Strategic Plan

SGS leadership in 2023 established five main “pillars” or strategic focus areas, with the following goals defined:

Membership
Diversify membership

• Set goals of additional #’s of members in specific categories
• Campaign to current Active Members about specific goals to diversify membership

Improve value of membership

• Describe value added member benefits

Improve pathway to membership

• Increase Associate Member engagement
• Broaden mentorship program
• Improve communications for proposing new members
• Continue outreach to prospects and applicants

Collaboration with related organizations

• Continue exploring options with ACS
• Identify potential collaborations with other orgs.
  
  

Visibility
Establish SGS brand awareness

• Pictorial of “what is an SGS Member”
• Publicize vetting process for membership
• Improve public facing search for members
• Make SGS deliverables (i.e. SRG, CoRPS publications) and collaboration with other organizations more visible
• Establish listserv/communities to discuss difficult cases

Use Social Media as a tool for education and visibility

• Create a schedule for continuous posts on Social Media
• Define the content to be provided on Social Media (such as “surgical tips online”)
  
  

Finance
Professionalization of financial services

• Identify and contract investment management company for SGS investments, Segregation of tasks

Increase Donations

• Continue to develop a culture of giving
• Investigate Planned/Estate Giving, Patient Giving, Intellectual Property Giving
• Explore ways to make it easier to donate

Review Management and Utilization of Donated Funds

• Create task force to identify possible paradigm shift on usage of money annually, e.g. % or dollar

Revitalize Fund Development Committee, explore need for creating a foundation

• Investigate financial impact for creation of a foundation
• Identify new chair for Fund Development Committee

Investigate additional grants for education and research projects

• Identify top three companies/foundations to approach for potential grants
  
  

Education
Provide education to meet needs of surgeons across career

• Assess the existing programs and identify gaps (audience/topics)
• Develop new program(s) to address the gap(s)

Reexamine Annual Scientific Meeting existing offerings to determine if change is needed

• Update current categories for abstracts and target call for abstracts to support educational objectives
• Needs assessment/survey from members, meetings attendees to determine changes
  
  

Research
Promote excellence in research

• Investigate final course established by SASGOG to assess needs and gaps
• Explore components for a new excellence in research course (manual, web based, live, audience – longitudinal, methods)

Develop SGS research goals

• Identify goals including areas for focus such as diversity/inclusion, JEDI, implementation science, etc.
• Target SRG, CoRPS and abstract submissions to meet the research goals • Create awards for focus areas

Development Research Mentorship Program

• Develop pathway to begin research in FPRN® and continue to CoRPS, if accepted
• Prepare plan to get Life members more actively involved in mentorship program