The following e-mail from VAFRE President Cathryn Lowe was distributed to the members due for renewal on July 13th. To print out a renewal invoice, click here. If you would prefer to renew online, log in with your e-mail address and password and follow the link that appears at the top of the page.
Renewal message from Cathryn Lowe, VAFRE President:
Welcome to the start of VAFRE’s 30th year and another exciting and valuable year of membership! I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your membership this past year. I hope you found the programs and networking opportunities valuable to you both personally and professionally. I also want to encourage you to renew your membership now so you can take advantage of some of the new programs and features available.
The work of the VAFRE Board of Directors is focused on fulfilling the VAFRE mission of supporting and advancing the philanthropic community across the Commonwealth of Virginia through education, mentoring and leadership development; helping to create the premier philanthropic community in the nation. As we enter the 2010-2011 year, we pledge to stay true to the mission and work to develop additional benefits that will offer value to our membership.
Our primary goal is to make this organization central to the professional lives of our members, with meaningful networking experiences and educational opportunities that appeal to all levels of expertise across all areas of fundraising. In pursuit of this goal, our committees are already at work to add value to your membership in the coming year:
- The Program Committee has already scheduled our next national speaker! Simone Joyaux will be joining us on Tuesday, September 14th, for her workshop Do Business Better – or Go Out of Business. Which Will Your Nonprofit Choose?, at the Jepson Alumni Center. Watch for complete details and a registration form soon.
- In celebration of our 30th anniversary, the Communications Committee is working to increase the public profile of VAFRE both with the general public as well as the rest of the philanthropic community.
- Thanks to your ideas and suggestions on the member surveys, the Website provides members with a number of options including a biography, uploading a photo, and links to a variety of sites including a FaceBook or Linked In profile as well as their organization’s web site.
- The VAFRE Board has established a member scholarship fund to help supplement dues and fees to VAFRE seminars and the VFRI conference.
- The VAFRE Knowledge Network will be reorganized into categories for more clarity. This function allows members to select relevant areas of knowledge when they update their profiles, and share knowledge that they have gained on a variety of professional/development topics with other members. When members log in to search the directory, they will have the option of searching on an area of knowledge and finding all of the other members who have indicated they have an interest in/knowledge of that topic.
The Board of Directors of VAFRE is dedicated to keeping costs as reasonable as possible for members in order to insure that all individuals in fundraising, whether in the smallest nonprofit or at the largest foundation, have an opportunity to belong to and participate in the organization. The dues levels will remain unchanged for the new fiscal year: Active and Affiliate member dues are $100.00; dues for Supportive members will be $115.00; and dues for Student members will remain $50.00.
The Board has also recognized the need to compensate for some increased costs. There will be a slight increase in the regular meeting registration fees this year with members paying $20, guests of a member organization will pay $25, and non-member affiliated guests will pay $30. Members may continue to purchase a Season Pass (prepaying for all meetings, including the September and February workshops) at last year’s price of just $235.00! Please note that the Season Pass fee is in addition to your annual dues, and may be used by another VAFRE member, but it is not refundable.
It is important to note that members who have not renewed by September 30 will not be eligible for the member rate at upcoming meetings and will no longer be able to access the member section of the web site. Also note that, if you are not prepaying for your meetings, you will have an opportunity to register and pay separately for each meeting as always.
We appreciate your continued support of VAFRE and welcome your feedback concerning the many programs and services VAFRE has to offer. Please feel free to contact me or any Board member with questions or concerns that you may have throughout the year. You can find a complete list of our Board members and their contact information on the web site. You may also contact our administrator, Mary Kidd at (804) 288-2950 or vafre@catapult-inc.com, with any questions that may come up.
As you know, the strength of any organization is built on its membership. The diversity of the organizations and individuals that make up VAFRE have helped us to build the strong community that exists today and offer the educational and networking opportunities on which you have come to rely each month. Whatever your interests may be, I encourage you to take full advantage of VAFRE and all of its opportunities.
I look forward to seeing you at our meetings this year.
Sincerely,
Cathryn O’Connell Lowe
President, VAFRE Board of Directors
