Chats With Chambers

Carbondale has more than 340 business that they provide support and education for. They are between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, CO. They are at the base of Mt. Sopris, 12, 953 feet! They have a lot of toursim and hospitality as well as construction and professional services. The Chamber is also combined with Carbondale Tourism. Love Local is a program the kicked off in 2020. It reminds businesses and people in the area to shop local and just support each other. It has also allowed some incredible collaborations to happen! They created vinyl decals that they could display at their business. Workforce and housing are a struggle. They are seeing some coalitions being formed and some other ways that they are showing up to support each other. Two big tips are setting boundaries, its ok to say no, and listening. They have a 92% retention rate and they attribute that to listening and sharing. Questions We Asked: What is the Carbondale Chamber all about? [1:13] What are some wins? [3:54] What are challenges you face? [7:08] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [8:10] How can you learn more about Carbondale? [10:08] Full Transcript & More Info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Ste. Genevieve is a small community (just shy of 5,000 people) on the Mississippi River. Of the 5 houses in the US built on stilts, 3 are in Ste. Genevieve. They are historical and really embrace their roots. The Chamber focuses more on businesses now that their is a tourism department that’s taken that on. It is a heavy mining community. They are home to the largest cement plant in the US. They also have smaller manufacturing companies in town. They currently have 347 members. They are proud of their workforce development plan. They worked with some local businesses when they realized that in 5 years they would have a 50% turnover rate due to retirement. They created a workforce development and housing plan. They were involved with a land swap with church so that the city could develop a new subdivision. It was a long-term 4-year project but has finally come together. They struggle with keeping an active board. They are working on building more camaraderie so they stay engaged and excited. She’s also working on building more diversity in the board. They have only their 5th female board president currently in their 98 year history. Dena’s tip is to reach out to your colleagues. They help brainstorm, can share resources and even just listen if you’re struggling with something inside your chamber. They understand what you’re going through and can help with ideas and feedback. Tip #2 – no matter how hard the conversation may be, always be honest with your board! Questions We Asked: What is the Ste. Genevieve Chamber all about? [1:10] What are some wins? [6:15] What are challenges you face? [9:18] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [12:16] How can you learn more about Ste. Genevieve? [16:09] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Bismarck – Mandan, North Dakota is a metro area of about 130,000 people. They have a diverse economy and are the state capital. Their economy includes 3 colleges, energy production, 3 hospitals, and helps keep the area growing and thriving. The chamber merged back in 2019 with their economic development group. That has been their greatest success. It has allowed them to bring more value to the area. Their events, membership, revenues and more have all increased. They have about 1,200 members currently. More than 70% have less than 20 employees. That means they can provide more value with this partnership to help bring more traffic to these smaller businesses. If you’re merged with other community organizations, Brian suggests picking one thing and doubling down on that if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to do with a small team. Their biggest challenge is workforce. Labor is a big issue for businesses of all sizes. They are working to quantify a workforce development strategy. They are working at a liner level. They have programs that are starting at elementary school and supporting people all the way through college to help develop career opportunities and keep grads in the area. Brian’s tip is to call someone every single day, buy lunch for someone every single day. We tend to only call when we need money. They have 13 staff. Every week each person is responsible for calling 2 members to say thank you and find out how you can support them. Their retention rate is now at 93-94%! Questions We Asked: What is the Bismark Mandan Chamber all about? [1:10] What are some wins? [2:47] What are challenges you face? [6:28] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [9:45] How can you learn more about Bismarck Mandan? [12:11] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Glasgow is a smaller community and economic hub in NE Montana. They are branded as the “middle of nowhere” because they are 4.5 hours in any direction from any metropolitan area of more than 75,000 people. The chamber was established in 1917! They are very event driven. Agriculture and tourism are the primary industries. The ag industry is thriving because they are coming out of a drought. They run a walleye tournament that has been around for 35 years. They typically have around 200 teams that participate! The event gives out more than $125,000 in cash and prizes. Their biggest challenge is workforce. With COVID those close to retirement retired early and so they lost a big part of their workforce. They’re working on incentives and helping businesses with ways to recruit. Lisa’s tip is keep your membership dues down. Because they are an event driven organization they pull in their income from that. As a small community of only 3,400 people they have 200 members. Questions We Asked: What is the Glasgow Area Chamber all about? [1:21] What are some wins? [5:14] What are challenges you face? [6:37] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [8:20] How can you learn more about Glasgow? [9:22] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Fremont is responsible for all the Costco chickens west of the Mississippi! It’s about 25,000 situated between Lincoln and Omaha. They have a diverse business economy. Traveling nurses, tech business is growing, plus a small university helps create that diversity. In 2019, there was a big flood in Fremont and there was no way for anyone to get in or out. The community really pulled together and supported each other. That feeling also continued on as COVID hit and built strong bonds between businesses that even used to be competitive with each other. Workforce is still their biggest challenge. Their location has helped because they have larger cities they can pull from. Businesses are sharing their resources and helping to bring people in together so they can all pull from a bigger pool of employees. One of the things Tara wants to share is not taking it personal when a business doesn’t renew. Instead, try and ask them and get personal. What is it that they need for support? Is it that they can’t afford their membership and their might be additional resources for them? Or could it be that they’re not getting the right value. Questions We Asked: What is the Fremont Area Chamber all about? [1:04] What are some wins? [3:14] What are challenges you face? [5:44] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [8:10] How can you learn more about Fremont? [10:58] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Beaverhead is in the SW corner of MT and is the largest county in MT. It’s harder to get to so building and and growing is more challenging. However, they have a lot of space and area to grow. Their county is around 10,000 in population. They are now replacing their wooden water mane systems from the 1800s! They also supply a lot of talc to the country. Beaverhead National Forest takes up a lot of their county. The Beaverhead Treasure Hunt is a fun part of their Chamber. They created a glass artifact that represents their industries. They made 100 of them and hid them all over the county. If you find one and bring it to the Chamber offices you get $100 in Chamber Bucks. A struggle for them is the disruption that the water mane reconstruction is making outside of local businesses. So they created an event right in the middle of the construction to still encourage people to come down to visit the shops. They handed out hot dogs and celebrated the work that’s being done. They have gone from 48 to over 100 members since 2020. Part of that is the Facebook spotlights that they share. Businesses get featured a couple times a year for more visibility. This has been a great feature that businesses in the area have enjoyed. Questions We Asked: What is the Beaverhead Chamber all about? [1:29] What are some wins? [5:39] What are challenges you face? [7:29] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [9:30] How can you learn more about Beaverhead? [11:28] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Marion has a population of around 42,000. They are a Mainstreet Iowa community and the chamber has been around since 1938, and Jill has been with them for 15 years! The community development work has been the biggest success. They received a grant called Iowa Great Places. When they first applied they were told to do a visioning process with their community and did that. Over 6 months they did brainstorming sessions and conversations with residents and businesses and got over 1,800 ideas. They then created a selection committee and narrowed it down to 100. The community voted on it and got it down to 30 then the committee got it down to 8. They took the next 10 years to build out those community improvements. So then they did the whole process again and have 4 new projects they’re working on. On top of COVID the area also experienced a derecho, which was a once in a lifetime store. They didn’t have power for a few weeks and there was lots of destruction. The community came together and worked together to help out and support each other. The chamber created an emergency food pantry in an old mall. They put the call out to their members to help bring in supplies the community needed. Partnerships with other key organizations in Marion have helped to really address what the community needs when it needs it. Relationship building is critical. Jill feels like there is pride from growing up in the community, so even if you haven’t, pretend like you have. Sit down and have face-to-face conversations. Show care for all yoru business owners and members, remember they so often just want to be heard. Questions We Asked: What is the Marion Chamber all about? [1:14] What are some wins? [2:15] What are challenges you face? [7:43] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [12:00] How can you learn more about Marion? [14:06] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Hayward is in the North West corner of Wisconsin. They consider themselves to be in the North Woods area. Tourism is a big part of their economy. Their businesses are very diverse. The full-time population is 2,500 but because they are tourism driven they have many more services than you’d normally see in a town that size. They have a great main street that has been voted top 10 main streets in the country. Hayward is the home of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. The world record muskie was caught there in the late 1940s. They also have the Lumberjack National Games! Chris is really proud of the marketing they’ve been able to do for their members. As a tourism driven economy they want to market their area to get more people there. Businesses benefit from the work the Chamber does, whether they’re members or not. Instead of dwelling on that they just keep doing the incredible work and talking about the member only benefits. Chris’s tip? Establish your values and how you’re going to move through the decisions that come up. When you know your guiding principles you can more quickly and effectively make decisions. Reflect and do the things that you feel would be more valuable to your members. There is no right or wrong! Questions We Asked: What is the Hayward Area Chamber all about? [1:19] What are some wins? [7:00] What are challenges you face? [8:56] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [12:26] How can you learn more about Hayward? [15:26] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Jacksonville is a small town in Southern Oregon, around 3,000 in population. They are the Heart of Southern Oregon Wine Country! In the 1860s it was one of the towns that was going to have the railroad but that changed so got to keep their historic feel and look. The area is made up of all small businesses, there aren’t chain stores. They want to preserve it and keep it small and local. The support they give their business is something Amanda’s most proud of. They all support each other in all things from marketing and however they can to share resources. The Chamber provides events that are geared towards bringing people into the stores for more traffic. Jacksonville didn’t lose any of their businesses during COVID. They were able to pivot and still do business, just changed the way that they did business. They provided lots of resources to help businesses with their online presence and Google and help them serve their area and population. Just doing a little bit at a time and coaching businesses on other marketing tactics helped so it wasn’t too overwhelming. Take time to go in and talk to business owners. You’ll learn more about what they’re doing, what their challenges are and how you can support them. Personal interaction is important and appreciated by members. Questions We Asked: What is the Jacksonville Chamber all about? [1:08] What are some wins? [3:4] What are challenges you face? [5:16] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [9:17] How can you learn more about Jacksonville? [10:42] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Havre is in North Central MT. It is a tight knit community of about 9,500 people. New business is coming in and providing more diversity in food, retail and more! They have an underground tour from when their city had a big fire and needed to build underground. They’re also on the dinosaur trail so you can check out some artifacts. There is even a paleontologist in town who’s doing research. They just ran their second annual Bear Paw Run with great success! Jessica is proud to see it come together so successfully as she is a newer executive at her chamber. They had runners from 15 states and two Canadian provinces. Change is always something difficult for people to accept. That comes from events, look and feel of the town and how people perceive their community. She’s working hard to help the community look as incredible as it is so people driving through see how special it is and want to stop and hang out! Face to face conversations make a big difference. Make the time even if it feels impossible. Block off time and make it happen. Be an ear and just ask what you can do to support them. Questions We Asked: What is the Havre Area Chamber all about? [1:23] What are some wins? [5:25] What are challenges you face? [7:22] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [9:06] How can you learn more about Havre? [10:41] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Astoria is located at the estuary of the Columbia River in north west Oregon. It is a small community with a lot of small businesses. They have a lot of members and are one of the largest chambers in the state per capita. Several movies have been filmed here like the Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The membership base is a big win for them. They are all there to support each other when they need it. The connection the businesses make inside of the chamber helps to build the network with small businesses when they are facing challenges. They don’t have to face it alone. It’s a core priority to build trust and steward relationships between businesses and the community. They also stopped playing recruitment by the numbers. The membership number goal went out the window and instead they focused on providing service and adding value. Cashflow and budgets were hit hard with COVID as events went away. They worked through that and now are running head on into supporting their members in the core areas that they’re struggling with. Those include daycare, housing and workforce. Remember to build your vision and really hold true to that. David works a lot and in order to keep that passion and motivation going he rewrote the vision from his perspective and got the board and staff to align with it. That way they’re all working towards the same goal with purpose. Questions We Asked What is the Astoria Warrenton Area Chamber all about? [1:01] What are some wins? [3:03] What are challenges you face? [7:07] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [12:41] How can you learn more about Astoria? [15:47] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Helena is the state capital in MT so it is a government based town. It is the fastest growing city in MT. They are working on the balance of the influx of new people and still maintaining the Montana lifestyle. They have a big entrepreneurship mindset so lots of people open businesses. They are also very tourism based. They are really proud of their WINS program which is their workforce development program. It was founded in 2017 to work on recruiting and retaining talent to the area. They created a task force to come up with solutions and strategies. WINS also includes resources for youth that might not be college bound to train them and get them into trades and construction. Membership recruitment and retention is their biggest struggle. Post pandemic people are watching the membership costs so they are working on communicating their value and how they are helping businesses with their sustainability and successes. Callie says her biggest tip is listening. That will tell you a lot about what your members and community need! Questions We Asked What is the Helena Chamber all about? [1:17] What is a success story you’re really proud of? [5:13] What are challenges you face? [7:58] How can you learn more about the Helena Area Chamber? [9:19] What tip or trick can you pass along? [10:49] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Coffeyville is a small town in Northeast Kansas most known for being the site where the Dalton Gang was taken down. They are a staff of three which includes a tourism director. They are working hard to build that culture that encompasses their values. COVID forced the Chamber to have to revisit how they carried on. Since they have such a long history they had to really take stock in what was working and where they were going. They have decided to stop/or lessen their events. This has allowed them to work more on building relationships and help those businesses with sustainability. It also allows them to focus more on things like workforce and housing that are critical issues. They are also able in Kansas to come together with other chambers to provide group health insurance. They have also become an educational hub. They have newsletters that help educate the community on what is going on in the area, strategies for businesses, feel good stories and more. They have become a trusted source in their community as the go to place to find information. This goes out to anyone in the community, not just chamber members. Candi encourages you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. She had a team member that was so great at her job the state recruited her. Candi had to learn her role and figure out how to fill that void. It required her to learn and put herself out there. Your chamber has to be bigger than just a party planner. Questions We Asked What is the Coffeyville Are Chamber all about? [1:03] What are some wins? [2:48] What are challenges you face? [8:06] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [11:22] How can you learn more about Coffeyville? [12:44] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Belgrade, MT is a small community that is experiencing large growth! They are in SW MT, 10 miles away from Bozeman. Workforce issues are real – especially since most people moving to the area are bringing their jobs with them. When a local elementary school had to shut down because they didn’t have any substitute teachers, it meant that local businesses also had to close because their staff needed to be home with their kids. Kristi took this problem head on and developed the B.O.S.S. program. Launching this fall it has business owners providing one of their employees one day a month to support the elementary school so it can stay open! Belgrade is facing three big changes, workforce, housing and daycare. Nine daycares closed during COVID. They are now using an older elementary and turning it into a daycare. They are working with chamber members to rally support and help make things happen. Questions We Asked What is the Belgrade Chamber all about? [1:17] What are some wins? [4:20] What are challenges you face? [7:46] How can you learn more about Belgrade? [10:30] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Fort Collins is about an hour north of Denver and is the home of Colorado State University. They also have a high-tech industry as well as a thriving small business climate and great downtown presence. The Fort Collins chamber partnered with other area chambers as well as government agencies and business leaders to build infrastructure that would impact their ability to grow. They worked on improving the I-25 corridor to allow for expansion so there could be easier transportation of goods, services and people to Northern Colorado. The group altogether has raised $1 Billion for the cause. By bringing in area chambers it helped to make a stronger voice. This project helped them see that they can make a big impact. The challenge is that as elected officials change, their ability to move change forward is impacted. They’re continuing to work on build relationships and having conversations to help with continual business minded conversations and finding solutions that are great for all and not just for some. No matter what the size of your organization, realize your impact and keep moving forward. Ann wants you to remember that you can do big things! Questions We Asked What is the Fort Collins Area Chamber all about? [1:14] What are some wins? [3:12] What are challenges you face? [8:10] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [10:42] How can you learn more about Fort Collins? [12:35] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Wamego is a small community in NE Kansas and has a strong Chamber working in conjunction with other area organizations like the CVB. Wamgeo is the fastest growing community in Kansas and has a new major business bringing 500 jobs to the area. Wamego is known as the hub of the Wizard of Oz. They are home to the Oz museum. Wamego is super proud of their festivals and events. They bring in up to 50,000 plus people for some of their events. This is what they’ve become best at and really keep those events going strong. Rebuilding relationships and trust and talking to people is something that Jessa is working on. As a newer executive she is trying to show trust with her businesses instead of just giving words. Being a good listener and allowing business owners to be heard helps to build trust. There are core questions that she asks when people aren’t chamber members yet to make it more about them. Questions We Asked What is the Wamego Area Chamber all about? [1:28] What are some wins? [4:12] What are challenges you face? [4:56] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [7:15] How can you learn more about Wamego? [8:41] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Being in the Minnetonka area, there is a lot of blending of communities. The boundaries aren't as defined which allows for so much more networking between organizations and growth for the chamber. It has a tourist and small town feel with lots of small businesses. Building energy into the community for the chamber is reinvigorating. Having conversations with business owners and listening to what they have to say can help you with rebuilding post pandemic. When you listen to your business owners and really take things in then they help you with rebuilding because they have more skin in the game. Change isn't always easy, but when you bring them along it makes the community stronger. Chamber leaders are change makers. Always be listening, taking in feedback and making sure you don't get comfortable. Be the leader in your community to come up with new ideas and create new opportunities for your business members. Questions We Asked Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Harbor Springs is located off Lake Michigan and is the deepest harbor in all of the Great Lakes. They are a tourist area, with year round residents and a summer population with families that have been coming for generations. All the businesses in the area are local, there are no chain stores. Harbor Springs survived COVID. The Chamber team did an online auction and raised $20,000 and reinvested that back into the local businesses to support them during this time. They used their website to help support restaurants and keep communication open. All the restaurants stayed open and were able to survive during the pandemic. Focusing on your individual community can help you make better decisions. They love to think outside the box to come up with other ways to generate revenue and support the area. They had a local photographer donate their photos and turned them into puzzles. They've tried things that work and some that didn't but they learned through it all! Questions We Asked Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Networking groups within the chamber was lacking when Quinn took over. He didn’t feel like they were really taking advantage of the opportunity to support the community. He worked hard to increase the cadence of these networking communities and help make a bigger impact. Utilizing the energy of newer members can help in building networking groups in the chamber and helping them grow. It also takes some of the pressure off of the Chamber team to build in volunteers and support for upcoming events. Ambassador programs also help with bringing crowds to events naturally. Questions We Asked What is the Ralston Area Chamber all about? [1:15] What is your success story? [1:59] What are the challenges you face? [5:38] What is your tip and trick to pass on to other chambers? [8:08] How can you learn more about the Ralston Chamber? [9:28] Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.

Questions We Asked This Episode: Full transcript & more info: Nonprofitbootcamponline.com Follow the Chats With Chambers Podcast: https://nonprofitbootcamponline.com/podcast/ About Chats With Chambers: Chats With Chambers brings the power and ideas of chambers from across the country to you! Each episode features a new Chamber Executive as they share their wins and tips in the areas of recruitment, fundraising, retention of members and more. Check out these quick 15 minute episodes and find new strategies to make your Chamber even more successful.