Submitted by the Conference Committee

Columbia and surrounding area have so many opportunities for every age. If you want to learn more, see http://www.visitcolumbiamo.com, or https://www.visitmo.com/. You can also download the official Missouri travel guide at https://maddendigitalbooks.com/mtg19/.

Meanwhile, Doris Littrell is coordinating family activities based on interest during the CDS Conference. Here are the wonderful options she has pulled together that will be sure to please children, grandchildren, spouses, significant others and friends you may wish to bring with you to CDS.

Sunday, July 14, and Monday, July 15 (8-9:00 a.m.): Knowledgeable Columbia ambassadors will staff a resource table with brochures, handouts, etc., for families at the Bond Life Sciences Center registration.

Monday, July 15, 9:00-11:45 a.m.: A free walking tour of downtown Columbia that can be focused on family interests such as public art, African American history, University of Missouri campus, museums, gardens, etc.

An African American history group has markers all around town. We can provide a guide if requested and could end at the history Blind Boone home (no charge but donations accepted at suggested rate of $25/hour).

There’s also an optional Trolley Tour–www.tigertrolley.net at $30/person but there is a minimum number required. A choice of four tours are offered or one can be customized. The four include Welcome to Columbia, Cultural Arts (which includes the Art and Archaeology Museum), College Town USA., and Historical Tour.

After lunch on their own, we have the option for Monday from 1-5:00 p.m. for indoor recreation (yes July is hot in Missouri) at the ARC where there’s swimming, track, basketball, exercise, etc. This will require your own means of transport (but we do have Uber, cabs, etc., and you can carpool). If we have a group of 20 or more, a group rate can be obtained, but we have to give at least two weeks’ advance notice ($2.80 for kids and seniors, $4.45 for adults vs. regular rates of $3.75 for kids and seniors, $6.00 for adults).

Monday night is free for all to enjoy dinner downtown and the you will want to register your guests for the Ice Cream Social at Orr Street Studios from 8-9:30 p.m. We have purposely keep the price to $5.00 per guest for this fun time to mingle and enjoy legendary Central Dairy ice cream.

Tuesday morning, July 16, 9-11:30 a.m., we will offer an option to visit to the Boone County Historical and Cultural Society and Maplewood Barn at Nifong Park. Personal transportation is required.

Tuesday afternoon, 1–5:30 p.m., could be spent indoors again touring for free the University’s Art and Archaeology Museum and Anthropology Museum, both located at Mizzou North.  We can arrange a docent to lead the tours, with a month’s notice (that’s June 15). Personal transportation is required.

So do plan to bring your guests with you to the conference. And we hope you come early or stay late to enjoy many of the experiences that Columbia, Mid-Missouri and the rest of the state offer.

If you have an interest in any of these options that Doris has put together or other questions about activities your guests might enjoy, please let Doris know before June 15 (the sooner the better) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Other than the Ice Cream Social registration, all of these require your communication with Doris.

I've been reflecting on the old addage for March, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." March certainly has been a lion for many places around the US this year and I'm sure we're all hoping that the month ends in a more gentle, lamb-like fashion. This is particularly true to ease the burden of our friends and neighbors suffering through extreme temperature swings and flooding this season.

Since I live in Florida, I have the pleasure of a constant stream of northern guests through the month of March. It's wonderful to connect with family and friends and bring them a literal dose of sunshine during the deary late winter months. I'm very fortunate to have so many lifelong friends and close family members that make the trip. These connections, our own social captial, are the building blocks of communities and what we as practitioners of community development seek to build and support in the areas we serve.

Lions and lambs also convey symbolism of the weak and the strong, specifically of the weak becoming strong. For me, this also has relevenace to our shared work as so many of us are working with disempowered people - helping to bring out the voice of the lambs to stand toe to toe with the lions. We are often working to develop a community's social capital to enable their self determination - rise and rise again until lambs become lions. 

Board Activities Update

The board and it's committeess have been working together to continue the necessary transitions required with the now formally adopted bylaws, including shifts in scope and consolidation. Committees are working to further develop policies aligned with the new bylaws and further streamline our organization. 

The board approved the scholarship amounts.

2019 conference planning is underway. Accespted session proposals have been sent out, keynotes have been planned, mobile learning workshop development is moving along, and fundrasising is rocking and rolling!

2020 conference proposal for South Dakota was submitted to the board.

Staff search is underway.  

Governing Non-profit Organizations
Submitted by Margaret Stout
Associate Professor
Department of Public Administration
John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics
West Virginia University

With the publication of the revised bylaws of the Community Development Society in this edition of the Vanguard, some of us may have organizational governance on our minds. In simple terms, governance is the process of steering an organization by establishing policies and procedures and then making decisions accordingly. In a membership organization like CDS, the members establish the destination and the board of directors is responsible for making decisions about how best to get there. Ideally, the board receives ongoing guidance from committees composed of members so that ongoing input is used to chart the course and make course corrections when necessary.

It’s of value to note that many CDS members work in higher education—a realm of large bureaucracies with byzantine governance policies and procedures that govern academic and administrative domains. Those functions are then delegated according to different faculty and staff roles. However, many other CDS members work in non-profit organizations that are governed by a board of directors and operated by paid staff, often supported by outside service providers and consultants.

CDS governance has largely relied on volunteers who engage in service via the board of directors, standing organizational committees, and various operational ad hoc committees. Furthermore, CDS has relied heavily on contracted services to fulfill administrative needs. However, at some point in most non-profit organizations’ developmental path, increased professionalization is required to stabilize administrative and management functions and ensure organizational sustainability.

Both the previous and current board of directors believe that time has come for CDS. To more adequately support the volunteers and maintain stable operations, the board determined that a part-time Managing Director was needed, and Justin Dollard was hired to fulfill that role. Furthermore, the board decided in July 2018 that our organizational structure and Policies and Operational Guidelines needed a full review in order to move the board of directors from an operating model to a policy model of governance. This developmental process began in earnest at the October 2018 board retreat.

To clarify, an operating or working board of directors completes the lion’s share of organizational functions, including governance. A governance or policy board of directors focuses on steering the organization, while staff and contracted service providers do the work required to keep the organization moving on that course. This is not to say that a policy board no longer completes important operational functions. Rather, the balance shifts more toward governance and away from operations.

To support this style of governance, something more than an administrator is needed. Typically, non-profit organizations have an Executive Director who supports the board in setting policies and procedures and oversees or personally executes their implementation. As the revised bylaws indicate, this is the course CDS is now following and this chart will guide the board’s review of the Policies and Operational Guidelines. Stay tuned for ongoing information about our progress!

"To bow to the fact of our life's sorrows and betrayals is to accept them and from this deep gesture we discover that all life is workable. As we learn to bow, we discover that the heart holds more freedom and compassion than we could imagine"

-Jack Kornfield

Writing this update on Valentine's Day forces a reflection on love and what it means to love. I came to the field of community development out of love. Love for people. A deep rooted desire to ensure all people in a community are loved and valued. This love may have also brought you here.

This desire, however, is not so simple. As we learn in all of our relationships, loving people is complicated. The ones we love can sometimes let us down, betray us, dismiss us, hurt us. Sometimes with intent and sometimes not. The trick for lasting relationships, the trick to community cohesion, the trick to love is to continue to engage with compassion.

Love is the essence of our work. Love pushes us forward. Love builds community.

Board activities update

In an effort to make continued change for the betterment of our organization, your board has been meeting once a month. In January, the board approved sweeping changes to the bylaws, which are included in the February Vanguard for your review. With their publication in the Vanguard, these become our current operating documents. The Policy and Governance Committee, chaired by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., crafted the bylaws and will continue to work on related policy updates. The board also approved the shifting of some board and officer terms to accommodate structural changes in the new bylaws.

There are many changes afoot with the CDS business office. There is currently an RFP for IT services related to our website and our current Managing Director, Justin Fallon-Dollard, will be departing in the coming months to take on a new opportunity. We very much appreciate the work Justin has done for our organization and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. 

The board approved the 2019 budget at the January board meeting. 

Deadline Extended to March 4, 2019

CDS is seeking proposals from professionals and/or firms to provide annual IT support for its website and member management system.

The selected vendor will be required to manage and maintain the CDS internet presence to ensure optimal performance, efficiency and maximized uptime.

The CDS website and membership management system uses the Joomla Content Management System with EasySocial and membership fee payments are accepted through a link to PayPal. However, CDS is not bound to using the Joomla platform nor PayPal and will consider alternatives.

Please see Request-for-Proposal-010719-CDS-IT-Support.pdf for additional information.

Email any questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Email proposals to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Address all proposals to:
Proposal-CDS IT Support
c/o Justin Dollard Managing Director
Community Development Society
7 Meadow Lane
Rochester, NY 14618

The deadline for CDS to receive proposals is March 4, 2019 5pm EST
PROPOSALS RECEIVED AFTER THE STATED DEADLINE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED