Strategic Plans

Governance // Strategic Plans

ZRA Goals for 2026-2030

Guiding Principles, Objectives, and Action Items

Guiding Principle 1- Continuing Education
Objective: ZRA will provide its members with accessible high-quality training designed to support both professional and personal development. These programs will focus on critical areas such as records management, animal transportation/ logistics, and emerging technologies, to ensure members are equipped with the knowledge and skills to excel in this profession.

Action Items:

1.1 Host workshop or a series of workshops regarding permits, permitting process, and regulatory compliance.
1.2 Expansion of the webinar program to a series of scheduled classes.
1.3 Create guidance documents for animal transaction paperwork that explain rationales and best practices around animal transfer forms, loan agreements, and travel contingency plans.

Guiding Principle 2- Expanding Opportunities
Objective: ZRA will empower and advocate for its members and the profession by fostering networking opportunities, promoting professional development, and ensuring adherence to best practices through active engagement and support for certification.

Action Items:

2.1 Create and maintain a calendar of events and opportunities that will include both ZRA educational offerings as well as external possibilities.
2.2 Develop the zoological specialist certification through the ICRM.
2.3 Promote available scholarships in a visible and accessible way, including both internal and external opportunities. Continually look for opportunities to secure funding for professional development for members, for example, possibly connecting with the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) Education Foundation.

Guiding Principle 3- Visibility, Advocacy, and Impact
Objective: ZRA will enhance its visibility and impact by positioning itself as the leading authority in zoological records management, through targeted outreach, strategic partnerships, and communication initiatives.

Action Items:

3.1 Establish a presence at external events.
3.2 Review our membership categories and benefits.
3.3 Restructure the conference sponsorship levels and benefits to make annual conference sponsorships more transparent and appealing.
3.4 Create a social media task force that will evaluate and work towards creating an overall social media plan.

Guiding Principle 4- Resources
Objective: ZRA will serve as the trusted source of essential knowledge, tools, and best practices that empower members to excel in their daily work, advance their careers, and meet professional standards.

Action Items:

4.1 Curate and maintain a centralized online library of best practices and guidance documents. Clarify the types of templates that will be available for the members. They should not include any transaction agreement paperwork.
4.2 Develop and maintain career support resources, including:
4.3 Review and update current website resources.
4.4 Research establishing a Directory of Transport Related Vendors. Depending on the results of this research, ZRA may decide against creating this directory.
4.5 Develop a proposal for digital archives.

Guiding Principle 5- Evaluation
Objective: ZRA will ensure that programs and initiatives are objectively evaluated for alignment with membership goals, measurable impact, and efficient use of volunteer resources.

Action Items:

5.1 Create an evaluation process that can be used for ZRA programs
5.2 Evaluate one ZRA program each year

See below for the full Strategic Plan. The 2026-2030 Strategic Plan was written by the Strategic Planning Committee, reviewed by all ZRA Committee Chairs, and approved by the ZRA Board of Directors. It is waiting for ZRA membership approval.

How close is the Association in achieving the goals set out in 2026? We'll describe that in this section - in the near future. Come back later to find out!

It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.

- Leon C. Megginson (paraphrasing Charles Darwin's 'Origin of the Species')

Past Strategic Plans

A review of the Association's priorities over the years

Develop resources to assist members with permits

Permits Working Group was established to research and develop a tool to help the members figure out what permits might be needed for specific activities.
A tool was created for the website; the tool launched in 2020. Unfortunately, the US government re-organized all their online resources, which broke all of the links in the ZRA tool. ZRA decided it would be unable to properly maintain the tool, so it was abandoned.
ZRA decided to utilize the topic-specific mentorship to connect members with relevant experience instead of creating and maintaining a tool

Strengthen the mentorship program

Updated the application form for new members
Topic-specific mentorship tool created for the website where members indicate areas of expertise. This tool is searchable so members can reach out to their colleagues whenever they need.

Improve communication regarding standards and best practices

Reviewed all the standards currently available on the ZRA website and through AZA's IDMAG (Institutional Data Management Advisory Group) but decided against creating any new standards

Provide additional assistance for educational opportunities and professional development -

Formalized the grant to support members to attend the conference when their institution doesn't provide any help
Added a grant for first-time conference presenters
Created a general scholarship fund for professional development
Expanded the scholarship for AZA's Institutional Record Keeping course to cover two registrations instead of just one
A salary survey was completed in 2020 to compare current trends against historical data

Increase international engagement

External Relations Subcommittee and Marketing & Public Relations Subcommittee were merged and elevated to a full Committee (Marketing & Outreach Committee)
ZRA brochure and introductory letter were both translated into Spanish in 2021.

Improve the functionality and usability of the website

Website Task Force was established to survey the members' wants and needs
Website Task Force organized and prioritized the list of desired functionalities
Board selected Speak Creative to design the look of the new website and utilized the current website hosting company, ZierNiemann Consulting, to program the new features
New website was launched in 2025; it is searchable, mobile-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing. ZRA also has more control over updating content

Other initiatives

Membership Services Committee created regular Happy Hours - virtual, informal meetings where members could learn about ZRA and also socialize; this was particularly important during the COVID lock down
Training Certificate Program was moved from San Diego Global Academy to Thinkific; all the modules were also reviewed, evaluated, and updated during this migration.

ZRA discussed strategic planning during this time, but a formal plan was never written. The Association continued to work on the goals outlined in teh 2012-2016 Strategic Plan. A major accomplishment during this time was the creation of the Training Certificate Program, an online-learning program for animal records professionals.

The 2012-2016 Strategic Plan had the following goals:

Help Registrars do their jobs
Exchange information between regional records organizations
Establish best practices
Mentor new members
Raise the profile of ZRA

As a result of this Strategic Plan, ZRA had the following accomplishments:

Established the Reciprocal member category to encourage communication and collaboration of registrars across global regions.
Active in the ISIS Users' Group to support the development of ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System)
Collected information about what registrars do at various institutions and wrote a generic Registrar Job Description
Redefined the Registrar position
Created a welcome letter to be shared with all new members; this letter explained our new mentorship program
Provided software training workshops at the annual conference: first for ZIMS, then expanded to Tracks and Animal Care Software.

The 2007-2011 Strategic Plan had the following goals:

Increase membership base by enhancing member services and improving communication
Provide training and professional development opportunities to members

As a result of this Strategic Plan, ZRA had the following accomplishments:

Launched a brand new website focused on the Association and its goals and activities
Created an electronic membership map
Launched a membership campaign to recruit new members
Developed the annual recognition ceremony
Established awards to highlight member excellence
Recruited a parliamentarian to guide the Association to a more formal approach regarding formal meetings and the Bylaws
Planned a new section of the conference: the Leadership Development workshop, utilizing outside speakers and experts. The point of this workshop is to encourage members to take leadership positions in Committees and the Board - and support those who do take this step.
Created a new membership category for Vendors; encouraged vendors to join ZRA and become involved in the annual conference
Established a new Committee (Professional Development Committee) to standardize how professional development opportunities are researched, developed, approved, and communicated - and also to distribute funds to support professional development
Established a new Committee (Standards Development Committee) to research and write new standards / best practices.
Develop a program to encourage and support ZRA members to complete the Certified Records Management (CRM) program through the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA).
Amended the Bylaws to accomplish these various achievements.

Strategic Plans - Past & Present

Current Strategic Plan: 2026 - 2030

This plan is ready for membership approval

Published: 2025-10-13

Strategic Plan 2002 - 2007

Published: 2007-04-01

Strategic Plan 2007 - 2011

"Building the Future"

Published: 2007-10-01

Strategic Plan 2012 - 2016

This plan was developed but never formally approved by the membership

Published: 2012-10-01

Strategic Plan 2020 - 2025

Approved at the 2020 ZRA Annual Business Meeting

Published: 2019-09-09

Ideas for Our Next Strategic Plan

Do you have any brilliant ideas for our next plan? Do you see areas where the Association could improve or grow? Please tell us your thoughts! The Strategic Planning Committee will consider all comments at the next planning session. ZRA's President and/or Vice-President are the best people to contact for questions, thoughts, ideas, and vibes.

If you have any questions about Strategic Planning, check out the SPC’s page to learn more!

Strategic Planning Committee