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December
This will be my last term on the board of directors of RVW during which I served four years as Treasurer. It has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.
When I joined the Air Force (fresh out of high school), my brother’s advice was, “Do not volunteer!” That was some of the best advice he ever gave me.
I know that being on the board is a volunteer position and, I must say, an honored one. I met Jan Harris in 1995, and we became great friends. When a friend needs help, you can’t turn her down. After all, I was a CPA and had experience, so I thought getting involved wouldn’t take that much of my time. Wrong!
About the same time that I was elected, RVW was notified that the IRS would like to audit the books for 2003. Now this is where the fun began. It was 2005 and we working with Jan Harris, who served as RVW president in 2005 and 2006. We spent that first year working on the IRS audit. That was settled, but we lost our 501(c)3 status.
From there, we started working to secure status as a 501(c)7 social group. All of us—Jane Swalley CPA, Jan Harris and myself, with the assistance of other RVW directors—worked to secure the 501(c)7, which enabled us to remain a nonprofit organization. We have a ton of paperwork testifying to this accomplishment.
In 2007, I volunteered to serve on the board of directors again. Jan also remained on the board, but not as president. She worked on the group exemption letter, and we all found out that Jan loves to delegate work. So again, all of us helped in one way or the other, but Jan did the work to get the trademark for the RVW logo.
I figured that I could breeze right through this year, 2008, but all of you who have worked with RVW President Candy Wood know that you do not breeze through much of anything. With the help of the Finance Committee, which Jan chaired, we accomplished writing a Financial Handbook and have started on the convention accounting part of the Convention Handbook. Rem Remley dug into Policies and Procedures and Beckey Becky, as board secretary, worked hard in getting all the paperwork on these down and in order. This is just a few of the million items that got accomplished this year, which I must say is thanks to Candy.
Every board member, regardless of what year they served, has done a remarkable job in the behind-the-scenes everyday operation of RVing Women. It is a lot of work just by itself, let alone taking on all the new tasks that come up along the way. Just reading and responding to all the data that goes back and forth is a lot, not to mention the needed research involved. I really take my hat off to every director, or better yet, give each a big hug, for all the time and effort they have volunteered. Each year RVing Women gets a lot stronger, and we are reaching the goals that we set out each year. Most get accomplished, but then you have to leave something for the next year’s board to do.
I have made a lot of new friends with other board members that I will always cherish and have come to know many RVW members personally. It has been fun and very personally, rewarding. And yes, I did volunteer for the Finance Committee for 2009.
As RVW board liaison to the Member ¬Services Committee this past year, I also would like to thank Ardie Jarrett, chair, and her committee, Norma Dalla Santa, Lyn Rogers, Barbara Roeder, Sheila Welt, and Constance Wray, for their continued efforts to meet their charge. Over the course of several years, they have developed techniques to gather information on why members do not renew and have worked to develop strategies for retaining members. They have developed and implemented the ambassador program concept for welcoming new members to chapter and national activities and helping members establish new chapters in areas where they may be needed. They have worked diligently with chapters, giving support, answering questions, making suggestions, and sharing ideas from other chapters. They have had many successes, but there is still a long way to go. This committee has done more analysis and come up with a plan where a membership chair from each chapter will now be on this committee. They have gathered and developed lots of valuable information for this newly developed committee to use in the coming year.
I would like to take my hat off to each of them, and to those who have served on prior Member Services Committees, in recognition of all the time and effort they have given in dedication to RVW and the task that they were given.
Congratulations on a job well done!
—Sally Johnson
Do you have someone you’d like to thank? Submit your gratitudes to Candy Wood rvwcandy@rvingwomen.org.
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