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One model that has been successfully implemented in many communities is to create your new program or club as a satellite44 of an existing organization in another community, or the broader region. For example, if you have chosen to create a new Big Brothers Big Sisters program, you might want to link it to a Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in another nearby community. Or, if you have chosen to create a new Boys and Girls Club, you might want to link it to a Boys and Girls Club organization in a nearby community.
The pro’s of this approach include:
- The direct experience of the host organization in the kind of program or club that you have chosen to implement, and in generating funds for this purpose
- The existing relationships of the host organization to regional and national associations
- The resources that the larger organization can bring to bear as you implement your new program, such as: community credibility, public profile, access to funds, access to volunteers, already developed policies and systems, financial management, training programs, staff expertise ….
- The savings in time, energy, and other resources
- The connections with other programs for children and youth so that they, and their families, are better served in more holistic ways
- The broader organizational community that would be available for your volunteers and staff
- The “critical mass” that a larger, area-wide organization offers: a larger organization can often more easily support a wider range of diversified services, provide access to more specialized staff positions, impart a more significant community presence, and provide greater sustainability.
The potential con’s include:
- The geographic distance between your community and that of the host organization
- The potential that the host organization will continue to give priority to the needs and interests of its own community
- The relationship confusions that might arise if you create a local steering committee
- Potential concerns that the program or club in the smaller or newly affiliated community may be a “small fish in a big pond”, lacking in constant focus and dedicated resources.
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44. We are using the term “satellite” to refer not only to a satellite office, but also to a field office and branch office. While fine distinctions can be drawn among these terms (for example, see the definitions offered in the Abbotsford, Mission Ridge Meadows story later in this chapter), we are grouping them together in this section to refer to those organizations that have operations in several communities, but share one governing board and a common administration. |