Why is the Organizational Member Strategy (OMS) Needed?

We are seeing:

Continued decline in membership

Fewer and different types of farmers in the future with different needs and expectations

The need to serve members at all stages of their careers

Resource inconsistencies and the need to develop additional revenue streams

Changing member and employee preferences on how to deliver services differently, through both staffing and structure, and

A need for better stewardship of our volunteer leaders.

Therefore, county Farm Bureaus and Illinois Farm Bureau must work together with a sense of urgency to modernize the organization to maintain relevancy for farmers of the future while ensuring the advocacy and engagement needs of all members are being delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible.

We want to hear from you!

We invite you to be a part of the next phase of the OMS as we pivot to gathering information and input from as many members as possible. Members have multiple opportunities to share their perspectives. In January, members will be invited to participate in a survey to learn what they need from the organization. The findings from the survey will be shared with county Farm Bureau leaders. It will also be used to develop a roadmap and pilot approaches for the best way to deliver services. We will also host feedback-gathering sessions at the Young Leader Conference and Governmental Affairs Leadership Conference in February. Throughout the process, we will maintain open communication channels with county Farm Bureaus, including a “We want to hear from you” campaign that will launch early this year.