudent for NFB-MT to
develop and apply strategies to increase membership.  The Committee could
also help keep chapters focused on our mission and values.  One idea is to
solicit new members through the Montana Talking Books Library.  We could pay
for a mailing by the Library to its members that would invite individuals to
join us and to share with potential members our brochure or other
information.  It could be as simple as including the invitation in the Bits
of Gold newsletter that the Library publishes.  Of course, we could go
through other organizations such as Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind
Services and college disability services.  Another idea is to go to a city
to host a public meeting.  It would take targeted advertising, perhaps
through radio and newspaper ads.  During the public meetings, we could
describe what we're doing and ask people to get involved.  It may even be a
way to start more Chapters.  Lastly, we need a way to approach individuals
to join us.  We could call someone with a conference call of two or three of
our leaders to encourage participation.  We could provide a membership
packet, both in print or other media as well as through social media like
Facebook, Linked In,  and Twitter.

BTW, the September Convention was awesome!  We had several new faces in the
room, and the agenda and discussions were really, really good.  It makes me
want to come back time and time again.  So, please know that nothing is
broken in our fine organization.  We are healthy, and making a good thing
better is the best way to assure continued positive progress.  I think a
Membership Committee would do a great deal in making sure we're advancing
our organization.

Best!

Jim Marks
Blind.grizzly at gmail.com
(406) 438-1421

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of BRESLAUERS via
NFBMT
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2017 9:07 AM
To: nfbmt <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: BRESLAUERS <breslauerj at gmail.com>; marjorie <dmgregg at 3rivers.net>
Subject: [NFBMT] NFB of Montana Committees

Hello again, everyone.

I would like to form or reform some committees to help with the work we will
be doing in Montana.  Here are some ideas that immediately come to mind.

Legislative:  Currently sheila Leigland and Travis Moses have offered to
help with our legislative agenda.  They might also be interested in going to
Washington Seminar.  Are there any others interested in being on a
legislative committee?  My idea is that they would keep us informed and
involved about legislation, both nationally and statewide, that we should
know about or be involved in promoting or protesting.

Fundraising:  My favorite.  (not.)  We need someone interested in or
knowledgeable about fundraising, who might have some ideas of what we can do
to finance our programs.  We should set up a way to ask for and handle
bequests.  I would like Jeff to be on this committee, because he has done a
lot of fundraising.  I'd like to ask him how he decides on a good
fundraiser, what some of the more successful fundraisers have been, what is
involved in putting on a fundraiser.  I know it is a lot of work, but many
hands make light work.  What is that saying . if we all do a little, we can
do a lot.

Bell Committee:  At the 2017 state convention, the Board authorized us to
start a BELL Program here in Montana.  This committee would help in that
effort.

Scholarship Committee:  The Board authorized us to offer a $1500 scholarship
to a college student for the 2018-19 school year.  This committee would work
out the details.  

Communications and Social Media:  Is anyone interested in getting our
presence out there more consistently on Facebook and/or Twitter?  I have not
been successful in doing this.  I would sure like to turn it over to someone
more knowledgeable than I am.

I also think we should start a newsletter or blog or some way for us to be
informed about what is going on with us.  One of the ideas that I have is
that chapter meeting minutes could be put on something like Dropbox or some
other similar system where everybody could read them to see what other
chapters are doing.  That's one of the reasons I would like to have the
chapter minutes from each meeting.  I would also like to send them to our
National office so that they have a record of what we are doing, in case any
of it becomes historic.  Not hysteric, although I suppose that is possible,
too.

I have, when I remember to, put notices of chapter meetings in the paper.  I
have not put them on the community calendar or a psa on radio or tv yet.
Perhaps we should.  Also, maybe we could arrange to be on tv or radio to be
interviewed about who we are and what we do.  Jeff has a pretty good handle
on a lot of this in Billings.  Perhaps he can share his expertise.  I think
there is a program called aging Horrizons.  Maybe we could go on there and
do a joint presentation with Vocational Rehabilitation and blind Services,
provided they have something to offer. 

These are just a few ideas to get started.  Think about what you want to do
in order to live the life you want, what drives your passion, what makes you
get up in the morning and want to be a Federationist.  Let's do what we can
to make it happen.

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org/> 

Live the life you want

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

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