YMCA Calgary's 10-Year Strategic Plan

Strategic Priority

A Trusted Charity: 

YMCA Calgary has a long history and proud legacy of working with and for the community as a charity. Within the next ten years, we will celebrate 125 years of serving Calgarians. We must continue to be trusted to deliver on our commitments to the communities and stakeholders we serve and be a relevant charity of choice.  

Goals 2021-2030 

• We have the team and a pervasive and inspiring culture of philanthropy within our YMCA  

• Whatever challenges Calgary and our communities are addressing, we are able to attract donors and volunteers to support our initiatives, programs and services 

• Best practices sustain our planned giving and annual giving campaigns 

• Our volunteer program thrives, successfully engaging youth, millennials and Generation Z while leveraging the skills and experience of our aging population

Strategic Priority

Exceptional Experiences: 

People are looking for, and value experiences - experiences in which they are immersed, have opportunities to connect, and feel engaged.  Our research helped us understand that we need to deliver experiences that enhance the quality of people’s lives through connection and engagement. Creating meaningful experiences requires a commitment to learning and listening, continuous quality improvement, service excellence, and change. 

Goals 2021-2030 

• We have expanded the definition of membership to reach beyond our facilities to better serve and retain our current multigenerational member base and to attract more Calgarians 

• With the lens of equity, we have expanded our services to youth, newly arrived Calgarians, seniors, and Indigenous communities 

• We have a plan in place to ensure that our current facilities and extended spaces are creating community hubs where all people feel welcome, safe, and valued 

• Our programs, services, and connections are creating immersive experiences that engage and connect the community in service to improved health outcomes.  We will pay special attention to those who feel isolated and excluded 

• We have continued our journey of becoming an inclusive and diverse organization. We honour and leverage the strengths of our Indigenous staff and volunteers, and Truth and Reconciliation informs our work throughout the organization 

• We leverage data and have invested in new systems, tools and software to enrich the experience of our members and enhance the quality of our programs 

Strategic Priority

We can’t do it alone: 

Our choice is to focus on partnerships with organizations that share our vision. The dynamics of the social and economic changes sweeping over Calgary are much too complex and weighty for any one organization to tackle on its own. There is a readiness and willingness to work together in ways that have not been tried before. Through collaboration and strengthened partnerships, we will enrich our impact and outcomes to better serve the needs of the community.   

Goals 2021-2030 

• We have intentionally extended our reach and impact through partnerships

• We have engaged in new ways of working and have sought out partnerships that are innovative and non-traditional  

• We have expanded our revenue stream by working with community partners to leverage the use of our facilities for community building opportunities  

• We have found the right partners and niche to have an impact on mental health in the community 

Strategic Priority

A Place for Everyone:

Our spaces and services are a beacon in the community. Activating spaces where people choose to gather is another strategic imperative surfaced by our research. Over the next ten years we will reimagine our assets and new initiatives based on new patterns of where and how people choose to live, work and play closer together. We will apply research findings that the YMCA could benefit from going to where people are – extending our services outside the wall of YMCA facilities, striving to ensure that we are addressing all barriers to access. 

Goals 2021-2030 

• We have reimagined and reenergized unused or ineffective spaces in our facilities, giving the community a place to belong: creating “community beacons” 

• We have expanded the reach of our services by taking our programming into the community, with a specific focus on seniors and youth and others with limited access to transportation 

• We have invested in making current spaces and programs more welcoming to diverse populations, while ensuring affordability and accessibility for everyone 

• We have a physical presence in geographically underserved areas 

• We are the chosen place for intergenerational gathering  

Strategic Priority

Here for the long term:

YMCA Calgary has a strong history of serving the Calgary community. We want to continue to be here for the long term Within the next ten years, we will celebrate milestones such as Camp Chief Hector YMCA turning 100 years old and 50 years of girls attending camp. We know how to manage and maintain assets and we want to ensure our facilities are sustainable and accessible to everyone.  

We also know that to be of service over the next 125 years we will need to continue to intentionally develop volunteer and staff leaders to ensure we are creating the future we want for Calgarians. 

Goals 2021-2030 

• The association is strengthening our 25-year development plan that executes on a comprehensive Association Master Plan to ensure our long-term sustainability 

• We have implemented or participated in initiatives which support environmental sustainability and have taken steps to ensure that our operations are not contributing adversely to climate change. 

• All our decisions about current and future facilities are based on a broad needs analysis and stakeholder consultation. Specific emphasis will be on the aging assets and future of the Gray Family Eau Claire, Melcor, Camp Chief Hector, and Shawnessy YMCAs 

• In all that we do, we are open to investigating and partnering where the YMCA can best serve the community