Earlier this summer, Women Have Options attended the 2013 National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) annual summit. As you may recall, last year we received the award for Most Impressive Advocacy, one of the highest honors bestowed on funds. This year, NNAF offered more awards in new categories… and we won the “SuperFund” award, which recognized a fund that had exhibited exceptional organizational development, increased organizational capacity, and cultivated leadership. Prior to the summit, NNAF asked funds to nominate themselves for those categories in which they felt strongest. We are sharing our self-nomination because… well, we are proud of all the work we’ve done to make WHO/O a resilient and vibrant organization!

• Undertook a strategic planning process and approved a three-year strategic plan
• Created an Emeritus Board as a way for long-serving board members to stay connected to the organization without the duties of board service
• Recruited four new board members

We thought, surely, 2012 could not possibly top 2011. We were wrong.

In 2012, we:

• Held our first-ever board retreat, where we created a work plan/development plan for the year and bonded as a team
• Introduced board manuals, standard information that we wanted to have for reference, and, since then, we have ensured that all new board members receive one
• Conducted our first-ever training on non-profit board roles and responsibilities
• Thoroughly overhauled our bylaws–and had substantive, important conversations in the process
• Established written criteria for funding clinics and approved significant new policies covering the use of social media, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, gift acceptance, and a number of internal processes that needed to be documented
• Created and implemented a board application process
• Recruited five new board members
• Offered to reimburse members for taking additional non-profit board training classes
• Began the process of creating a new officer position–vice chair–to cultivate and strengthen leadership among board members, and add increased sustainability to the organization; the position was officially approved in 2013

We think our board of directors is one of the strongest boards around. If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us. If you’re interested in supporting a well-run organization, then you can be confident that your donation to Women Have Options will be used to maximum benefit.