REGION IX VICE PRESIDENT REPORT ON THE NARFE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 13-15, 2012 AT NARFE HEADQUARTERS

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1 REGION IX VICE PRESIDENT REPORT ON THE NARFE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 13-15, 2012 AT NARFE HEADQUARTERS PLEASE SHARE THIS REPORT WITH CHAPTER OFFICERS/MEMBERS WHO DO NOT HAVE ! NOTE: All Region IX members of the Global Electronic Messaging System (GEMS) network have received this report via GEMS distribution. If you have and want to receive GEMS, go to the NARFE Web Site, Update My Record. Budget: The 2013 budget was approved as presented. The budget includes $350,000 for membership efforts and initiatives as well as $255,000 for special PAH Campaigns in specific states to fight further reductions to the federal community and the looming concerns over sequestration, as necessary. As a point of information, a percentage of the enarfe Chapter dues of $40 is not paid to the chapter, but is retained by National Headquarters. HQ Staff who leave/retire are being replaced only on an as-needed basis. Every effort is being made to reduce costs at HQ. Audit Committee: The National Executive Board (NEB) elected Evelyn Kirby (Region II VP), Jerry Smith (Region VI VP) and Bill Martin (Region X VP) as members of the Audit Committee. The Audit Report by the Official Audit Firm will be published in the June magazine. Local RVP: Members are reminded that the Region Vice President (RVP) is your local connection to NARFE Headquarters. Many of your questions and concerns can be answered by your RVP. Members are also reminded that dues can be renewed on line through our NARFE Website ( Contributions to various programs (such as: NARFE-PAC; Cards, Calendars, Silver Circle, General Fund, Building Fund; and Protect America s Heartbeat) can also be made on line. Media Capability: A Media Room has been established at Headquarters to facilitate presentations by the National Officers and/or Staff for Federation and/or Chapter Meetings. The room has the capability of live broadcasts to meetings at your venue where necessary communication equipment exists for Skype. Presentations may also be made to your convention by any National Officer or staff member. Contact the National Officer/Staff member at Headquarters when you wish to have a presentation made to your group and they will make the necessary arrangements with the IT Department, who will then work with you to provide a test communication at your venue, prior to your actual presentation. Special 2018 Convention Committee: The National President discussed the 2012 National Convention and concerns for attendance at future conventions given the fact that technology is changing rapidly. The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 2018 National Convention is being prepared for issue to hotels, but it must include the number of room nights that our members will use during the convention, to ensure the best possible price. At the recent National Convention, our members did not fill the number of room nights in the contract, but because of the manner in which the contract was written, due to the potential number of attendees, there was no additional cost to NARFE. Knowing that our convention attendance has been on the decline over the past few years, we need to revise our estimate for attendance, and perhaps our requirements for technology innovations. The National President will establish a special committee to work on a revision to the RFP to include more utilization of electronic communication. More means of electronic communication will lessen our ability to bargain with hotels, as the number of attendees will drop, and probably result in increased costs for future conventions. The committee will complete its work by March 2013 in order to allow the formal RFP to be issued. 1

2 Annual Meeting: For planning purposes, the Federation Presidents/Annual Meeting/National Executive Board Meeting will be held July 9-11, 2013 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, FL, the site of the 2014 National Convention. Change in PAC Sustaining Pin Design: Lanny Ross, Region IX VP, requested that the PAC Sustaining Pins be modified to incorporate the number of years that a member had been contributing to the PAC Fund on a sustaining basis. Consideration will be given to adding a number to the pins. Contribution Letters: RVP Ross requested that letters requesting contributions for note pads, calendars, etc., be standardized within households. He noted that the letter addressed to his wife had a different requested contribution amount than the one he received. National Treasurer Richard Thissen noted that different amounts are sent to members as a fundraising test to see which amount receives the best response. He stated that attempts are made to coordinate requests to the same household, but even though they are screened twice before mailing, occasionally different letters are sent to the same household. It was also requested that the wording of the follow-up letter be modified to contain words such as: Reminder if you have already contributed, thank you for your contribution. The National Treasurer agreed to look into these issues. Finance and Investment Committee: Members of the Investment Committee (Don Stewart, Region III VP; Paul Johnson, Region IV VP; and Frank Impinna, Region VII VP) met with the advisors of M S Smith Barney and Wells Fargo during lunch to discuss status of our funds and investments. Scholarship Committee: Members of the Scholarship Committee (Arthur Pike Region I VP; Carol Ek, Region V VP; and Helen Zajac, Region VIII VP) met with the National Vice President during lunch to select the Essay Question for the 2013 Scholarship Contest. The application will be published in the February magazine and be available on the NARFE web site from February 1 through April 26. More information is also available in the Scholarship Brochure, Form F-105, which was revised in November Site Selection Committee: Members of the Convention Site Selection Committee (Lanny Ross, Chair, Region IX VP; Evelyn Kirby, Region II VP; Jerry Smith, Region VI VP; and Bill Martin, Region IX VP met during lunch with Juliet Harding, Director of Affinity Partners and Meeting Planner, and Joe Beaudoin, National President and ex-officio member to discuss the process for visiting, evaluating and recommending a Convention Site for the 2018 National Convention. Legislation: Julie Tagen, Legislative Director, reported on the elections and that the Senate gained two Democratic seats and is now comprised of 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and 2 Independents. The House still has some undecided seats (8 as of 11/9/2012) with 233 Republicans and 194 Democrats. She also reported that the lame duck session of Congress began on November 13, Congress will bear watching as they lay the framework for the Grand Bargain process to deal with the $1.2 Trillion budget deficit, a possible delay in sequestration; the Medicare Doc fix; Bush tax cuts; and the payroll tax holiday. After the first of the year in January through July we can expect to see more of the Grand Bargain when the Congress will address the $33 Billion from civilian retirement (where the employees pay more toward their retirement); the Chained CPI; and postal reform. Under the Chained CPI our recent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 1.7% would actually be only 1.4%. She reminded us of the National Call-In Day on November 15, and how important it is for everyone to make three calls on the toll free number to each of their Senators and their Congressional Representative. The message to deliver to Congress is that the deficit reduction cuts have consequences on services that America depends upon the presence of Federal workers in communities across the country which also strengthens local economies. Federal workers have already contributed their fair 2

3 share to the nation's shortfall and should not be singled out for further cuts. This will be the same message we need to deliver in Protect America's Heartbeat (PAH) has been very effective in providing "boots on the ground" in many states with meetings with Congressmen, letter writing campaigns and media coverage. But 2013 will bring new challenges with sequestration, and the new Congress. The active threats will continue to be COLA calculation; federal retirement benefits, the continuation of the AFE pay freeze, the AFE federal worker benefits and pension contributions, and the federal workforce attrition. We need to continue inserting our message into media coverage. We need to re-energize and empower NARFE members to influence not only new members of Congress but also those in key leadership roles. We need to build on our partnerships with the Federal Postal Coalition that have been strengthened by the America Counts on Us campaign which was detailed in the August 2012 Magazine. How will the PAH campaign pressure Congress in 2013 to vote NARFE's way? It will secure more national media coverage through proactive pitches and responding quickly to breaking news; evaluate coverage in key local media markets once more; create more opportunities for national broadcast interviews; facilitate Congressional meetings in key states; engage NARFE members with mini campaign activities online and offline; help grow NARFE s social media presence among members with tactics that were successful with the America Counts on Us campaign. PAH will focus on the states of: Washington, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Illinois, California, and Florida. In addition Virginia and Maryland will have PAH campaigns run by NARFE staff. This time there is great concern for retiree benefits, including COLA, Social Security and Medicare. The timing of this effort will be coordinated with the discussions in Congress. Members are reminded that nothing has happened regarding earned benefits to current AFEs or retirees - the only impact has been on new hires, except for the 2-1/2 year pay freeze. The Power Point Presentation by Julie Tagen, Legislative Director, has been provided to each Federation President. Subsequent to the NEB meeting, we received news of Julie s resignation as Legislative Director. She has accepted the Chief of Staff position for Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida, for whom she previously worked. We wish Julie well in her new position. Matching Funds: Bill Martin, Region IX VP, requested efforts to raise awareness of, and revise the Matching Funds criteria to make it more explanatory to chapters on how they may utilize the funds for local membership recruitment efforts. Closed Chapter Funds: Frank Impinna, Region VII VP, asked why the Officer s Manual, F-10 requires funds from closed chapters be forwarded to National Headquarters. It was pointed out that monies are held for 5 years and returned to the chapter if it is reopened as a chapter within the 5 year period. However, if the chapter is not reopened within 5 years, the monies are sent to the Federation. Dick Thissen, National Treasurer, indicated that actually National Headquarters encourages chapters to send the monies from the closed chapter to the chapter who is receiving the members. The funds will help the receiving chapter with per capita dues and with expenses such as providing copies of the chapter newsletter to the transferred members. NARFE s Mission Statement: Frank Impinna, Region VII VP, asked about the Mission Statement and why it does not reference our non-profit status as an IRS 501.C.3 organization. Dick Thissen, reported that NARFE is an IRS 501.C.5 organization and that the IRS 501.C.3 provides specific limits on how monies received can be used. The National Treasurer will research this and report to the NEB in March. 3

4 Membership: NARFE's membership has been in decline for the past thirty years. The only effort made to recruit has been focused on the OPM mailing, supplemented by actions of individual members recruiting in the field. There has also been a cultural shift in all organizations with chapter members. The Internet is now a great source of information, and members no longer need to attend meetings to learn the latest information. We need to develop a technology based style. There has been a decline in the OPM mailing response (traditionally 8%, recent 2%) - perhaps due to the backlog of processing retirement applications. We also need to change our direct mailing schedule to prospective members to perhaps every other month, rather than quarterly. The 2012 Membership Plan was an aggressive plan to address the long term membership decline, and deaths. To actively pursue AFE's, we needed to introduce best marketing practices. With limited resources at Headquarters to manage, we also need to educate and develop an internal culture of innovative, consistent strategic marketing. MGI is a strategic consultant and an implementation resource for NARFE. We have not outsourced membership marketing, but we do have Bridgett Boel, Membership Director, as our strategist and analyst, plus three staff members. MGI provides highly experienced strategic input and a dedicated senior manager. The volume of membership initiation could not be implemented without this additional resource. The remainder of the Recruiting and Retention budget ($350,000) is dedicated to membership plan related expenses, i.e., developing, printing, direct mail, purchasing on line advertising, telemarketing hours, etc. to increase our membership. NARFE reached its highest membership in 1982 with over 490,000 members. Early there was sole reliance on OPM who provided full access of names of retirees to NARFE. From , NARFE had no access to OPM. From 1993 to present NARFE has been allowed access to OPM mailings twice a year. Currently the OPM backlog in processing retirement claims impacts the response to our mailings. Our aging membership also impacts our membership numbers; 80,000 members are over 80 and every year there are 15,000 deaths (reported and unreported). While we do have a retention rate of about 90% of which only 22% of all associations can boast; acquisition of new members is our critical focus. In 2012, NARFE recognized the need for an aggressive approach to membership decline included heavy investment in the testing of direct marketing efforts, new to NARFE, but standard within non-profit associations, such as: Acquisition Mailings to lapsed members, prospects and outside lists; Testing of offers, mail packages, and price; Member Get a Member mailing; Online lead generation and cultivations; and telemarketing to lapsed members. The objective was to halt the membership decline while finding paths to large scale membership growth. Lessons Learned: (1) A lower direct mail price offer to the OPM retiree list did not increase response. (2) Member-Get-A-Member effort was not effective. Of 13,800 mail pieces, to members retired less than 5 years, only 26 members joined NARFE. (3) Two direct mail packages were tested one with a newly designed standard package the other with a Faux Membership Card. There was no overall response difference between the two packages, and the one with the faux membership card was more expensive, so will be discontinued. (4) Telemarketing efforts to lapsed members, dating back as far as 2009, have been successful with reinstatement rates as high as 43%. Contacts dropped considerably in June and calls were suspended until September. Resumed telemarketing efforts were lackluster, perhaps due to political robo-calls, and highly successful direct mail efforts. Telemarketing is now suspended but will be tested for unique segments of members. (5) Online Lead Generation (building a prospect list by 4

5 offering free informational white papers online) has been generating hundreds of new prospects per week. Cost per lead continues to be driven down with particular successes with Facebook, Google and Bing. Additional ads and new white papers will be developed periodically and rotated to refresh efforts. (6) enarfe vs. local chapter direct mail offers increased response across lapsed members, prospective members and outside lists. Prospective and lapsed member response rates increased by 70%; outside list response increased by 11%. Results show that enarfe is clearly a far stronger offer for both building and retaining membership. (7) Outside List tests revealed that highly targeted federal employees lists are limited and too expensive to produce breakeven or better results to our standard direct mail offers. Large scale new member acquisition, critical to success will be dependent upon: success of new, response driven offers and dramatically building our NARFE prospect list. Assessment of 2012 Plan: (1) The 2012 Plan was too lengthy. (2) Membership staff must stay focused on greater execution of new programs and testing of large scale strategies. (3) Membership staff, all NARFE support staff and our MGI consultants are working hard and smart. With most membership materials and processes in need of upgrade, we must continue to prioritize, keeping our eye on new membership growth. (4) The final 2012 acquisition direct mailing will include two important tests to gain new members and/or encourage online lead generation: (a) free six month trial offer. (b) free Q&A Book download offer to increase response Strategic Plan: Must address the following: (1) building a large prospect list; (2) advertising, event attendance, and federation/chapter efforts must focus on large scale prospecting; (3) an associationwide prospecting education initiative must be included in the plan. With the overwhelming increase in membership initiatives, we must continue to work with all departments to create efficiencies and best practices. Acquisition: (1) Six individual direct piece mailings to 75,000 prospects, lapsed members and outside lists will include creative offers, and list testing. (2) Telemarketing tests will be used for defined segments. (3) Direct response s will be sent to responders of those prospects and outside lists. (4) OPM creative offer testing to be conducted. Prospecting: (1) Ongoing, online lead generation with four new display ads and four new white papers for rotation. (2) Three month print advertising test with lead generation offer. (3) A three month outdoor advertising test, in three top markets, with a lead generation offer. (4) Bi-monthly Mike Causey Federal News Radio and local (Washington DC Metro Area) radio channel WTOP advertising with new lead generation offer. (5) Expanded HQ event attendance with specific prospecting goals. (6) Continuous monitoring and fine tuning of conversion (lead to member) series. Field Support: (1) Establish quarterly Federation Presidents conference calls to introduce new initiatives, and share best practices. (2) New Recruiting & Retention Journal format to include section for updates and education about new initiatives at HQ. (3) New Federation level prospecting competition and awards. (4) New marketing package for event attendance. (5) Develop model for partnership with preretirement seminar providers. The 2013 Strategic Plan is posted on the NARFE website. The Power Point presentation given by Bridget Boel was provided to Federation Presidents. October Gain/Loss Report: NARFE Total Membership is 268,599 in 1,355 Chapters. October Gain/Loss numbers are a demonstration that membership efforts to push back against long term decline are making significant headway. For the first eight months of 2012, month to month total membership loss has averaged 2,158. As of October, the loss has dropped to 591. The enarfe chapter has surpassed 6,000 members; 6,005 as of October 31,

6 General Membership Comments: When telemarketing is resumed, attempts will be made to incorporate NARFE in the caller ID. The enarfe Chapter is not an attempt to steal members from traditional chapters. True transfers from traditional chapters to the enarfe Chapter are less than 400. Efforts need to be made to increase spousal membership. Exit Surveys are not as effective as Entrance Surveys. The E-Connect newsletters provided to all new members with have entrance surveys and their responses are shared with the highest ranking chapter officer who has . That will help chapters encourage the new member to become active in chapter operations. The Event Kit letter does not mention the enarfe Chapter and needs revision. Federations and Chapters are reminded to provide feedback and prospect cards to HQ for each request for Event Kits. Federations and Chapters are reminded to visit with the Federal Executive Board Directors and attempt to work with them to gain access into federal agencies. However, DOD has a policy of no soliciting on federal property. Therefore, perhaps efforts can be made to work with NARFE Coalition Partners, employee associations, attend agency picnics, or even set up an informational table in a local commuter transit station. Remember that NARFE is your Legislative Voice and Information Resource. Bylaws 2013 Committee: Joe Beaudoin, National President, appointed an ad hoc committee to identify the areas of our bylaws that do not meet the "requirements of the DC Statutes". The chair of the committee is Ron Bowers, Region II Past Vice President and MD Federation Past President. Members of the committee are: William Shackleford, VA Federation Past President; John Stackpole, MD Federation parliamentarian; and John Wheeler, DC federal attorney for non-profit business, retired. The purpose of the Committee is: (1) Identify provisions within NARFE s Bylaws that do not reflect requirements of the DC Statutes and; (2) To recommend any changes necessary to NARFE s Bylaws to ensure that the Bylaws meet the requirements of the DC Statutes and adapt them, to the degree allowed, to the needs of NARFE. The decision to use local volunteer talent was made as a cost savings to NARFE. The committee will make a report on its findings to the NEB at the March 2013 meeting. Re-design of Magazine: Maggie Carter, Editor of the NARFE Magazine, provided the NEB a copy of the cover of the newly designed NARFE Magazine which will debut with the January 2013 Issue. This is just not a new cover on the same magazine it is a total re-design of the magazine. Maggie worked with the very best association design team to do the actual redesign of the look of the magazine, Bates Creative Group in Silver Spring, MD, who has won many awards for its work. The re-design of the content was the result of the survey sent to some 67,602 members, of which there were 12,700 responses. In addition, we contacted an acknowledged expert in contact strategy, Lou Ann Sabatier, who helps associations determine what the content of a magazine should be to appeal to their targeted readers. Two focus groups were also held at headquarters with staff members. In addition, the Membership Department asked some membership related questions in a survey sent to some 6,900 lapsed members. Following the presentation of all findings of the research, Lou Ann led a content strategy session at HQ with officers and members of the senior staff. At the conclusion, Lou Ann made recommendations which guided the final decision process. 6

7 Among the recommendations were to develop a tag line and a mission statement for the magazine. The tag line which will appear over the name of the magazine is: Tireless Advocacy, Trusted Advice. The mission statement of the magazine is: NARFE magazine focuses on legislation and policy that affect active and retired federal employees. As the flagship monthly publication for NARFE members, we provide insightful articles, advocacy tools, problem-solving Questions and Answers and useful columns on finance and retirement. This mission statement will guide story selection as we move forward. New things you will see in the magazine are: Longer, more thorough feature stories that better appeal to our target readers, older current federal employees, ages 55, and early retirees, ages 55-70; and reinstatement of our back page feature where we run a photo of federal employees in days gone by. The magazine will also be printed on a less glossy paper, which will make the magazine easier to read. Things that you will no longer see in the magazine are: the monthly RVP column, Out and About with Chapters as all chapter pictures are posted in the online gallery on our website; Live Well (the health column); and the Civil Service Career Coach. enarfe Organization and Structure: Background: In November 2010 an enarfe membership was approved in order to stimulate much needed recruitment and retention. It was acknowledged that the future of NARFE rested with recruiting and retaining both active and recently retired federal employees and that this group demonstrated little interest in our traditional chapters. An integral aspect of the approval process was the establishment of online enarfe chapters. At the 2011Federation Presidents Meeting in Sparks, NV, enthusiasm continued to build for the enarfe concept and considerable discussion of individual federation enarfe chapters ensued. Due consideration was given to the fact that the operation and management of an enarfe chapter is fairly labor intensive, time consuming and the required technical skills are normally provided in similar organizations by salaried IT professionals. It was the consensus of the Federation Presidents that, considering the level of commitment required; headquarters should continue and manage the enarfe program prudently, yet with an eye to the future. Current Situation: With the overwhelming popularity of e-narfe over the past year, and the growing body of evidence that e-membership is essential to the growth and successful future of NARFE, many federations are justly motivated to evolve their state recruitment and retention efforts by requesting approval to establish enarfe chapters. At this point, it is not only wise, but critical, that we pause and evaluate the association s future. With the potential of fifty two enarfe chapters, we must ask if this is sustainable; if it is attractive to potential members; and if this is in the long term interest of the association. If the answer is no to any of the above, we must ask ourselves how do we move forward ensuring the continued success of the e- concept while making certain that our federations maintain both their advocacy advantage and voting strength. Sustainability becomes a major concern. Can an initially enthusiastic proliferation of federation enarfe chapters be sustained and function over the long haul with volunteers? Can federations ensure that a consistent level of quality and commitment be maintained as volunteers grow tired or distracted by other commitments and depart their enarfe positions? With AFEs critical to NARFE s future, it is imperative that NARFE s organizational structure meet their expectations of a modern and savvy association. 7

8 At this time, as we meet and combat the membership crisis faced by all member-driven organizations, made all the more severe by the aging of our association members, our future is dependent upon well focused strategic planning for the future. Our plans must consider the relevance of NARFE today, in five years and in ten years. Proposal: The NEB proposes a single enarfe chapter, maintained by salaried headquarters professionals. Within the single enarfe chapter, Federations would be considered Divisions of the single enarfe chapter. Federations will be encouraged to establish an edivision and have access to all emembers residing within their Federation, and will include those members within their Federation delegate count. All edivision members will have read and write access to the enarfe blog. Chapter #2363 will be designated as the World Wide enarfe Chapter and will be the home chapter for all enarfe members. The single enarfe Chapter will be governed by bylaws and the enarfe membership will elect its officers. The edivision website will be operated and maintained by the Headquarters IT staff. Each and every Federation is encouraged to establish a virtual edivision. As an edivision, it will not have bylaws, officers, or a chapter number, as it will be a satellite of, and hosted by the World-Wide enarfe Chapter. If a federation elects to create an edivision, then the Federation shall establish: (1) An edivision website that will be hosted by Headquarters IT staff via the world-wide web and be free of charge; and (2) A position of edivision coordinator to oversee the website and provide content driven communications with the virtual federation members. The Federation President will be the edivision coordinator until a Federation edivision Coordinator is named. Each Federation will have access to all enarfe members resident within that Federation in order to keep its members informed on state and local issues. For purposes of delegate count and voting at national conventions, Federation enarfe members will be included in the Federation delegate count as defined in Article V, Section 1.B of the 2012 National Bylaws and exercised by the Federation President acting as the voting representative. Each Federation will be provided online management tools to: (1) Coordinate with and provide information to Headquarters IT in order to maintain a hosted website; and (2) Manage communications with their Federation enarfe members. Dick Thissen moved that NARFE establish a worldwide enarfe Chapter ( Implementation will occur immediately to provide access to Federations of all enarfe members information within their zip codes. In addition, voting strength for that portion of the enarfe membership within each Federation s zip codes will be transferred to each Federation President. This action is established under Rule I, Section 2.B. to benefit membership recruitment and retention (incentive program). The motion was unanimously passed. Guidelines are being developed to provide standardization criteria for the enarfe Divisions. They should be available for review/comment by the Federation Presidents shortly. 8

9 Issues Regarding the echapter: Helen Zajac, Region VIII VP, prepared a list of concerns from Region VIII regarding the enarfe chapter and provided the list to Paul Carew, National Vice President. Some concerns were raised during the NEB meeting, and addressed therein. The perception that enarfe chapter members are National Only Members is not true. The enarfe chapter members are members of Chapter 2363 and as such have the ability to read and write to the Chapter 2363 Blog. They can attend and vote at the National Convention, in fact, one of the enarfe chapter members from Montana actually attended the National Convention as a delegate and was the Voting Representative for Chapter Concern about every enarfe chapter member being required to have is not valid, because the National Bylaws allow a member to join any chapter, without any restrictions. Further, members can access the website from a public location such as a library or senior center and not need an address. enarfe chapter members who join on line are required to have an to join; however, members who transfer into the enarfe chapter are not required to have . enarfe chapter members receive exactly the same renewal notices as all other NARFE members; they are not different. Each Federation President currently has the ability to share Federation/local news/information with enarfe chapter members residing in their Federation simply by forwarding the information to David Snell at HQ, and he will distribute to the appropriate enarfe chapter members. Associate Members of the enarfe chapter are not allowed by the Chapter Bylaws and the NARFE Parliamentarian has ruled that Chapter Bylaws must specifically allow Associate Members. Requested changes to the enarfe chapter Bylaws can be submitted by an enarfe chapter member to the enarfe chapter President, David Snell. Headquarters Building: The National Treasurer reported on an item raised by the Federation Presidents at their meeting in August The One Group, which began as a desk audit, and was advisory in nature, recommended that NARFE sell the Headquarters building and move to another space in the DC area. Review of available real estate, and needs for parking facilities required for the office, revealed that it would not be cost effective to relocate Headquarters to another location at the present time. Further, if the building were to be sold, per the Alexandria Building Codes, it would need to be brought up to the existing Code requirements which may negate any savings to be realized from selling the building. Ongoing review will be made to see, if at a future time, it may become cost effective. Officer Qualifications: The National Treasurer also reported on the other item raised by the Federation Presidents at their meeting in August 2012 regarding qualification standards for National Officers, in which he had prepared a draft of qualification standards, based on OPM SES qualifications, and distributed to Federation Presidents for review/comment. To date about 20 responses have been received. Obviously there is more work to be done and the proposed qualifications do not cover RVPs. However, care must be exercised, as the qualifications must be such that they can effectively evaluate the person, but not so stringent as to discourage members from applying. Many questions have also been raised, about how to get qualified people; how to evaluate them; who will perform the evaluation; how will these qualifications affect nominations from the floor; and if NARFE is really ready for a real evaluation process involving their National Officers. Extension of Incentive Programs: The NEB voted to extend the following Incentive programs for use by NARFE Headquarters: enarfe Chapter Member: Special incentive of $40.00 annually for new and existing members (transfers). Federation receives $4.00 (based on the state where the enarfe member resides). Upon renewal, $40.00 for one year (Federation receives $4.00). $72.00 for two years (Federation received $7.20), and $102 for three years (Federation receives $10.20). 9

10 OPM New Member: Limited to direct mail campaigns from NARFE Headquarters. First year membership fee of $40.00; Chapter receives 1/3 or $ Federation receives $4.00. Two year option: $ Chapter receives 1/3 or $13.33 for the first year and chapter dues of record for the second year. Federation receives $7.20. Upon renewal, they will renew as annual renewing members. NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union-Sponsored Membership: NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union will sponsor new NARFE membership paying $40.00 for a one-year membership. Chapter receives 1/3 or $ Federations receive $4.00. Upon renewal, they will renew as annual renewing members. Six Months Free Trial Membership: Two direct mail tests of a six month free trial membership with no more than 30,000 offer recipients in each of the two tests. There will be no Federation or chapter payment for the six month trial period. Upon renewal (or conversion from free to paid member), they will renew as annual renewing members. Revised Membership Application: Elaine Hughes, National Secretary, displayed a sample of the new membership application, which not only includes the enarfe chapter membership, but also includes a compilation of information to encourage a federal employee or retiree to join NARFE. It will be a 9 x 4 size and approximately 10 pages, promoting the value and benefits of NARFE membership and will have the web address and phone number for obtaining an informational White Paper, which will generate leads for prospective members. The revised application envelopes will be hinged for insertion into PRS kits. The M-2 Prospect Card will also be revised. Status of Action Items: Jerry Smith, Region VI VP, provided a list of action items from the past year which have been identified in the NEB Minutes and requested status of each item. Some responses were provided at the meeting, such as: Redesign of Recruiting Posters in progress; Provide a breakdown of enarfe chapter members on the map in the Recruiting and Retention Journal Completed, but for future issues, the map will be discontinued; the Manual for Legislative Officers and Update of the PAH Toolkit including something on GPO/WEP will be completed either by the end of the year or early next year depending on grassroots activities and needs; and Regarding negative comments on the enarfe Blog David Snell will monitor the comments on a more consistent basis and if there is a comment that requires a response, he will respond directly on the Blog, or respond with a separate . The remainder of listed items will be reported at the March NEB meeting which will be held in conjunction with the Legislative Conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Arlington, VA on March 6-8, Update of Member Records: Evelyn Kirby, Region II VP, suggested that NARFE launch a campaign to have all members update their membership records, hoping to gather more addresses, and correct phone numbers. Perhaps this could be a feature in the Magazine, or a wrap on the magazine to raise awareness among the members of the importance of keeping their membership records current. Life Membership Trust Fund: Concern has been raised about the Life Membership Trust Fund which in the past was not designed with adequate actuarial tables to sustain the fund for long term. At the current rate of transfer from the Life Membership Trust Fund to the Operating Fund, the fund will not survive long term. The actuarial tables have since been corrected for life membership, but for the short term, it is necessary to suspend transfers from the Life Membership Trust Fund to allow for growth of the fund. Therefore, the National Treasurer moved to transfer $24,000 per month for life membership fees from the General Fund for the year 2013 only. The motion was unanimously approved. The correction to the budget will be made during the mid-year review. 10

11 Social Security Field Office Closures: Included in the materials provided to the NEB was a Social Security Administration News Release dated November 7, The notice reports that effective November 19, 2012, Social Security Field Offices will close to the public 30 minutes early each day. In addition, beginning January 2, 2013, all offices will close to the public at noon every Wednesday. Many services, including applying for retirement, disability or Medicare benefits, signing up for direct deposit, replacing a Medicare card, obtaining a proof of income letter or informing us of a change of address or telephone number are conveniently available at or by dialing the toll free number, People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call the TTY number, If you have any questions about this report, please contact: Lanny Ross Region IX Vice President lannyjean@comcast.net Phone: (360)