Education Law Association

As we begin to review comments added to our recent membership survey, I’d like to address one comment in particular for today’s blog. This member commented that we spend too much time promoting membership. Excellent point, and well-timed!  (if you have not yet completed the membership survey yet, please do so immediately at  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XBQZKMK )

As a member-driven organization, it is sometimes difficult to balance the needs of the organization with the needs of the individual members, for one cannot survive without the other. In reviewing the trend of our membership numbers over the last few years, and reaching out to individuals whose memberships have lapsed, we realized that our downturn in the number of members is both a direct and indirect result of the economy. Members we spoke with were allowing their membership to expire mainly for one of two reasons, (1) their school/firm/company was no longer assisting with the payment of dues or (2) because of restructuring, the member was no longer working in the field of education law.

In response, our Membership Committee decided to try something new!  Rather than constantly trying to recruit new members, they decided to ask the Board of Directors and the state committee chairs to really concentrate their efforts during the month of April. We expanded on this idea and are reaching out to ALL members to be a part of this membership drive. 

Any current member that recruits colleagues to become full regular members shall receive $20 credit for each new regular member ($145/year) toward their annual conference registration!

NEW members will receive 14 months for the price of 12, a copy of The Law of Teacher Evaluation (2^nd Ed.), a leather bookmark, and other incentives that together have a retail value of about $60!

I am asking each of you to reach out to your colleagues to share your experience with ELA. If you would like some membership brochures or additional copies of ELA Notes or the School Law Reporter to share, just give us a call at 937-229-3589. If you are not comfortable doing so, please provide us with their contact information and we will be happy to reach out to them for you.

This is a very important time of year for ELA and working together we can make a difference that can result in additional member benefits and better membership services for everyone, so hang in there and work with me over the next few weeks to build and even better and stronger ELA.

Member News

One of the goals of the ELA Board of Directors (BOD) is to have contact on a more regular basis with our members. Rather than drown you in emails, which will be just a little more frequent as we move forward this spring, did you know there are several other ways to get news from ELA?  You can follow me on Twitter (ELAOffice), Facebook, and LinkedIn (Education Law Association). In this way, the communication is much more of a two-way street, the way it should be in a membership organization!

There are some really great things happening with ELA these days, and you can be an integral part of the future of your organization by posting comments on Facebook and LinkedIn, and by contacting us with your suggestions for changes.

Members of the BOD, Past Presidents, and Committee Chairs have been actively emailing and holding regular phone conferences to plan for the future of ELA, and the energy and excitement is contagious!  Take part if two events coming in the next weeks: (1) be sure to respond to our survey on surveymonkey (an email is coming to you soon) so that we know what you want as a member and we are moving forward with the most up to date information and (2) April has been designated as our official Membership Drive month, with incentives for both new regular individual members and recruiters. Please take part in both of these events! Details coming soon.

I can’t wait to tell you about all of the great changes coming to ELA! You likely have already  noticed the redesigned website – if you haven’t, where have you been?  There were a few small changes made to the annual conference in Louisville, and wait until you hear what we have planned for Vancouver!  We are striving to plan conferences that will meet everyone’s needs as much as possible. As soon as we have a few of our ideas pounded out, I will post the good news right away, so return to my blog weekly for more information.

Governance, Member News, Office Staff