Ronald McDonald House Charities reduces the burden of childhood illness on children and their families. We achieve this by keeping families close to each other, close to their sick children, and close to the medical care they need. This includes: Creating a caring and uplifting environment -Providing comfortable lodging convenient to a health facility -Leveraging community partnerships with affiliated programs that comfort and assist children with health concerns and their families -Undertaking resource and fund development activities that support our facilities, programs and services Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City knows that the most stressful and vulnerable time for a family is when their child is seriously ill. We alleviate the worry and expense of finding a close, comfortable and affordable place for a family to stay while their child receives the medical care they need, making a world of difference to children battling an illness or recovering from a serious injury. We keep families close when their children need them most.

Our 2016-2018 strategic plan goals focus on the pillars of Mission, Money, Brand, and People: MISSION: Assess the need for additional RMHC-KC programs, and ensure that we are positioned to serve families as needed throughout the Kansas City area. Create and implement a master facilities plan, to serve families within an integrated RMHC-KC campus model. MONEY: Develop a strong and sustainable revenue stream to support the RMHC-KC mission, operations, growth, and innovation. BRAND: Increase public awareness of RMHC-KC and enhance perception of the charity's brand value and impact on families with sick kids. PEOPLE: Deliver a "best in class" volunteer experience, engaging volunteers in meaningful ways throughout all levels of the organization. Demonstrate an "employer of choice" workplace culture, attracting and retaining the highest caliber professional staff.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City is well positioned to achieve our 2016-2018 strategic goals. We have a variety of resources, tools, process, and connections to help support our strategies, which include: *A mission that compels and motivates us, every day. *Programmatic resources from the Global RMHC team. *Financially healthy reserves. *Fiscally sound business practices, with volunteer oversight. *Strong external partnerships with corporate supporters. *Alliances with local pediatric health care providers, most notably Children's Mercy Hospital. *Highly engaged and well-functioning strategic board. *Board committee structure that supports the work of the organization. *Robust volunteer support, both long-term and episodic. *Brand and reputation strength. *Top-notch professional staff, with stable tenure.

The Board and leadership staff identified target metrics for each aspect of our strategic plan. The specific measures of success for each strategic goal are listed below, and the Board reviews a scorecard on a quarterly basis. Each measure had a target number for 2016 and 2017, and we are currently working towards our 2018 targets. "Mission" Goal 1: Assess the need for additional RMHC-KC programs, and ensure that we are positioned to serve families as needed throughout the Kansas City area. Measures of Success: % of House families who return completed surveys% of Family Room families who return surveys; Average rating on family satisfaction surveys; Geographic analysis of unmet need; % of occupancy – Houses; % of occupancy - Family Room. "Mission" Goal 2: Create and implement a master facilities plan, to serve families within an integrated RMHC-KC campus model. Measures of Success: Development of integrated campus plan; % funding secured to create campus master plan; Execution of plan. "Money" Goal: Develop a strong and sustainable revenue stream to support the RMHC-KC mission, operations, growth, and innovation. Measures of Success: % achievement of annual revenue budget; % of retained donors (non-guest); # of new or re-engaged donors; RMHC-KC hosted ""introduction"" events. "Brand" Goal: Increase public awareness of RMHC-KC and enhance perception of the charity's brand value and impact on families with sick kids. Measures of Success: Average weekly # of people engaged on Facebook (people who have liked, commented on, shared posts or engaged with page); # of mainstream media stories (outside Red Friday); $ generated through communication vehicles (newsletters, social media, etc. ); # of minutes of average website visit. "People" Goal 1: Deliver a "best in class" volunteer experience, engaging volunteers in meaningful ways throughout all levels of the organization. Measures of Success: # hours contributed by board members; $ gifts contributed by board members; $ gifts contributed by board members' companies; % volunteer satisfaction, measured by survey; % volunteer indication of intent to return, by survey; Total # of volunteer hours (monetized); # of ""core"" volunteers (weekly or bi-weekly); $ gifts from corporate volunteerism. "People" Goal 2: Demonstrate an "employer of choice" workplace culture, attracting and retaining the highest caliber professional staff. Measures of Success: % staff retention/loyalty (all staff); % positive employee engagement survey results; Public recognition as a “best place to work".

As of this writing, we are two-thirds through our 2016-2018 strategic plan. In 2016 80% of our metrics achieved their targets, and in 2017 we achieved our targets for 83% of metrics. We anticipate that we will achieve 80-85% of our targets for 2018. For those measures of success that were not fully realized, most were just a few percentage points away from their target number. We will continue ensuring adherence to our strategies, fully utilizing our resources, and tracking our status and progress. While it is important to note that we are on track for achieving our strategies, we are also on track for maintaining the organizational culture that allows us to move forward most effectively. And most importantly, we continue to serve families with seriously ill children, keeping them close to each other, their sick kids, and the medical care they need. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City cannot heal the sick, but we can provide an environment to meet families' needs, while they care for their children. Sometimes the impact of RMHC-KC is best described by the families we serve, so please see below the note we received from a family who stayed with us. "Dear Donor: We cannot express enough how grateful we are for your kindness and generosity in providing our family with a beautiful, immaculately clean, and welcoming room while our daughter undergoes treatment at Children's Mercy Hospital. Our 10 year old daughter has a painful nerve condition and she was so nervous to come from our home state of Michigan to an unknown big city - once she arrived and saw our wonderful room, she said 'I can live here. . . I can do this now'. Thank you for giving our daughter a sense of security while she undergoes the challenges of the next month. Your generosity not only provides families with a needed place to stay, you provide HOPE which is something that a family with a sick child needs more than anything else. Please know that what you have done here is monumental - you have made the difference in the life of a child - and the lives of so many children who have suffered hardship so early in life. You will make them see the world as full of wonderful people - and, in turn, they will go out and seek to give to others and become future 'difference-makers' themselves. With sincere gratitude, Madeline & her family""