Executive Director S Report

Executive Director’s Report Summer Board Meeting/July 17-19, 2014 Little Rock, Arkansas

The State of the Association

Financially, the Association is stable. We finished the 2013-2014 fiscal year with a small deficit (approximately $20,000). Reserves in the amount of $10,000 were accessed in June to manage cash flow. Both membership and conference revenue declined.

Fiscal Year Comparison

Fiscal Year FY 2012-2013 FY 2013-2014 Change

Income 434,708.63 382,171.08 -52,537.55 Expenses 439,862.55 402,893.40 -36,969.15

The 2015 Conference

o Keynoter contracts are completed.

o Special training sessions about CLASS and Teaching Strategies have been negotiated and secured.

o Proposals have been accepted and are entered into a database.

o Negotiations are underway for an exhibit company.

o Plans have been made with an airport shuttle company to provide low cost transportation from the airport.

Recommendations for Board Consideration

1. Registration fees increased by $5 for the 2015 conference. Event Member Non-member Student General conference $100 $115 $45 Directors Seminar $170 $195 Trainer Institute $170 $195 Public Policy $45 $45 Luncheon Presenter Registration $50 $50

2. Proposal review should be handled initially in the SECA office and a list of recommended proposals sent to the Professional Development Commission for review and approval. Upon approval by the Commission, presenter notifications would go out (including the information that all presenters would be required to pay a nominal registration fee). Upon confirmation by presenters, the presentations would be scheduled.

The Just Ask Us! Campaign

The campaign materials are completed and ready to be distributed.

 Letters of introduction will be sent to all Congressional & Gubernatorial candidates in the SECA states by August 1st. (Primary contests will be completed and the candidates confirmed by this time.) This letter will introduce the Association and invite the candidates to contact SECA if they wish to connect with their state “experts” and association. Each state will designate one person as the contact for that state.

 The “advocacy” kit will be made available to state affiliate leadership by August 1st to utilize with state and local races. Again, these materials should be utilized to introduce the associations to the candidates for office.

1. The Board should consider utilizing funds within the existing Division for Development Fund to pre-record a PSA that could be customized for each state and distributed to local radio stations.

2. Once the advocacy materials are utilized for candidate education, the materials should be modified to create an on-going informational resource that could be utilized for both policy and public education.

Subordinate Organizations: 501 (c)(3)

SECA currently has four (4) subordinate organizations (LAECA, MsECA, SCECA & AECA) that are listed under SECA’s group exemption. Originally, all SECA affiliates were listed as subordinate organizations under SECA; however, during NAEYC reorganization, the nine (9) dual states received their own 501 (c)(3) designation from the IRS. According to the IRS, the criteria that groups must meet to be included in a group exemption are:

 Must be affiliated with the central organization

 Are subject to the central organization’s general supervision or control

 Are exempt under the same paragraph of IRS 501 (c), though not necessarily the paragraph under which the central organization is exempt.

According to this definition, SECA does not meet the criteria to maintain supervision or control of the state affiliates and this could be problematic in meeting SECA’s obligations for tax- exempt status.

1. The Board consider removing the non-dual affiliates from SECA’s group exemption under an orderly process that allows sufficient time for all non-dual affiliates to be awarded a 501 (c)(3) status. (This could include supporting the affiliates financially through this process if it was deemed necessary.)

During this process, the Board should adopt the following requirements for the non- dual affiliates. The affiliate must file an annual report at the end of the fiscal year that provides information on the following:

i. Current list of Board/officers

ii. Copy of annual budget

iii. Copy of goals and objectives for fiscal year reported

iv. End of fiscal year financial statement and audit/fiscal review

v. Copies of minutes of the affiliate Board of Directors for the past fiscal year

vi. Information on projects/initiatives taken during that fiscal year

vii. Reporting of any lobbying expenditures

viii. Copy of 990 tax form for fiscal year The SECA Board representative should be responsible for ensuring that this information is provided to the SECA office.

Office Initiatives

We will undertake several initiatives during the 2014-2015 fiscal year that will be cost cutting measures as well as efforts to streamline operations.

 The third position that is currently open in the SECA office will not be filled during the next fiscal year. We will also forego hiring temp help and are working on an organizational strategy to complete required tasks with current staffing.

 We will eliminate the post office box by the end of 2014. This is both a cost savings (approximately $300 per year) and a reduction of duties that the ED is currently performing. Mail is picked up twice a week and usually consists of promotional materials. It’s about a 20 minute trip each of those days for the ED and is simply a waste of time at this point. Any mail received after closure of the box will be forwarded for a period of time. We’ll provide ample notice for everyone to make those changes in their address books.

 We have been renting a storage area in the basement of our office building for several years. This has been utilized mainly to house our publications inventory and basic conference materials. We are going to eliminate the rental on the space (approximately $120 a month) and re-organize the office to move the storage items up into a workroom. All existing print inventory will be sold or distributed within the next year.

Future Conference Locations

Proposals have been received from the three cities (Tulsa, Louisville & Little Rock) as directed by the Board. All three sites have been visited and would be acceptable for the conference.

The most positive proposal in terms of amenities and financial considerations is the proposal from the Hyatt Regency Tulsa.

The Hyatt Regency Louisville made concessions to lower some of the required elements of the contract and it would be workable, although not great space.

The Little Rock Marriott has almost matched the Hyatt Regency Tulsa proposal, except in terms of food & beverage minimums.

The actual proposals are posted on the Board Resources page under Board Materials.

Recommendations for Board Consideration  Any or all could work and I would suggest that we consider booking at least two to bring us through 2017. The market which was a “buyer’s market” over the last several years due to the recession has returned to a “seller’s market” and we’re going to find it more difficult to tie in low room rates and contract minimums in the future.

 If we choose to go with the two Hyatt proposals, there are additional “sweeteners” that are offered for a multi-year booking. This includes things such as 1) no attrition fees for up to 50% slippage or a 2) complimentary coffee break. The Marriott in Louisville was contacted (The Marriott has a similar program.) but the proposal that was submitted did not meet our criteria in terms of room rates and food & beverage minimums.

Membership Opportunity

Geania Dickey and Dr. Kathy Pillow-Price approached SECA about the possibility of joining forces to bring the “home-visiting” network professionals into membership with SECA. No professional association exists exclusively for these professionals and Dr. Pillow-Price wants to support that connection. She will be presenting at the Board meeting on Friday morning to share her ideas.

This is an untapped membership pool for SECA and provides an opportunity to bring a significant number of new members into the Association. If the Board chooses to move forward in developing this partnership, I have recommended that we move forward in integrating content for this group at the 2015 conference.

Initially, bringing in these members would not require additional financial resources and Dr. Pillow-Price and her colleagues would be responsible for developing the 2015 conference content. Beyond that, we would need to determine if membership participation was significant enough to justify moving on to some of the other initiatives that Dr. Price is proposing.

Respectfully Submitted,

Glenda Bean Executive Director June 27,2014