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Council of Scottish and Associations, Inc.

Strategic Plan 2012 – 2014

Introduction

The Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (“COSCA”) is dedicated to preserving and promoting the customs, traditions, and heritage of the , including in the United States. COSCA was established thirty-six years ago at the Grandfather Mountain and has operated continuously since that time. COSCA strives to accomplish its purposes by educating the public about Scottish history, literature, music, poetry, art and culture, and providing various services to our constituent members.

Through the direct membership of numerous and other organizations, COSCA serves thousands of Scottish-Americans as a clearinghouse for traditional activities throughout the United States from clans to dancers to pipers to weavers and athletes and many others. While not a governing or supervisory board for other organizations, COSCA strives to serve the clans and associations through a variety of educational and service-oriented means that come alive in our annual projects and activities.

Our Core Objective

This Strategic Plan sets out COSCA’s goals and undertakings during 2012-2014. In doing so, we clearly state our overall core objective: COSCA is determined to carry out both its important historical activities and new and innovative projects with the goal of being the most broad based and efective Scottish American organization operating in the United States.

COSCA, together with many other major Scottish American organizations, clearly recognize a current critical unmet need for national organization and leadership that can pull together the various disparate parts of the national Scottish American community. We realize that in order to bring much needed sustainability and increased breadth and vigor to the Scottish American community one or a handful of national organizations must step up and provide essential service and leadership to help clan

1 and other organizations survive and thrive in upcoming years. COSCA is well suited and willing to take on that role.

While we recognize and will continue to fully appreciate the important contributions of a wide range of other Scottish American organizations and will continue to forge partnerships and coalitions with those groups, we seek to become the “go to” organization for Scottish Americans wishing to connect with and maintain their connections to Scottish history, heritage and culture and to engage in and support modern in its full range of economic, educational and cultural activities. In pursuing this goal, we seek to dramatically increase and strengthen our membership, so that, directly or indirectly, most Scottish Americans will be linked to and served by our organization. The ultimate implementation and degree of success in accomplishing this goal (and the specific activities and projects below) will depend, of course, on many factors, not the least of which is funding.

COSCA 2012 - 2014 Activities & Projects

In addition to the projects outlined below, COSCA will continue to carry out its regular annual activities, including its Annual General Meeting at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina each July. COSCA delivers important news and information to members and friends throughout the year, via its quarterly newsletter, The , and also e-news. All projects undertaken in 2012 are planned to continue at least through 2013, and a number through 2014.

• COSCA Online: COSCA will launch a redesigned website and social media strategy in the summer 2012. Our new site will include all of the great information from our current site on a new platform, together with new features and content. COSCA aims to be every Scottish American’s one stop shop for up-to-date and complete information on Scottish heritage and Scottish American activities, including many of items further described below, with a wide range of interactive multimedia stories and links about Scotland and the Scottish Diaspora.

• Scotland 2014: Building on the success of , the has announced funding for a second

2 Year of Homecoming in 2014, to coincide with major events taking place in Scotland including the 700th Anniversary of Bannockburn in Stirling, the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games. The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (“SCSC”) is also considering a 2nd International Clan Convention in Scotland in the summer of 2014. COSCA will work to play an integral role, in partnership with many others, including VisitScotland, EventScotland and the SCSC, in making the 2014 clan gathering, the Bannockburn celebrations and the 2nd International Clan Convention rousing successes. COSCA will ofer to act as a principal liaison with Scottish Government agencies and private organizations in Scotland and will provide leadership in the coordination of Scottish American participation in all of these events. We will work to promote maximum attendance and participation, and to ensure that the Scottish clan organizations and other associations in the United States have a recognized and important role in these events. COSCA has already begun this work and various planning, preparations and implementation will continue between now and the culmination of these events, with COSCA also striving to ensure a legacy of lasting good will and practical, tangible benefits.

• Clan Leader Boot Camp: Based upon feedback from our constituent members, COSCA has announced a series of 2012 service- oriented workshops exploring the nuts and bolts of running a non- profit Scottish American clan or other organization. These webinars are available free of charge to COSCA members and are intended to help Clan and other volunteer based Scottish American non-profit organizations navigate some of the mysterious tax status, regulatory, administrative, financial and growth challenges faced daily.

• COSCA Games Tents: As we have for the last thirty-six years, COSCA volunteers will be present at numerous games and festivals in 2012-2014, from coast to coast, helping connect Scottish games and festival attendees to their clans. Through our own long-term clan and district family research and scholarship, COSCA has become a recognized expert in connecting Scottish Americans with their heritage. COSCA Trustees and representatives will be present and working with regional clan leaders at a range of games and festivals. We will inform, dialogue, listen and collect input from regional and local leaders concerning regional, national and international Scottish- American and clan related issues and needs.

3 • COSCA Registry of Clans: COSCA is working to create and maintain an accurate reference source for what a clan is and is not; what a Scottish American clan organization is and how to get one started; a bit of the history of the Scottish clan system and where it is today and most importantly, an up-to-date registry of clan organizations in the US with current contact numbers and web links.

• COSCA Represents!: COSCA currently represents roughly sixty- five Scottish-American clan organizations and other Scottish American associations. While this encompasses a substantial number of organizations and individuals, there are many more Scottish- Americans who are not yet linked to a Scottish heritage organization. This is particularly true concerning younger American Scots. Our goal is to encompass and serve as many Scottish Americans as possible and to excite new generations about being an American Scot. During 2012 and 2013, COSCA will actively engage with potential new members across a broader age and geographic spectrum so that we can ofer our services to an even larger, stronger and more durable American Scot community.

• Scottish Americans in Government: “Friends of Scotland” caucuses have been established in both houses of Congress, involving fifty members of the House of Representatives and thirty U.S. Senators -- almost a third of the entire Senate. COSCA will seek to build links with each caucus and find still more ways to promote Scottish heritage, business and culture in the United States. In the past, COSCA played an efective role in the establishment of national Day through legislative process at federal and state levels. At present, COSCA is a member of a national coalition that seeks the establishment of a National Museum of American People to be housed in association with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

• Scottish American History and Experience Archive: In 2013, COSCA will work to launch a new grassroots online repository to store, organize and make available for historical research the private papers, photographs and other records of Scottish Americans across the United States and across the centuries.

4 • LearnScotland: In 2013, COSCA hopes to launch a new project ofering various adult learning opportunities to COSCA members, such as Skype-based Gaelic lessons; Scottish university-level combined online and in-country short courses in Scottish History and Modern Issues In Scotland; and web-based lecture series featuring leading Scottish historians, journalists and political figures. Indeed, educational links between the United States and Scotland are extensive and have grown substantially in recent years. “Scottish educational and research institutions already enjoy strong links with the USA - currently around 30% of Scotland’s research collaborations are with the USA . . . in fields including life sciences and renewable energy, and the commercial opportunities this research ofers”. [Scottish Govt July 2010 Plan for US] Over the next two years, COSCA will explore additional ways to support these important educational ties and activities.

• Promoting Scottish Culture: Preserving and promoting Scottish heritage and culture has long been a core part of COSCA’s activities. The Scottish Government is committed to promoting “greater knowledge and appreciation in the USA of Scotland’s national identity though our unique culture, vibrant creativity and rich cultural heritage.” The Scottish Government continues: “The role of Scotland’s culture and creativity . . . is central to an understanding of our national identity, articulating what it means to be Scottish in a modern world. There is recognition of the major contribution that culture can make in promoting Scotland internationally, both as an excellent world-class product and as a tool for promoting wider engagement, through educational and business activities.” [Scottish Govt July 2010 Plan for US] COSCA will not only continue its historical programs and activities spotlighting Scottish culture (of both the more ancient and modern versions), but will actively explore cultural exchanges and the invitation and hosting of , musical and theatrical groups.

• American Scots and Modern Scotland: “Whilst recognising Scotland’s huge contribution to the US and Canada in the past, we are determined to promote Scotland as a modern, ambitious nation with an important role to play in our increasingly interconnected world.” [Scottish Govt Website, Scottish Afairs Ofce] COSCA shares and fully endorses this perspective. While we hold tightly to

5 our Scottish heritage and take its history and culture into our bones, we also embrace a modern Scotland that cannot be considered only a giant theme park and will work to support its thoroughly modern life, international standing, sustained economic success and 21st century contributions.

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