October 27, 2023

CAA board and staff are engaged in a Strategic Planning process to guide our work for the next three years. Specific goals will be set including targets to measure progress and success in each area of our work. Our first step was to hear from key stakeholders in the organization: that includes staff, board, donors, volunteers and those who read our weekly emails and attend events. That means you! 

You might remember that in the past few months, we asked you to fill out a survey. We wanted to know more about how you’re involved with our organization, what you think of the work we do, and your ideas for what we should do in the future. Over 130 of you generously took the time to respond! Your input was invaluable – thank you!

We also got some help from experts in strategic planning.Victor Massaglia (former CAA board member) and Rachel Nihart, both of the University of Minnesota reviewed and summarized the survey results and shared them with staff and board members. They then guided us through an Appreciative Inquiry process to discuss the input and start the process of determining our goals. We ended our Strategic Planning session  with the selection of some big overarching goals to focus on as we move forward to the next stage. Stay tuned for further information to be shared with you in December.

In the meantime you might find some of the survey results interesting:

Here’s a summary of what people said we’re doing really well:

• Making a friendly community for people who care about animals and being vegan.
• Being open to meeting people wherever they are on their vegan journey and giving support.
• Planning useful events and getting the word out about what we do.

Ideas that people had to make CAA even better fell into these general categories:

• Building relationships and working together with others
• Reaching more people
• Expanding focus
• Sharing more/different education/information
• Doing more work related to activism/advocacy
• Hosting more/different events/community building
• Enhancing Diversity & Inclusion efforts
• Trying new/different fundraising ideas

Thanks for being part of our journey! We look forward to sharing more with you soon.