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AHP Southeast Regional News
The SE Region is moving forward and your Cabinet and Conference Committee are incredibly resourceful and committed to raising the bar to benefit our membership. They have recommended and designed plans to take you from "good to great". Thanks to Crystal Craft and her team, this issue brings you a wealth of information and opportunity. Plug in, get involved and make AHP all it can be for you and those who depend on you for their support. Here are the top 10 reasons to participate and engage in AHP & the SE Region. Remember MEMBERSHIP does = OPPORTUNITY THROUGH AHP:
Terry Upshaw Morgan
At this writing the next few days will be pivotal in the passage of the CARE Act, the long awaited charity incentiviation act making its way through congress. The following information came to me from Craig Wruck at NCPG. It requires immediate action. If you are reading this after the Nov. 7 deadline check the NCPG Web site for an update. As you may recall from our last update, before the IRA rollover legislation can go to conference the Senate must first call up H.R. 7, the "Charitable Giving Act" recently passed by the House, and replace it with what was approved last spring (S. 476, the CARE Act). Once this is done, the Senate will then send the bill back to the House and request a conference. This action requires unanimous consent in the Senate * and therein lies the catch. During the past few weeks, there have been several efforts to reach an agreement in the Senate to bring the bill up and clear it for conference. However, since this legislation is viewed as one of the few remaining bills that might make it to the President's desk this fall, a number of attempts have been made to add other unrelated legislation to H.R. 7 as it goes to conference. As a result, the tentative unanimous consent agreement would add three other pieces of stalled legislation to the bill (provisions to extend certain expiring tax rules, a controversial fix to the child tax credit, and tax relief for military families). While the addition of these items has brought a unanimous consent agreement closer, new issues have arisen which may prevent the charitable giving legislation from going to conference this year. In recent days, Senate Democrats have objected to all requests to send bills to conference. They are concerned that their views have not been adequately represented in conference discussions and have accused the Republicans of excluding them from conference negotiations. For this reason Senate Democrats have objected to requests to send any additional legislation to conference. Democratic staff in the Senate haven't indicated whether, or when, this logjam might break, so for the time being, the charitable giving legislation appears to be tied up in knots. With a tentative adjournment date of November 7th, time is running short to advance the IRA charitable rollover before year's end. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please contact your Senators, particularly Democrats, and urge them to allow H.R. 7 (and the CARE Act (S. 476)) to go to a conference with the House of Representatives so that this critical legislation can be enacted into law as soon as possible. Remind your Senators that this legislation was approved with overwhelming bi-partisan support in both the House and the Senate. Democrats and Republicans alike have already worked together to develop this legislation, and resolving differences between the House and Senate versions should not be allowed to break down along partisan lines. Make the case that it would be a tragedy if this effort to help America's charitable organizations, and the millions of people these organizations serve, were lost due to partisan differences over other issues. By Greg Pope
Congratulations to Danielle Wright-Landry, Director of Development, Tampa General Hospital Foundation, Tampa, FL., who recently received her CFRE designation. To help you prepare to sit for the exam, please be aware that the Certified Fundraising (CFRE) Examination is designed as a practice based exam for practitioners to assess mastery of the six core knowledge areas. Please take a moment and review these specific areas.
In the 2002 Examination Annual Report that was recently released by the CFRE International Board of Directors, the following statistics were announced that might be of interest. The total number of scored items on the exam was 200 with a passing point of 145. The mean score of all candidates was 150.20; while the range of scores was 105-to 182. The good news is that no one scored 50 points and no one scored a perfect score either! Why not make a New Year’s resolution right now and sit for the exam in 2004? You can plan to visit sunny Florida on March 19th in Ft. Lauderdale (deadline for application is January 19th 2004) or Atlanta, GA, March 26th, 2004 (application deadline January 26, 2004) or perhaps sit for the exam when you attend the AHP Regional Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in June of 2004. By Sharon A. Jones, CFRE
Mark your calendar and join your colleagues from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions as we “Gather Pearls of Wisdom on the Grand Strand.” The joint region conference will be held June 27-29, 2004 on the beaches of the South Carolina Grand Strand at the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes. I am fortunate to have Sheree Parris Nudd, FAHP join me as Co-Chair of the Conference. Sheree will be leading the efforts of the Mid-Atlantic Region and serving as the Education Chair. With the assistance of several of her colleagues from the Mid-Atlantic Region, she has already secured an outstanding Keynote Speaker for our Monday lunch. Check the Region website for information about presenting at the conference. Although a November 1 submission date is shown, I am sure that Sheree would like to receive information from you about outstanding presenters- including you! The conference committee is already hard at work planning another of the Southeast Region’s outstanding conferences. Opening and closing party chairs are busy planning events that you are sure to enjoy and our education offerings are sure to both provide you new information about the latest trends and successes in Healthcare Philanthropy and challenge you to stretch even further to improve the success of your efforts. Our conference hotel at Myrtle Beach is something to behold! The 400 Room Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes is in its final stages of completion and is expected to open in late December. It is destined to become one of Marriott’s star attractions and those of us in AHP Southeast will be one of the first conference groups to enjoy this wonderful new hotel. Plan a family trip and vacation to arrive early and/or stay after the conference at this great place. By the way the hotel is located on the Atlantic beachfront in the 2200-acre Grande Dunes Resort community and adjoins the 18-hole championship golf course, tennis and fitness center. We are in for a real treat. So….mark your calendar, register early (yes, there will be the use of a new BMW for some lucky early-bird registrant) and plan on spending the end of June learning even more about Healthcare Philanthropy while you enjoy sand between your toes on the beautiful beaches of the South Carolina Grand Strand! By Russell Harris
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