Many, if not most, of you receive the monthly MOAA Magazine. While it routinely contains informative articles, the current October issue (Pgs 42-53) has an interesting article on Councils and Chapters. What we found especially informative were some of the statistics in the “callouts” on norms for Chapters. It made us pause and compare some of those with our own Chapter efforts. We thought it would be worth your time to read how we see ourselves as fitting (or not) into some of these numbers.  

The first callout was on “dedicated scholarship programs”. We are clearly part of the quoted 63% and have been for years. Our Chapter initiated fundraising for four MOAA endowed scholarships in 2007 which required raising $100,000. Our area scholarships are a long-term core Chapter program, run by the Chapter that selects some truly outstanding young men and women from our area high schools who are university bound. This year we increased our number of area scholarships to six, $1000 scholarships. This is only possible due to your generosity. As a reminder, our funding campaign is year-round so please consider giving every year.  

Next was the callout on “fundraising for causes”. According to the statistics only half of MOAA Chapters do this. We just completed our fourth annual fundraiser and raised over $1000. As noted in the Lawton Constitution, we use the funds to support a variety of needs in our area that vary from year to year. While most are veteran related, other community needs like the Lawton Food Bank are part of our efforts. We have kept our Chapter dues low and look to donations and fundraising events to let us continue to serve our community.  

The statistic went up to 70% for participation in community service. Your Executive Board has struggled with this one. The recent survey many of you completed is being evaluated to help us better focus our efforts for next year in accordance with your feedback. Some of the more prominent ones we have routinely supported are the Fort Sill National Cemetery, the Veterans Center and the Military Welcome Center.  

We believe we have solid partnerships with the local JROTC and SROTC programs as well as the Comanche County Veterans Council (CCVC). The participation of the MacArthur JROTC Color Guard and Cameron cadets in our Annual Recognition Dinner is a notable example. Conversely, we awarded the Mac JROTC program $500 in recognition of their winning the state level drill team competition for multiple years. Our participation in the CCVC hosted Legislative Breakfast to put your issues before your elected representatives is another example.  

The article highlighted that 85% of Chapters host regular membership meetings with 81% having speakers. We clearly meet this metric with our bi-monthly meetings. The recent presentation on the Fort Sill National Cemetery and national burial policy changes by Matt Priest is our most recent example. While firsthand is always better, we do record our speakers and make their presentations available on our YouTube connection from our website for those who are unable to attend but would like to get the information at their convenience.  

We are clearly outside the norm where 70% of the membership numbers are stable or growing. We were once a Chapter of well over 250 members. Currently, we are struggling just to maintain our numbers of the last few years. Every month your Executive Board discusses possible efforts to tackle this issue.  

Another challenge where we are in the majority is open leadership positions. As we write this, we are trying hard to find candidates for the positions of Vice President and Membership Director for next year. Compounding this is the number of folks who have served continuously in multiple positions for many years. While continuity is great, fresh energy and ideas are healthy.  

As always, please pass us any feedback you may have on any of this.