A BRIEF REPORT OF THE 8OTH SOUTHERN REGION CONFERENCE

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 

There were 89 attendees with 63 voting delegates.  Copies of the region’s budget will be available at the next meeting. 

A federation overview was presented by Leigh Wintz.  They support 1,500 clubs with 42,000 members in 19 countries.  There is a 9 million dollar endowment fund with the interest funding our programs.  Their investments have outperformed the market.  Once of the new investments is the 1709 building.  It is a 100 year old house, and there is no mortgage on it.  That is saving the federation over $150,000/ year on rent.  

They have a staff of 24 with 2 full time translators.  She presented the organizational chart along with each section’s responsibilities. Ms. Wintz stated that SIA has a smaller ratio of support staff than any other service organization. Tours of the new headquarters building are available for those who are going to the Federation conference in July.  In addition to the staff overview, the major point of Ms. Wintz’s talk was to make sure your club follows the mission statement. 

The Federation update was presented by Jo Ann Stallings, SIA Board Member.  She went over the goals of the Renaissance campaign, and how the federation tried to meet those goals during the first biennium. 

1.     Programs:  
In 2005, only 58% of the clubs participated in the Women’s Opportunity Award Program which is the signature program for SIA.  In 2006, the number went up to 76%.  The other goal was to have all clubs participate in one other SIA project.  No numbers were given for this goal.

2.    Membership:
The goal is to have 50,000 members by 2009.  We are currently losing 1,000 members a year.  Each member needs to recruit 3 new members a year annually to meet this goal.  Southern Region had a net gain of 25 members.  In 2005, there were 17 new clubs, while in 2006 there were 25 new clubs.  Within Southern Region, there are no clubs with low membership.  As of 02/05, there were 25 clubs with 644 members in the region, and as of 02/06, there were 26 clubs with 661 members.

Recruitment is an ongoing project.  Survey results indicated that SIA is not doing what we say we do.  Right now there is a staff member (Susan, I think) who is developing a marketing plan for programs that recruit and retain new members.

3.    Fundraising:
We need to raise $1.4 million annually in America for our programs.  The major contributions come to the Club Campaign, and the Founders’ Pennies.  There was 100% participation in the Founders’ Pennies this year for Southern Region, while the participation rates for the Club Campaign were 51% for the Federation and 88% for the Region.  Each year the baskets that are raffled off at the conference collect another $1,000.  The 1709 Guild campaign was successful, and Southern Region raised more than its $5,000 goal to furnish the reception area of the new headquarters building.  Jo Ann wanted us to know that 80% of every dollar is spent on programs.

4.    Public Awareness:
This campaign is to publicize “We are who we say we are and we do what we say we do.”  The “Live Your Dream” campaign supports this goal.  (Presently, headquarters is out of the “Live Your Dream” pins, but more are on order).  Apparently we were supposed to be sending our press announcements to the chair of this committee. 

DUES INCREASE:  Federation has approved a dues increase from the current $39.50 to $60.00 in 2010.

The election of Governor Elect was held and it was an extremely close vote.  With 63 voting delegates, Nidia Bersnsteil was elected as the new Governor-elect with 32 votes, while Priscilla Tartarsky received 31 votes. 

There was a Board resolution to have a committee do a complete revision of the By-Laws to make sure they are in compliance with the 501(c)3 regulations.  This was passed. 

The Governor’s Service Award was presented to SI of Montgomery (District III) for their work in getting a law passed that requires HIV and STD testing for anyone arrested for sexual assault. Until this law was passed, the testing was not done until there was a conviction of the accused, which could be many months to many years and the victim frequently had to pay for the multiple tests herself. 

Conference Awards:

Newsletter:                 SI of Tampa
Press Book:               SI of Stuart
Attendance:               SI of St Lucie
Mileage:                     SI of St Lucie
Membership Gain:    SI of Tuscaloosa

 All in all, it was a very interesting and fun conference.  SI of San Juan went out of their way to make the conference enjoyable.  The food was incredible, and now ask Terry Sue about how she talked to the frogs! 

Join Installation of Officers
Hosted by Holiday Isles
June 3rd, 2006
12:00 Noon
Isla del Sol Yacht & Country Club
600 Sun Blvd
St Petersburg, Fl 33715

 

Sandra Baumann, Soroptimist Orientation Chair Southern Region