b'DAYTODAY Practical help with the operations and ministry of your organization RIPPLESPenny KievetFiveand Sometimes SixImplementing a communications cadence for your boardW hen I began my tenure as executiveprovide information to the board. It didnt take director of City Rescue Missionlong for me to realize I could hit a home run by (CRM), I spent time meeting withincorporating all five purposesif I found the board members. During each visit, I asked theright vehicle. I chose a weekly check-in with the question What do you need from me? One ofboard, and I called it Five on Friday. my biggest takeaways from these conversations wasEach Friday by noon, I created five short bullet points that provided an overview of what was happening at the mission and emailed it to my directors. Why on Friday? In my thinking, it made sense to be able to feed the board new information about the mission to carry into their social circles over the weekend. Here is a sample of what was emailed under the subject Five on Friday: Subject: Five on FridayWe had three COVID cases this week.An unexpected gift of $240,000 came in this week from the XYZ Estate. a greater understanding of the unrelenting need Its not too early to reserve your table for the Difference Makers Banquet for good information and communication amongon May 5! ministry leaders. Citygate Networks Ripple Student Joe, whom you met at our Effect TMprogram (helping ministry boards andlast board meeting, got the job he CEOs govern well, lead well, and thrive) empha- spoke about. Please join us in praying sizes the communication between the CEO andfor his success. board as an important component for success. Our CARF onsite visit will be the week As someone who had many years of teachingof April 3.Penny Kievet retired as execu experience in the field of communication, I felt thatI appreciate each of you and all that you tive director of City Rescuedo for CRM. Thank you and make it a Mission in Jacksonville, Florida,I had a handle on the request. I knew there weregreat weekend!in 2020. She has served ononly five purposes for communicating: to persuade, Pennymany boards, including thatto entertain, to arouse to action, to inspire and/or of Citygate Network. Sheimpress, and to inform! Now I just needed to figureLet me hear from you as your board praises your continues to stay connected to missions and nonprofitsout, as an executive director, what purpose wasweekly communications! By the way, dont worry through her teaching andmost important for the board members. if you get in a jam and cant make your Friday coaching and can be reached Initially I thought my goal was going to be todeadline. There can always be Six on Saturday. \x03 at kievetpenny@gmail.com.50 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025'