StarChapter of October: AFP East Central Illinois

The East Central Illinois Chapter Association of Fundraising Professionals supports regional philanthropy for a very diverse group of non-profits in seven cities by providing education and networking events to sustain the work of 500+ fundraising professionals.  Their board of directors is a dedicated group of fundraising professionals from a cross-section of area non-profits. 

We recently connected with Terry Goode, Chapter President and Jacqueline Joines, Publicity Chair to learn how their chapter approaches such an ambitious mission.  

1. How has your chapter managed to recruit and maintain members in so many different communities?

We literally take our chapter “on the road” by holding monthly activities in various communities throughout the year.  Our board of directors is a dedicated group of fundraising professionals from a cross-section of area non-profits.  They help plan and host events in their community and invite their peers to get involved. 

Many fundraisers are a one-person shop, and it’s so invigorating to meet people who understand you and share your passion!  Add to that our training, certification opportunities and seasoned mentors and we’re offering a very unique package to help professionals succeed.

2. What’s something special that you’re proud of to offer the area?

Each year we use the largest amount of our funds to sponsor a big event with a national speaker.  Central Illinois isn’t a thriving metropolis, so it’s a huge plus to collaborate with another chapter or organization to bring a “big name” to our beautiful cornfields!  Area fundraisers get a national conference experience at a fraction of the cost because they don’t have plane fares and hotel expenses.   This year we had Rachel Muir and we went out to eat and chat with her after the workshop.  What a treat! 

We’ve been fortunate to host many fundraising and marketing celebrities—Bill Sturtevant, Jerold Panas, Laura Fredricks, and Ty Bennett.  Feeding that culture of giving back in our communities is part of what we do best!

3. How do you promote a climate of giving with area businesses and donors?

We celebrate National Philanthropy Day for our area by hosting a luncheon and recognizing donors, businesses, organizations, youth in philanthropy, an outstanding professional fundraiser, and a volunteer fundraiser each year.  We honor awardees through videos, sponsor speeches, trophies, and program bios.  We involve the community by asking them to nominate awardees, sponsor an award category and then announce and recognize the winner(s) in their category.   This year we’re honoring the top three to increase the excitement and honor more people who make our communities strong!

StarChapter allows us to publicize this event, solicit and collect nominations, register attendees, and complete the event analytics.  It’s our partner start to finish!

4. Speaking of StarChapter, your new website went live in January. How has StarChapter helped you promote your group and achieve your goals this year?

As Publicity Chair, Jackie Joines shares her experience with our new system. “StarChapter is a good full-bodied product that allows us to communicate with members and non-members alike.  [That’s really critical as 80% of our audience is non-members.] It handles the meeting administration process, all communications, and serves as a reservoir for chapter resources.  It may seem a little daunting at first, but the StarChapter staff is ready to help at any time and make the process easy.”

As Chapter President, Terry shares what StarChapter has done for our group.  “We love the new site; it’s professional and easy to navigate.  We’ve had so many more job ads posted this year and all the ad posting fees are collected immediately.  It’s the same for event registrations.  The workload for our Treasurer has literally been cut in half. 

StarChapter has increased our communications effectiveness.  It allows us to collect better information about who we’re reaching and who we’re not.  It’s taken some sleuthing, but we’ve been able to get updated email addresses for all our members and about 20% of non-members that we weren’t reaching.  That’s helping drive the success that we’re seeing.

We’re very happy with StarChapter; we’ve been excited to discover new capabilities and watch how that’s impacting progress on our goals!+

Would you like to share the success story of your chapter with other board volunteers? We'd love to feature you! Fill out this form to let us know.

StarChapter of September: NTMA - NW Pennsylvania

The Northwestern Pennsylvania (NWPA) Chapter of NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) is a non-profit trade association that serves as the voice of the precision manufacturing industry in the Northwestern Pennsylvania region. Organized in 1965, the NWPA Chapter currently represents over 60 custom precision manufacturing companies.  We were able to connect with Tami Adams to get insight into how they’ve been able to utilize StarChapter for the last 5+ years to engage their membership.

1. What was NTMA - NW Pennsylvania Chapter’s strategy for engaging new members in the past year?

            The NWPA Chapter's strategy to engage new members is to share information regularly through e-mails and to meet personally to review benefits that are of value to the member company. Each month, a membership benefit is featured on the home page of the website and in monthly newsletter e-mail.  Additionally, Board Members who have a connection with the new member personally invite them and a guest to participate in a monthly meeting.  The Board Member then serves as the host to welcome the new member and make introductions to other members at the meeting.

2. Tell us about a successful event/meeting you organized last year.

            The Northwestern PA Chapter holds a number of successful events each year.  Our most unique event is the Blue Collar BASH that celebrated its 4th consecutive SELL OUT crowd with over 400 participants.  The Blue Collar BASH was started 12 years ago to recognize and celebrate individuals working in the precision machining industry. The event features LIVE music, food, beverages, and chances to win fantastic prizes. Member companies are encouraged to buy books of 10 tickets to share with their employees for $200 which is the majority of ticket sales for the event. Ticket price includes admission, food, beer or non-alcoholic beverages, and companies who order a book secure reserved tables.

            Several special drawings take place during the event including scholarships for industry-related training. Incredible baskets compliments of NWPA NTMA Board Members plus over 30 additional prizes from businesses in the region provided an amazing "American Auction" raffle.  In addition, there is a key prize drawing and 5 special gift basket drawings based on Years of Service including a contribution of tools and many other great prizes made possible by our sponsors. Years of Service awards include 0-5 years in the industry, 6-15 years, 16-20 years, 30+ years, and there is non-industry attendee award for guests.

            The BASH Committee works tirelessly each year to come up with a different band, creative extras, and they continue to pull together a high level of prizes and sponsors.  To highlight a few of the sponsor opportunities that help the Chapter get sponsor’s names in print, all participants received an annual commemorative color-changing cup (beverage sponsors), wrist band (“band” sponsors). A program is printed for the event which provides an opportunity to list major sponsors, members, and the opportunity to run a larger ad.

3.  The NTMA - NW Pennsylvania network is extensive. Does the board get ideas on how to improve membership value from other chapters?

            Chapter Members and the Executive Director of the NWPA Chapter NTMA attend national conferences and participate on national committees to get ideas on how to improve membership value.  At the national conferences, there are multiple opportunities to participate in round-table discussions to learn what other chapters are doing.  There are also networking opportunities to follow up with other Chapter members and discuss what is working for them in more detail.  Participation on the national committees also gives the Chapter more insight on specific areas such as employee training and development, political advocacy, and member benefits. 

4. Do you have any tips/advice to share with other board volunteers?

            The NWPA Chapter NTMA has a very strong committee structure and volunteer base.  The best advice I can share is to ask.  People join organizations for a reason.  It is important to find out the reason and involve the member in a way that suits them in any combination of time, money, or talent.  Engage members by asking for help with Chapter activity.    

5.  What is in store for your members this year?

            In the next year, the NWPA Chapter will hold the annual premier events including the Blue Collar BASH, a plant tour of a local manufacturing company and picnic, Golf Outing, and Annual Membership Meeting.  In addition, the NTMA lobbyist will be the guest speaker at a local pub that has great character and we will hold a few relevant educational sessions focused on IT and shop floor technology.  We will also be actively involved in outreach programs to area youth through classroom visits, plant tours, and our annual RoboBots competition featuring 15-pound combat bots that are designed and built from scratch by middle and high school students throughout our region.

6. How have been able to utilize StarChapter to run NTMA - NW Pennsylvania and reach its goals?  

            StarChapter has streamlined administration for our Chapter, making it feel like we added a part time person.  All member data and event data is now stored in StarChapter.  This has helped to eliminate all of the spreadsheets that were used and eliminated the need to enter event data multiple times.  Using events as an example, it has saved time and resources to be able to enter in the event details in StarChapter, have it post automatically to our website, and follow up with a few clicks with an e-mail to members featuring the event.  Time spent on collections has also been reduced due to the ability for members to pay by credit card or with electronic invoices.  Over the past 5 years, StarChapter support has been great about helping our Chapter make updates and is constantly improving the site based on user feedback. 

Would you like to share the success story of your chapter with other board volunteers? We'd love to feature you! Fill out this form to let us know.