Our society's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats were identified in a previous survey. Now we would like to determine the strength/relevance/importance of each item.

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* 1. Please rate the following Strengths (INTERNAL characteristics that are unique, special, highly valued, and positive relative to our Society).

  Weak Neutral Strong
Experience, passion and knowledge and Team Work of current leadership
Longevity: Established more than 60 years ago
In-person AND online educational presentations/meetings
Offering 3 seminars each year with presenters of national renown
Marketing Commitment
Creative members with good technical know-how.
Cohesive branding: We provide a professional appearance through our website, branding, artwork
Partnerships with charitable organizations for funding
Mutually beneficial Relationship with/support of the Dalla Public Library
Hybrid meeting format used for General Meetings, Seminars and SIG meetings.
Use of Technology to aid in the retention of members at a distance
Special Interest Groups
Good Listeners: Open to ideas
Welcoming: Enjoyable/good vibes/kind
Neon & its capabilities
Have technological expertise that most societies don't have
Knowledgeable: Large (400+) and stable base of Family history-passionate members Expertise in Dallas and North Texas
Newsletter
Flexible/Creative/Resourceful/Good Problem solving skills: We are not afraid to jump in and try new things, ie zoom right after the pandemic, hybrid meetings
Good base of genealogical speakers: Known as the place to get a speaker
Website development/support team and the current Website design - easy to find things and to navigate
Dependable
Zoom Hybrid Meeting Capabilities
Continuing to have meetings available on Zoom

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* 2. Overall Comment(s) on our Strengths?

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* 3. Please rate the following Weaknesses (INTERNAL to our organization/network. They are things we need to improve on (and we can control)).

  Minor Neutral Major
Inconsistent use of DGS brand identity graphics/colors/ etc.
Lack of new approaches to communications or operations
Poor succession planning and lack of a focused program to develop a pool of future leaders.
Creation of/use of Videos in our marketing efforts
Reaching out to  engage younger or more progressive members
Not having a well-defined financial strategy that would allow the society to be more self funded over time
High event prices relative to other organizations
Failure to provide General Meeting slides
Member networking
Lack of relationships
Outdated model of interaction with DPL now that COVID restrictions are receding
Scheduling board meetings immediately after the General Meeting
Vague/unclear areas of responsibilities for some Board, Director an Administrator positions
Special Interest Groups
Soliciting & utilizing member input
Majority white membership and all-white leadership in a multicultural city
Lack of a good way to document volunteers, their interests, and their participation.
Recognition of accomplishments & achievements by members, volunteers and the society.
Communication with new board members
Dependance on Ken Johnston for artwork
Lack of delegation by some board members
Making members aware of  record preservation activities
Not remembering what we decided from meeting to meeting
Creating/maintaining marketing materials
Automatic negative reaction to new ideas
Leadership development and recruitment with genealogical influencers in non-white population
Creating board reports and posting them in the correct place
Communication between society leaders.
Lack of volunteers with required skills
Low utilization of "long distance tech" used with SIG's.
Board members who are very opinionated and set in their ways
Presentation/utilization of recordings we have created

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* 4. Overall Comment(s) on our Weaknesses?

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* 5. Please rate the following Opportunities (EXTERNAL situations/things that may provide "opportunites" for growth and improved service. We cannot control them and they may be time sensitive).

  Low Priority Neutral HIgh Priority
Incorporate more membership (and their ideas) in society activities
Do "Finding Your Roots" studies of Dallas celebrity, for publicity
Coordinate with other Genealogical  societies to create joint record sets
More online opportunities
Presentations to outside organizations for a projects like the cemetery project
Create more unique record sets to draw people to website
Helping/taking a leadership role for those societies in the area that are having membership problems.
Make DGS an increasingly online resource for family history
Assuming members and records from local societies that are/have ceased operations.
Improve outreach to non-white genealogical leaders (HOGAR, Hispanic, People of Color) and identify opportunities to team with them for projects.
Regularly scheduled classes
Mentoring programs
Usage contracts with libraries elsewhere for sharing resources
Step into the void being left by state and national organizations who are not holding in-person conferences.
Seek out media publicity to enhance all aspects of organization
Establish/improve relationships with other historical/genealogical local entities (such as DallasArchives, Preservation Dallas, cemeteries, LDS Churches, etc.) and find ways to collaborate on programs and services.
Better/Expanded use of social media to connect with younger demographics
What do we provide that other societies/people want? Are we known for specific collections? Advertise them
More promotion of DGS Youtube channel & topics
Unique workshop formats
Create/manage more transcription, Indexing or imaging projects
Explore new fundraising opportunities to make up for the lack of revenue from seminars, ie research trips, ect
Provide engaging presentations that attract under-65 attendees
Interviews with elders of communities of interest: Latino, People of Color, Asian
Increasing multicultural population - need to be their genealogical partners
Offering rides to members who can’t/won’t drive downtown

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* 6. Overall Comment(s) on our Opportunities?

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* 7. Please rate the following Threats (Situations/things that may challenge our existence or our ability to impact change. We cannot control them: We hope to avoid them or plan to lessen their impact).

  Low Threat Neutral High Threat
Migration of genealogists/family history researchers to online resources and away from local societies.
Lack of revenue from seminars: more competition for online seminars at lower prices
Declining interest in volunteering
Online genealogy training and resources that don't require society membership
Post-pandemic preference for virtual meetings and learning and its effect on membership "loyalty"
Need for increased social media presence Tik-Tok, Instagram, YouTube
Negative perception of downtown Dallas that makes people hesitant to visit the library for events.
“All the records are online” mentality
People's engagement becoming increasingly online.
Aging demographic in membership
Generational differences in joining and participating in organizations
Decrease in society memberships: fewer people joining societies
Changing priorities for a younger group of researchers
Tornado
Reduced/limited access to Dallas Library facilities due to restricted hours of operations.
People who do not like virtual programming and interaction
People not showing up physically for events held at the library.
Fire
Membership skewing older and aging out
Reduced number of people who visit the genealogy section due to reduced library hours.
Anxiety about in-person meetups due to viral exposure: Another flare up of the pandemic

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* 8. Overall Comment(s) on our Threats?

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* 9. Thank you for participating in this survey. Please provide any additional comments you would like to share.