Transcript Document

AER Council of Chapter Presidents
Town Hall
September 4, 2012
Agenda
• Welcome – Matt Hogel
• Update from Jim Adams, AER President 2012-2014
• Housekeeping:
1- contacting lapsed members from 2010 on,
2- AER chapter leadership is obligated to be current
members,
3- Chapter award ideas,
4- Chapter Mentor/Mentee/or neither- please confirm.
• Update on Chapter Benefits – Bette Anne Preston
• Today’s Main Topic – Membership Recruitment and
Retention – Matt Hogel
• Insight from AER Chapters – Virginia, Illinois and Ohio
From AER’s President
AER Financial Information
For many years AER spent much more than it generated in income. In 2010, due to a very successful international
conference, a small surplus was achieved. However at that point there were virtually no reserves left and the forecast
for 2011 was again for a deficit.
Taking office in July, 2010 AER President Patricia Leader recognized that something had to be done to move AER’s
financial position in a more positive direction. Through her leadership the AER Board of Directors passed a policy that
required the budget to reflect a one month surplus (approx. $85,000) in International Conference years and a breakeven budget in non-conference years. Cuts were made in expenses for governance, travel and the Journal, however, a
deficit budget was still forecast for 2013.
To adhere to the new policy, further adjustments were required and it was suggested that chapter rebates be reduced
from 20% to 10%. A by-laws change to accomplish this was approved at the membership meeting at the International
Conference in July 2012. A savings of approximately $55,000 will be realized in 2013 that should enable the mandated
break-even budget to be accomplished. One of the main arguments for the change was that AER needs to survive for
the chapters to survive.
Total membership numbers have been declining for several years and that continues to put pressure on our finances.
No one wanted to reduce chapter rebates, however, it was necessary for AER to be financially viable and to sustain a
needed level of member benefits.
In the future, if AER is in a much stronger financial position, the by-laws could be changed again and the rebates to the
chapters could be increased back to 20%.
Jim Adams
AER Chapter Benefits
•
Use of GoToWebinar free of
charge up to 5 times per calendar
year for chapters to utilize
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Communication tools such as blast
emails, conference call services,
development, hosting and
updating of chapter website
Chapter newsletter publishing on
AER’s online platform, Uberflip, an
interactive web platform
•
Online Leadership webinars such as the
upcoming AER-Lift Online webinars,
featuring 1 webinar per month.
Specialized online webinars for other
leadership issues – recruiting volunteers,
student recruitment and involvement,
and much more!
Chapter Benefits, con’t.
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On-demand membership reports for
current members, lapsed members,
and new members. On-demand
label files for mailings, and data
exports for your emailing needs.
Development of Membership
Surveys – use of SurveyMonkey to
collect and analyze data captured
by your membership for future
planning
•
Nomination and Election Ballots –
use of our online nomination
gathering and election ballots. No
paper and no fuss – allows all
members to participate in the
election of new leadership
AER Virginia Chapter
• Past President, Julie Kay
Here is our list of things we did to encourage new members and, just as
important, retain old members:
• 1. Surveyed current members to determine what services they wanted
• 2. Offered regional trainings free/low cost for members, at cost for nonmembers
• 3. Offer grants for professional development and projects
• 4. Offer financial incentives to current members to bring in new members
($25 off membership fee for each new member) and, if live far from
conference, cost reduction in conference fee.
• 5. Offer financial incentives to prospective members
• 6. Offer an outstanding, exciting, innovative conference based on survey
from people who attended the previous conference
Illinois Member Benefits
Leah Gerlach, IAER President
Amy Lund, IAER President-Elect
Benefits Provided
Along with the national benefits, our state members
have…
• Reduced State Conference Fee
• Access to Stipend funding for
conferences
• Ability to apply for Mini-Grants
and Workshop funds
• Priority registration for IAER
members at trainings we
promote or financially support
• Paid registration to selected
trainings for IAER members
Examples of Wording
Cost: AER Members- $35.00
Non AER Members- $60.00
The workshop will be capped at 25 participants (first 25 that
register) and AER members will receive a $25.00 discount.
You will receive an e-mail confirmation no later than
October 15, 2012 to verify your participation.
AER Ohio Chapter
• President, Brett Page
Membership Recruitment and Retention Strategies:
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Partner with state university training programs
Partner with state agencies serving adult population and state advocacy
related organizations for the blind and visually impaired.
Focus on high quality AERO sponsored activities for current and prospective
AERO members.
Website - www.aerohio.org
Make attendance at AERO conferences a significant benefit financially
Provide high quality quarterly newsletter (see attached copy of most recent
AEROGrams)
Focus on relationships and family atmosphere among AERO members