AER Council of Chapter Presidents Town Hall September 4, 2012

Agenda Welcome – Matt Hogel Update from Jim Adams, AER President 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 break- even budget in non-conference years. Cuts were made in expenses for governance, travel and the Journal, however, a deficit budget was still forecast for 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 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 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! Use of GoToWebinar free of charge up to 5 times per calendar year for chapters to utilize Communication tools such as blast s, conference call services, development, hosting and updating of chapter website

Chapter Benefits, con’t. 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 On-demand membership reports for current members, lapsed members, and new members. On-demand label files for mailings, and data exports for your ing needs. Development of Membership Surveys – use of SurveyMonkey to collect and analyze data captured by your membership for future planning

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 non- members 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

Along with the national benefits, our state members have… Priority registration for IAER members at trainings we promote or financially support Paid registration to selected trainings for IAER members Reduced State Conference Fee Access to Stipend funding for conferences Ability to apply for Mini-Grants and Workshop funds Benefits Provided

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 confirmation no later than October 15, 2012 to verify your participation.

AER Ohio Chapter President, Brett Page Membership Recruitment and Retention Strategies: 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 - 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