Strategic Planning Task Force 

You Are Invited on December 6 from 9 to 2!

Please click here to listen to Cliff’s presentation!

Building Our Congregational Strategic Plan

By now we hope you have heard about the Dec. 6th Strategic Planning Workshop, and have it on your calendar.  Now it is time to sign-up by emailing Anna Riazi at: office@uunaples.org 

We have obtained input from 11 member focus groups over the past seven months.  On Dec 6th we will share the goals that were drafted from our learnings. Then we’ll have a facilitated, interactive workshop to identify the key initiatives to help UUCGN accomplish our goals over the next three years. Please attend this important gathering on December 6th as we chart our future together and gather your input to craft the next steps of our congregation’s Strategic Plan. 

The Strategic Planning Task Force (SPTF) has interviewed over 100 members in demographically segmented focus groups to understand members’ needs and dreams, how UUCGN can support each member in the future, and explore ideas to guide UUCGN’s future.  

The Task Force will be sharing our learnings from the focus groups with emails to the congregation in the next two weeks leading up to our in-person Congregational Workshop on December 6th. We’ll also share the next steps and timeline of the strategic planning process at the workshop, so please make every effort to attend. But don’t worry! We will provide regular updates and additional opportunities to provide input in the coming months leading to a completed and congregationally approved plan in April 2026.

This approach is a different and broadly inclusive collaborative process. Together we will craft the top strategic priorities to guide our congregational investments of time, talent, and treasure over the next three years. This Strategic Plan will be our commitment to live our UU values in our beloved community and the world in line with our Mission and Vision as a congregation. All members’ perspectives are valued, and we encourage you to take the opportunity to help build UUCGN’s future.  We’ll see you in the sanctuary on Saturday, December 6 from 9:00am - 2:00pm with a luncheon on the Pavilion!  Don’t miss it! Please register today to help us plan for how many participants to accommodate.

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Sharing Key Learnings from Focus Groups for UUCGN’s Strategic Planning

In preparation for the Congregational Workshop on December 6th, the Strategic Planning Task Force is sharing what we’ve learned from our series of UUCGN members focus groups. A total of ten focus groups were held during April– November 2025 as part of the process of developing a strategic plan. The Strategic Plan Task Force organized and facilitated these meetings where questions were asked such as how well UUCGN was meeting their needs, what could be done to help and support them, and what they would like to see from UUCGN in the future. The focus groups included 1) Parents of children in our youth program, 2) New members, 3) Long term UUCGN members (typically 20+ years membership), 4) Chairpersons of committees, 5) Members engaged with other area organizations, 6) Seasonal members 7) Teen members, and 8) Young adults who previously attended as youth. Some groups were split into two sessions. Here are the first three of seven themes:

THEME #1:  We Value our Sense of a Community with Shared Values – A resounding number of focus group members appreciated our sense of community and said they were part of it because of our shared values. Many felt a sense of belonging, that the church was integral to their lives, and that other members and our existing programs were interesting, smart, and mattered in the world.

THEME #2:  Improve General Inclusivity, Diversity, and New Member Involvement–Although there was praise for our existing community, there was also the repeated theme about the importance of making new members and visitors feel welcome and connected to our community with several suggestions such as an ambassador program and helping them find people to talk to at the coffee hour after service. Similarly, the theme extended to the need for inclusivity and support in a broader way, to improve community cohesion among many different types of our group members, and to reach out to diverse potential members as well (youth, families, LGBTQ, under-resourced, etc.) This extended to the overall idea about the importance of diversifying our membership, how this has been a challenge, and suggestions about how that may include changes to the schedules, locations, and communication approaches that we use.

THEME #3:  Increase Intergenerational Activities and Better Serve Youth and Families – There was a strong desire among many members to better integrate our existing youth, teens, and families into the UUCGN community and to serve them better. There was recognition that youth are our future and that our community would be strengthened through intergenerational activities and learning, which some noted had been more prevalent in past years. There were many suggestions about how to do this and there were also challenges identified including scheduling, childcare, the changing landscape for youth and families, and more.

THEME #4:  Need for Better Marketing and Outward Communications – There was recognition of the importance of marketing or promoting that our congregation was here in Naples and of the good work and programming that we are already doing. Many comments focused on this as an area of weakness, but also many cited this as a tool to achieve objectives such as attracting diverse members and also better serving both new and existing diverse members. There were also many suggestions such as improving our website and recognizing that we may need to expand our thinking about the best approaches, especially if attracting diverse members is the goal.

THEME #5:  Need for Better Internal Communications and Processes – There was recognition of the need to tighten up internal communications and the processes that support that with many identifying specific times when they noticed a communication problem or gap. While this emerged as an area of relative weakness (because there was also acknowledgement of the great effort already being placed here), many cited this as a tool to get members even more involved and engaged and to overall have UUCGN serve everyone better. Many suggestions about how to improve communication processes were shared, and additional benefits of focusing on internal communications were highlighted, such as improved knowledge-sharing and institutional knowledge, and about how there were benefits of having more diverse and inclusive communications.

THEME #6:  Need for Covenant and/or Conflict Resolution Plan – The need for conflict resolution was shared by members with a few examples of times when this was necessary, but was largely unaddressed. Several people specifically mentioned the need for a covenant, as the best approach to deal with conflicts, backed by the general agreement that resolving differences and maintaining positive relationships, in a largely volunteer organization, is important.

THEME #7:  Appreciation and Support for Our Social Justice Focus – The appreciation for the existing social justice focus of our congregation was a clear theme, with some mentioning the importance of this at this time. Members valued what we have and do in the social justice area, stating that these programs gave them great satisfaction. There was also a call to expand these efforts to have greater positive mission-impact, to gain visibility both for UUCGN and for the issues highlighted, and to better serve the broader community. There was certainty that efforts in this area would make a difference and that there were needs that UUCGN could fill. However, the specific focal area was unclear with members mentioning both existing programs and new ones.

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We are eager to hear what each of you would like to see UUCGN focus on over the next three years. Your Strategic Planning Task Force has spent the last six months exploring member priorities. To continue with our current healthy and successful Congregation we must adapt to changes in the world and be agile and responsive. There are external opportunities and threats to which we can respond and be proactive. We have identified many internal strengths on which to build, and opportunities for improvement and growth. We have been conducting member focus groups for gathering input from members, conducted a  Congregational survey, and engaged UUCGN  leadership.

NOW is the time to hear from you if we have not heard from you yet. We are conducting two more focus groups in October and a Congregation wide open meeting on Saturday, December 6  from 9 am to 2 pm (with lunch and childcare provided).

We have heard many compelling recommendations. We are ultimately looking to identify 2-3 major themes, or initiatives, that will engage, energize and empower individual members, our UUCGN community, and our responsibilities to the greater SWFL community.

Some of the possible themes or initiatives that have been identified include:  

• Membership diversity

• Spiritually nourishing programs

• Social Welfare programs

• Securing our financial resources 

• Energize our new member engagement  program

• Expand our successful YRE program

• Create an excellent Communications Plan

• Continue to improve our buildings and gardens

The best defense to these challenging times is a more energized and focused membership. The December 6th Congregational meeting marks the end of our information gathering. Next will be a four month collaborative process engaging the entire Congregation. The Strategic Plan will be completed by the end of March with the selection of our guiding initiatives and action plans for the next three years.  You the members will identify UUCGN’s passion going forward! We need to hear from you NOW! Please be sure to attend December 6th to be engaged in charting the future of UUCGN.