Meeting Notes, April 23

Meeting Notes - April 23

Finding Agreement on Goals: Culture of Practice

From March 22 to 26, members of KCC's leadership (Board, Program Council, and others) met to discuss the strategic plan. Our intention was to hone in on our key goals in four categories: Facilities, Programs, Organization and Staffing, and Financial Resources.  We weren't looking for agreement on the goals themselves--we'll need Sangha input for that--but rather agreement on what the big issues are.  Today we'll discuss some of the issues that came up around culture of practice.

Background

Tara statue in the morning light

In drawing up the blueprint for a strategic plan, the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) looked at four areas: programs, financial resources, organization and staffing, and facilities.  During our discussions at the Leadership Retreat, a category surfaced that we had missed.  It's the idea that all the elements we were discussing actually fall into a larger context--the goal of making all our activity elements of our practice.  KCC is not only a place that supports practice, it is itself an expression of our practice.  This culture of practice relates to everything we do at KCC.  The SPC's next steps involve refining our sense of our strategic goals, and this element will be explicitly included. 

Possible Goals
In other categories, we had a hard time separating the goals from strategies to achieve them.  In the are of culture of practice, what emerged really do look like goals.  Strategies are less obvious.  As always, we would love Sangha reflections on these:

• Embrace service as practice.  Discussion.  This refers to volunteer work at KCC, and how to relate to it and experience it directly as the practice of the Dharma.
• Encourage giving as practice.  Discussion.  In the discussion of financial resources, the question of giving--central to the practice of the Dharma--emerged.  Members of KCC have always had conflicts about money and supporting the Dharma (on the one hand, the Dharma is precious, so it should be free, on the other hand, the Dharma is precious so it should be the most important thing to support financially).  Being explicit about the practice of generosity might clarify these conflicts.
• Use collaboration to foster a sense of practice.  Discussion.  Working with one another in service of the Dharma is a potent support for practice.  Integrating collaborative methods like good communication, coordination, information-sharing, trust-building, and accountability would help create a container for the goal of service-as-practice.

This may be the juiciest and most joyful line of inquiry, and possibly the most inspiring.  Please feel invited to comment on this thread and consider coming to the Sangha meeting tomorrow (Sunday) following meditation (roughly 11:15 to noon). 

Finding Agreement on Goals: Financial Resources

From March 22 to 26, members of KCC's leadership (Board, Program Council, and others) met to discuss the strategic plan. Our intention was to hone in on our key goals in four categories: Facilities, Programs, Organization and Staffing, and Financial Resources.  We weren't looking for agreement on the goals themselves--we'll need Sangha input for that--but rather agreement on what the big issues are.  Today we'll discuss some of the issues that came up around financial resources.

Current Situation

KCC is nearing the end of a longer-than-expected fundraising effort to find land and build facilities to house long retreats.  Remarkably, the center raised millions of dollars without going a penny in debt.  However, taking on a separate facility brings with it new costs, both in maintenance and increased program costs.  Meanwhile, the urban center has seen revenues drop in recent years.  This is in part due to a decline in regular pledging sangha (who were formerly called "dues-paying" sangha).  A few years ago, KCC had 90-95 members regularly supporting the center, but today it has fallen to 68--even though attendance hasn't changed at all.

KCC is currently offering a far deeper range of programs than it has in two decades.  This is made possible by a team of teachers, three of whom offer their considerable time to KCC without compensation.  This is not sustainable in the long-term (and possibly not in the medium-term).  Things will only get tighter as we begin one-year retreat.  Finally, part of the strategic discussions include possible plans to acquire a new urban center, which would have significant cost implications.  If we did move to a new urban center, it would likely cost more over and above what we spent on it.

Possible Goals
Below are a list of goals the Strategic Planning Committee and Leadership group identified.  While the groups have spent substantial time thinking and discussing them, they are only a starting place for further discussions.  The SPC hopes members of  the sangha think about KCC's situation, its needs, and its resources and offers feedback and suggestions.  Have a look:

• Create a business plan.  Discussion.  The moving parts that affect finances are many and complex.  It's difficult to conceptualize our needs and resources, and a business plan would clarify a number of issues.
• Develop a culture of giving.  Discussion.  This topic will actually be addressed in a separate post focused entirely on culture changes. The idea is to better integrate the idea of giving (among other things) within our practice of the dharma. 
• Support the unpaid teachers.  Discussion.  This was the least fleshed out in terms of strategy, but there was a broad sense that it's unsustainable to expect teachers to be able to devote the equivalent of a part- to full-time job to KCC without having some means of compensation. 
• Begin an urban center campaign, but only after the cloister at SCOL is fully funded.  Discussion.  This is less a goal than a matter of tactics, and one that the group was split on.  Does it make sense to have two campaigns going on simultaneously?  Or put in the reverse--would two campaigns focused on different goals really compete with one another?  

As you might imagine, there were extensive discussions behind each of these proposals--and one doesn't have to look too hard to foresee extensive discussions in the future.  We hope you'll join us.  Please feel invited to comment on this thread and consider coming to the Sangha meeting this Sunday following meditation (roughly 11:15 to noon). 

Finding Agreement on Goals: Facilities

From March 22 to 26, members of KCC's leadership (Board, Program Council, and others) met to discuss the strategic plan. Our intention was to hone in on our key goals in four categories: Facilities, Programs, Organization and Staffing, and Financial Resources.  We weren't looking for agreement on the goals themselves--we'll need Sangha input for that--but rather agreement on what the big issues are.  Today we'll discuss some of the issues that came up around facilities.

Current Situation

Dawn at SCOL.

KCC is nearing completion on a long-retreat cloister that will be used in a one-year retreat that starts around April 1, 2013.  The remaining elements are a fence and cooks and retreat cabins.  The fence is funded and in-design, the pre-fab cabins are on their way to being funded.  The board sees no barriers to completion before retreat. The wonderful facilities at Ser Cho Osel Ling have served short-term group retreats and individual personal retreatants for the past few years, but these won't be possible when the cloister is occupied by long-retreatants. 

The Urban Center is more problematic.  It has for nearly two decades been too small, both as a place for sangha-wide meditation and meetings, as well as having too few spaces for activities like multiple-year children's instruction.  The house wasn't designed to serve the needs of large groups, lacks basic features like large meeting space, a commercial kitchen, and parking.  It effectively caps sangha growth, and KCC has had a stable membership of around 100 people for 15 years.


Possible Goals
Below are a list of goals the Strategic Planning Committee and Leadership group identified.  While the groups have spent substantial time thinking and discussing them, they are only a starting place for further discussions.  The SPC hopes members of  the sangha think about KCC's situation, its needs, and its resources and offers feedback and suggestions.  Have a look:

• Find a larger urban center that has the space we need to conduct current programs as well as room to grow.  Discussion: there are multiple ways to accomplish this, including renting a facility, purchasing a facility, joining with another group/sangha to get a new facility.  Many people have noted the expense associated with such a move and this is a huge factor.  How much appetite is there among the sangha to raise funds for a new center?  Will it compete with the completion of the cloister--or, put another way, how do we phase it in while the cloister is being completed?  What kind of facility do we need to meet our programmatic needs?  This last point led some to consider the next goal.  Related Goals: Finish fundraising for the cloister before any fundraising on the urban center;
• Include a residential component in an urban center.  Discussion: One way to meet the needs of a sangha more deeply connected to retreat activities at SCOL is by having rooms available.  This would allow people transition time before and after retreats.  It would give KCC the option of offering a work/practice or lay training option to some members who wanted to live at the center.  (Some Zen communities have experience with this.)  
• Create a low-cost, seasonal option for group and individual retreats at SCOL.  Discussion: The idea here was to use tent platforms and tents or other seasonal facilities so KCC could continue to host short-term and individual retreats at SCOL.  One theme that has emerged in all our discussions is the need to integrate the facilities in Goldendale and Portland programatically.  This has been easier when KCC could host the winter retreats, the annual Mahamudra retreat, and other events at the cloister, but will be harder during long-retreats.  And yet, this may be the time when integration is most potent and valuable.

As you might imagine, there were extensive discussions behind each of these proposals--and one doesn't have to look too hard to foresee extensive discussions in the future.  We hope you'll join us.  Please feel invited to comment on this thread and consider coming to the Sangha meeting this Sunday following meditation (roughly 11:15 to noon).