The
Association Manager
A Newsletter for Organization
Leaders
Published Courtesy of Wisconsin Association Management, LLC
Volume
III , Issue I
Happy New Year from WAM!
Download Formatted Version
(.PDF)
Inside
This Issue:
Ask WAM: Leader's
Forum
Christopher Ruditys Purchases Robbins &
Lloyd CTI: Facility Now Available to all WAM Clients!
WAM's Services
CAN-SPAM Checklist
Handling Disruptive Behaviors
Legal Update
Need a Projector for your Next Event?
Leadership Quote
About
WAM
ASK WAM: Leader's Forum - It's a New Year
Questions
by association leaders, Responses by WAM staff
If
you have a question for the next newsletter, please e-mail
it to info@wamllc.net.
Question:
Dear WAM: Our association has a new Board that took
office effective January 1, 2005. What tips can
you provide to make sure all transitional measures are taken?
Answer:
We receive this question from many association leaders, and
can provide some general reminders that we implement for our
association clients.
Here
are a few key points that should facilitate a smooth transition
period:
- Plan a board
member orientation meeting. This meeting should result
in additional action items to be implemented early-2005.
- Transfer bank
account and check signatory powers.
- Remind your
former board members and committee chairs to turn over their
files and records to the new positions.
- Update the
contact information on your website, stationary, newsletter
and other communication apparatuses.
- Notify third-parties
about changes in contact information (financial institutions,
accounts payable, accounts receivable, website hosts, and
venues).
- Finalize your
2005 calendar of events, operation's calendar (publications,
advertising, etc.), budget, committee & board meeting
schedules.
- COMMUNICATION
- don't get lost in the transition, keep everyone up-to-date
with regular e-mail communications and phone calls.
If your association hires an association management company,
the staff will assist with this process.
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WAM,
LLC Provides Its Associations These Comprehensive Services:
•
Administrative & Executive Management
•
Database Management
•
Event Planning (Meetings, Programs, Trade shows)
•
Financial Management
•
Fundraising
•
Membership Recruitment & Retention
•
Publications & Communications Management
•
Government & Public Relations
•
Web Site Development & Site Maintenance
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Christopher
Ruditys Purchases Robbins & Lloyd CTI: Facility Now Available
to all WAM Clients!
Article
In Business Journal
WAM is pleased to announce that its owner, Christopher Ruditys,
has recently purchased Robbins & Lloyd Career Training
Institute, a highly respected career training school for professionals
that has provided real estate education in Wisconsin since
its establishment in 1968. With this acquisition, WAM
becomes the only association management company in Wisconsin
to provide its own in-house educational facility!
"The
synergy between Robbins & Lloyd and existing WAM-managed
associations will be fantastic! As a result, WAM's clients
will have immediate access to a high tech educational facility
and conference center for seminars and workshops," said
Ruditys. Conveniently located off of Highway 45, the school
offers seating for 85 students and parking for over 100 cars.
Near term plans include purchasing a new facility to expand
and upgrade seating capacity. The educational facility
will serve as a more affordable alternative to renting space
in costly hotel venues. "In addition to our proven
track record at raising funds for our associations, we are
now able to save them lots of money by providing them with
affordable, yet superior, meeting space," Ruditys added.
Licensed
by the State of Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing,
Educational Approval Board and the Office of the Commissioner
of Insurance, the Institute's educational courses and instructors
have been approved by the State of Wisconsin . The Institute
thoroughly prepares students to pass examinations given to
prospective real estate salespersons and brokers, licensed
appraisers, insurance agents and mortgage loan officers.
 WAM
welcomes Sherry Lin Machesky, Robbins and Lloyd Assistant
Administrator, to its association management family.
Sherry is a licensed real estate broker in Wisconsin.
She has helped with the growth of the school over the past
18 years, and has a thorough knowledge of both the sales and
broker course materials. With her excellent administrative
skills, she has been the Assistant Administrator for the past
9 years. Besides making sure the office runs smoothly,
she taught the pre-licensing course for more than 6 years
and remains an approved instructor.
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CAN-SPAM
Checklist
Suzanne
E. Coffman, January 2005, Philanthropic Research, Inc. (GuideStar)
Nonprofits
can still send unsolicited bulk e-mails—even commercial ones—without
violating CAN-SPAM. Here is a quick checklist of steps to
take to make your messages CAN-SPAM compliant:
- Send all e-mails from a legitimate, active
e-mail address. If the recipient hits "Reply" and
responds to the message, the answer should go to an in-box
that is monitored, not just disappear into cyberspace.
- Provide accurate header information and
a postal address for the sender. The "From" section
of the e-mail should identify either the sender or the
organization, or both. The body of the message should
contain a snail-mail address.
- Give the message an accurate subject
line. It is unlawful to use subject lines that mislead
the recipient about the contents or subject matter of
the message.
- When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
If it's likely a recipient would view the message as an
advertisement or promotion, put the word Advertisement
in the subject line or body of the e-mail, even if the
message is related to your mission.
- Provide recipients a way to opt out of
future mailings. Either include a link to a page
where recipients can remove their addresses or provide
an e-mail address where they can write to have their addresses
removed.
- If someone opts out of future mailings,
respect their wishes. You have 10 days to remove
them from your mailing list(s).
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Handling
Disruptive Behaviors
By
Leadership Outfitters, Inc., http://www.leadershipoutfitters.com
Here
is a helpful guide to help leaders manage difficult situations
that may occur during a typical meeting or event:
| Challenge
|
Strategy
|
| Past
leader dominates discussion. |
Acknowledge
ideas and years of experience. Ask for other's views.
Ask past leader to serve in an advisory capacity on
task force or work group. Give him or her purpose. |
| Someone
is talking too much. |
Ask
a factual question, followed by an interpretive or evaluative
question. |
| Two
or more people are in conflict. |
Don't
take sides. Remind them of the points they agree upon.
Remind them of the discussion objectives. |
| The
group is becoming involved in an unimportant issue.
|
Ask:
“How much importance should we attach to this issue?”
|
| More
discussion is needed on a particular topic. |
Ask:
“I wonder if we've gotten all the information needed
to reach a decision?” |
| The
discussion is wandering from the point. |
Ask:
“What point are we now considering?” |
| A
summary of the group consensus is needed. |
Ask:
“I wonder if someone could summarize the points were
we agree and disagree?” |
| The
group is biased or acting in self-interest. |
Ask:
“How is our own interest in the outcome causing us to
overlook the interest of other groups or individuals?”
|
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Legal
Update
I.
Tax Exempt and Commercial Organization Joint Ventures
Source: Association Management,
December 2004, by Lauren W. Bright
The
Internal Revenue Service recently provided valuable guidance
for tax-exempt organizations regarding joint ventures with
commercial business entities. In Revenue Ruling 2004-51,
the IRS concluded that a tax-exempt organization's participation
in a joint venture did not jeopardize the organization's tax
exempt status because the character of the joint venture activity
remained consistent with the organization's tax-exempt purpose.
Though the ruling cannot be viewed as legal precedent, the
analysis provides much needed clarity to the confusing area
of ancillary joint ventures between and among tax-exempt organizations
and for-profit entities. An ancillary join venture involves
a limited portion of the assets or services of an exempt organization.
In her column, Lauren W. Bright explains the ruling and its
implications.
II.
New IRS Application for exempt status
Source: Association Management,
December 2004
The
Internal Revenue Service has released a revised application
for organizations seeking 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
The new form is intended to streamline the application process
and assist the IRS in identifying potentially abusive charities.
The revised Form 1023 is available online at www.irs.gov/charities
and is the result of extensive collaboration with the tax-exempt
community and recommendations received during a public comment
period. According to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson,
the agency has identified the abuse of charities as one of
its four service wide enforcement priorities.
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Leadership
Quote
"A
pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist
sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
-
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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About
WAM, LLC
WAM
provides superior administrative and executive services to
non profit associations seeking to take their organization
to the next level. With over 29 years of combined association
management experience, WAM will work with your Board of Directors,
committees and membership to implement programs and services,
as well as alleviate the day-to-day administrative tasks that
must occur for your group to be successful. We believe
in implementation.
"I think we've
accomplished a great deal more this year at WCAI than in year's
past and much of it is due to the team at WAM." The flow
of information to our membership is much improved over what
it was."
~Tom Swan, Director
for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Appraisal Institute
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The
Association Manager is published bi-monthly by Wisconsin Association
Management, LLC to educate association leaders about running
an effective non profit association. For more information
about the comprehensive set of administrative services we
provide to our associations, please visit us on the web at
http://www.wamllc.net.
As our satisfied associations say, “Put the administrative
work in the hands of the experts and do what you do best.”
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