A MESSAGE FROM AFSA HEADQUARTERS
Looking back on 2016, AFSA definitely faced many challenges, but in true fashion, your Executive Council and Headquarters team stepped up to those challenges and met them head-on, never losing sight of their mission or the members they serve. We would be remiss if we did not recognize the great Headquarters team that keeps AFSA’s mission moving: Teresa, Morgan, Juanita, Keith, Francesca, Andy, Judy, Brenda, John, Jimmy, Yolanda, LaToya, Michelle, Johnathan, Jammie and Ashley G. We would also like to thank those staff members who moved on in 2016: Rob, Paul, Jennifer, Ashley B. and Mark; thank you for your dedicated service to AFSA. In addition, your leadership on the executive council saw changes in August with the election of a new president and uniformed services trustee and the addition of a new family member trustee. Together the executive council and the headquarters team are dedicated to its members and preparing AFSA for the future.
We started 2016 with the hopes of growing membership and increasing our dues revenue to close the large gap in the previous year’s budget. An analysis revealed that AFSA membership was among the lowest priced in the Military Coalition, and that the Association had not raised membership prices since 2003. Tie this with the fact that the actual cost of servicing a member was far more costly than the $25 we charged for one year of membership, and the need become abundantly clear: The International Executive Council approved the new dues rates.
On the Cover: The United States Capitol dome in Washington, D.C.
2
As luck would have it, AFSA was simul- taneously presented with an opportunity to acquire the enlisted members of a fellow Veteran Service Organization and a proportional amount of its real property and financial assets. This opportunity would
open the door to a wider target audience for recruiting our sister-services, potentially grow membership and increase much- needed revenue in the coming year. However, this acquisition was predicated on the fact that the acquired members must be afforded full membership in AFSA, which required a Bylaw change and approval by the general membership.
Under ideal circumstances, a detailed marketing plan would have been launched to properly communicate this opportunity and educate our members on what this acquisition could mean for AFSA. Unfortunately, an in-place nondisclosure agreement prevented open dialogue with our members until a contract was ratified, which wasn’t projected until the end of the third quarter of 2016. This did not offer enough time to answer many of our
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
