Chapter President's ManualResources from ACC HeadquartersFacilitating the success of your Chapter is one of the main goals of the Membership & Chapter Relations team. To aid us with this goal, we’ve developed services to help you run your Chapter better. In addition to providing services, the staff acts as a clearinghouse for Chapter best practices and other information. The key to this resource is communication between Chapter leaders and ACC staff. Several communication vehicles have been created to help facilitate this exchange, including activity reports, monthly emails and mailings, Chapter presidents and administrators quarterly conference calls, and the weekly electronic communication, Chapter & Verse. In addition, ACC staff enjoy making Chapter visits to assist in developing strategic plans and learning how they can better serve Chapters. Staff will often phone a Chapter simply to "touch base" on Chapter efforts and find out if additional assistance is needed. ACC staff is here to serve you, so let us know how we can help! Chapter Leadership ServicesACC offers the following services to help you run your Chapter:
1. Monthly Membership Reports – Each month, the Washington office sends a detailed membership report to chapter presidents and membership chairs (also available online). These reports should be used to track how many new members, lapsed members, current, and reinstated members you have in your Chapter. The reports include members by state and country, members by Chapter, members by Committee, new members fy2008 vs. fy2009 and total members at the end of the month. 2. Chapter Newsletter Service (Printed or Electronic Version) – ACC will prepare a quarterly newsletter for all interested chapters. Interested chapters must provide a president’s message, a calendar of events, board of directors, a photograph of the current president (optional) and any other chapter specific text. ACC will include information on new services and other benefits of membership and provide design, layout, additional copy writing, and print chapter newsletters. The cost of the electronic newsletter varies between $75-$200. The cost of a printed newsletter varies and is largely dependent on length, please email sweeney@acc.com for more information on cost. Copy for newsletters must be submitted in electronic format to Caroline Sweeney at sweeney@acc.com. ACC’s 2012 copy submission deadlines are listed below:
Chapter Newsletter Service (Interactive Electronic Version) – ACC has developed an interactive electronic template version of the newsletter that is completely self-administering. ACC Chapters can write, host, and email this electronic newsletter as often as they wish with complete editorial control over the content and layout. To learn more about how to use this electronic only newsletter, contact Tori. 3. Chapter & Verse – A weekly newsletter sent via email to all ACC leaders filled with topical news, Chapter program ideas, important dates, and tips for running a Chapter. 4. Chapter Reports and Communications– The Chapter will receive the following information from ACC staff: Monthly Quarterly Currently, new, lapsed, prospect, and current rosters can be downloaded at anytime on ACC Online by following the steps outlined in number five. Weekly 5. Chapter Rosters/Labels Available online. To download your new, lapsed, current, and prospect rosters/labels:
*Label files will download as PDF Files. Roster files will download to Excel. 6. Program Speakers/Portable Programs – The Washington office will assist Chapters in identifying speakers on a variety of legal topics as well as provide an ACC staff person who can address the benefits of membership and demonstrate ACC Online. The Washington Office has several educational programs that Chapters can produce with a minimum of effort (See “Portable Programs from ACC” in this Chapter). Committees are also available to assist Chapters in developing programs. 7. Mailing List Management – ACC Headquarters maintains a central database for all ACC members. Chapter can access the list using the instructions in number four. ACC also makes its list available for sale through an ACC mail list broker. A Chapter cannot sell its mailing list. Chapters may forward all calls for its list to INFOCUS at 800.708.LIST (5478), ext. 3249. 8.Quarterly Chapter Leader Conference Calls – Hosted and paid for by the Washington office, these calls offer Chapter presidents and administrators the opportunity to share success stories, discuss problems, and hear updates on ACC activities from other leaders. 9. Chapter Training Meetings – Held twice a year usually in October and late March, Chapter presidents training meetings provide Chapter presidents with an opportunity to share in person their experiences and seek solutions to issues facing the Chapter. The program also provides training for volunteers in areas such as board and leadership development, membership recruitment and retention, and programming. 10. Chapter Websites – Housed within ACC Online, each Chapter hosts its own web page(s). Self-administered, Chapters may post a calendar of events, list of officers, current news, new members, news about members, related links, sponsor information, and other items of interest. The webpages are visible to all that visit ACC’s website and are read by hundreds of people (and prospective members) each day! The Chapter calendar is also easy to use. Updating Your Chapter Page:
(Contact Caroline Sweeney to obtain your username and password, and the instruction manual on how to use the backend chapter page) 11. Chapter Broadcast Email List– Chapters may host a broadcast email list or listserv to cost-effectively communicate with its members. To obtain your broadcast email address or to set up a listserv, contact Tori. 12. Chapter Presidents Listserv – Established to enhance Chapter presidents’ ability to communicate with other Chapter presidents’. Chapter Presidents are automatically added to the listserv when they become president. To send a message to the listserv, contact Tori to obtain the address. 13. Chapter Administrators Listserv –Established to enhance Chapter administrators’ ability to communicate with other administrators. Chapter Administrators are automatically added to the listserv when they become administrators. 14. Chapter Membership Chairs Listserv –Established to enhance Chapter membership chairs’ ability to communicate with other membership chairs. Membership chairs are automatically added to the listserv when they become administrators. 15. Broadcast Fax Service – Chapters may use ACC’s broadcast fax service to send program announcements, etc, to its membership. Chapters are billed for this service at $.05/page express during the day or overnight. Allow 2 working days for distribution of broadcast faxes. (See Sample Broadcast Fax.) 16. Conference Call Service – Each Chapter can set up a conference call for its board of directors through ACC’s conference call provider at a rate of only $.035/minute. For information on how to set up a call for your Chapter, contact Caroline Sweeney. 17. Online Surveys – Chapters have the ability to produce online surveys (at no cost) that include tabulation of results complete with charts and graphs. 18. Online Registration – ACC has partnered with Acteva to provide our chapters with easy access online registration services. For more information or to sign up, contact ACC’s sales rep Blayne Donner at 415.962.9073, or bdonner@acteva.com. ACC has also partnered with EventRegister to provide chapters another online registration software “Thriva”. To sign up or to schedule a demo, contact Bruce Anderson at 877.996.2267 x 524 or Bruce.Anderson@activenetwork.com. 19. Banner Ads – Chapters have the ability to sell banner ads on their Chapter webpages. Chapters can administer ads directly using an extranet for Chapter leaders. 20. Volunteer Leader Resources – Housed within ACC, Chapter leaders will find sample letters/documents, roster/mailing labels as mentioned above, membership retention tips, sponsorship guidelines, Chapter presidents manual, sample newsletters, Chapter roster, a guide for developing public relations, advocacy manual, required forms, award program guidelines, and much more to help manage their Chapter. Volunteer Leader Resources can be accessed online here. 21. Leadership Development Institute – Annual training session hosted by ACC for all, Chapter, and Committee leaders free of charge. The session covers leadership succession, board development, motivating volunteers, recruiting members, and other topics identified by Chapter leaders. 22. Membership Materials – Membership brochures, applications, recruitment flyers, and ACC Dockets are available to Chapters to assist in recruitment efforts. ACC also has small giveaways that can be used as prizes for Chapter members that are conducting local recruitment campaigns. 23. Chapter Membership Brochures - ACC has brokered a deal with Alliance Partner Thomson West to provide chapters with chapter specific membership brochures at no cost. This is a great opportunity to personalize a professional printed piece with a message from the chapter president, upcoming events, and other chapter specific information that you would like to include. To request a sample brochure contact Liang Ge or to develop your brochure, please call and ask for your local representative. 24. Marketing Materials – ACC has partnered with a local vendor, Visions Marketing, Inc., to provide Chapters with the opportunity to order prizes/giveaways/gifts for your events or board meetings. To order items, contact Debbie Lazovick at DLazovick@tmgroup.com or 301.651.4664. ACC has also partnered with Tiny Jewel Box to provide discounted higher end gifts for Chapters. To order gifts, contact Gina Sherman at 202.393.2749; gsherman@tinyjewelbox.com, or visit their website at www.TinyJewelBox.com. 25. Audio Webcast – ACC provides chapters with the opportunity to host webcasts though our national provider. The one-time set up fee for webcasts is $750 (including set-up of the registration site, CLE documentation, an initial training session and archive set-up), and the monthly cost for unlimited webcasts (with an initial 12 month contract) is $149. This price includes access for up to 200 unique log-ins, as well as unlimited downloads of the archive for up to one year. For more details, or to set up this service, email Caroline Sweeney at sweeney@acc.com. 26. File Sharing (Intralinks)—ACC has worked with Intralinks to provide local ACC Chapters with the capability to store important documents electronically and share other documents over the internet. An extranet allows you to access and post documents just like you would access your own internal company servers. If you are interested in learning how to access your Intralinks file space, contact Lauren Williams at williams@acc.com. 27. Global Support – ACC is a resource for each Chapter. The major responsibility of the ACC Chapter Relations staff is to facilitate the success of each Chapter leader, thereby ensuring each Chapter is meeting its goals of serving ACC members on a local level. In addition, ACC staff acts as a clearinghouse of ideas, suggestions, and materials from the various ACC Chapters. For these reasons, communication with the main office of ACC is critical to ensure the most effective use of your time and resources. Keeping the ACC staff "in the loop" on your Chapter activities is as simple as including them on your Chapter's mailing list for all communications such as:
28. Online Financial Management - ACC has partnered with Quick Books Online Edition to offer our chapters greater capability to access financial data from any location, at any time. With the QuickBooks Online Edition, you will no longer have to wonder about the state of your chapter's financial records. QuickBooks Online Edition allows you to:
And for those of you that are already using the desktop version of Quickbooks, you can perform a one-time data import into the online version! To sign up for a free 30 day trial, go to https://qbo.intuit.com/qbo1/redir/trynow?bc=QBP-TNP. At the bottom of the page, it will ask for a referral code. The code to use is VOL-TWF-ACC. At the end of the free trial, you will be asked to enter your credit card. The annual fee for ACC chapters is $202.09 , which is 46% off of the advertised price. Please note that the ACC package includes both the Online Edition and the Business Package (http://oe.quickbooks.com/pricing.cfm). 29. Chapter of the Year Awards - The ACC Chapter of the Year Award was created to recognize Chapters and their leaders for outstanding efforts and achievements. Three Chapters, based on membership size small (up to 250 members), medium (251-800), and large (801+) are recognized for excellence in membership, programs, special projects, and overall accomplishments. Grand prizes will be two free registrations to the Annual Meeting. One each will be awarded to the top Chapter in the large and small categories. Nominees will be evaluated on criteria including, but not limited to:
Award winners are determined in August. For more information, review the Chapter of the Year Guidelines here. 2010 Chapter of the Year submissions are due no later than July 27. 30. Chapter Challenge - Chapters are recognized for a combination of outstanding performance in new member recruiting and member retention (renewal rate). Grand prizes will be two free registrations to the Annual Meeting. One each will be awarded to the top Chapter in the large and small categories based upon net percentage of new members, and a retention/renewal rate of 90 percent or better for the 10 months prior to the contest end date. A staff of four professionals in ACC's Washington office are dedicated to assisting chapters: Robin Grossfeld: 202.293.4103, ext. 330;
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