S.T.A.F.F. Organizational Manual

Mission Statement
To strengthen the ability of small selective private liberal arts colleges to implement successful and innovative Annual Giving programs through the sharing of information and through networking. The S.T.A.F.F. organization relies on the expertise and involvement of its volunteer membership for the management and execution of its annual conference and other activities including member surveys, list serves, website and mid-year directors conference.

Organizational Roles
Chair or Co-Chair
Vice Chair or Co-Vice Chairs
Past Chair or Co-Chairs, Ex-Officio
Secretary/Membership Coordinator
Treasurer (Host Institution)
Conference Host Institution Representative(s)
Website Administrator
Standards Committee Chair
Mid-Year Directors Conference Chair
Steering Committee

Steering Committee (9-14 members total)
1.    Goals and Objectives
Provide resources, network structure, planning and operation of annual conference held each July, identifying trends and topics in higher education as they relate to the annual fund and introducing them to conference institutions, representing membership interests. The steering committee will meet twice a year (typically in October and March), with the location to be determined by the committee, to schedule and set the agenda for the conference, to identify speakers and volunteers, and organizational plans for the July conference.

2.    Committee Positions and Responsibilities
Chair(s)

  • Coordinates planning team, conference planning and surveys.
  • Stewardship of guest institutions, institutional membership, steering committee membership and maintaining relative records.
  • Term: 1 year, renewable for one additional year.

Vice Chair(s)

  • Responsible for the creations and implementation of conference schedules and activities. Help coordinate the identification, recruitment and management of volunteers (member institution presenters, speakers, etc.) as well as pre-conference publicity and announcements
  • Will assume the position of the chair when the term(s) of the current chair is complete.
  • Term: 1 year, renewable for one additional year.

Past Chair, Ex-Officio

  • Serve as an advisor, provide counsel as appropriate.
  • Term: 1 year, renewable for one additional year.

Secretary/Membership Coordinator

  • Record meetings; assist with steering committee communications, agendas, meeting arrangements and reports.
  • Conduct an annual review of member status.
  • Responsible for the tracking and record keeping of Guest Institutions.
  • Term: 1 year, renewable

Treasurer

  • Recommended to be filled by a representative of the host institution.
  • Maintain historical financial records for conference.
  • Work with host institution and representatives to ensure prompt payments for conference, including overseeing bank accounts.
  • Manage and advise steering committee regarding STAFF original start-up account balance and disbursements.
  • Term: duration of institution hosting the conference.

Website Administrator

  • Help devise appropriate programming regarding technology in conference agenda.
  • Explore technology-related issues with regard to STAFF schools and conference as appropriate.
  • Periodically assess the status of technology use in the field.
  • Maintenance of the Staff Website
  • Ensure maintenance of a list serve for Directors and a list serve for  Associate and Assistant Directors. 
  • Term: 1 year, renewable

Host Institution

  • A member from each conference host institution will have membership on the steering committee. Up to two representatives from each host institution may serve on the steering committee at one time.
  • Arrange for logistics of conference including housing, meals, meeting sites, etc.
  • Send and collect registrations materials.
  • Term: duration of hosting the current conference at which time one representative will serve as a committee member in an Ex-Officio role.

Standards Committee Chair

  • Responsible for the compilation and distribution of the annual salary survey.
  • Responsible for the compilation and distribution of the mid-year and end-of-year dollar and participation results of each member institution.
  • Responsible for the compilation and distribution of the annual statistics survey.

3.    Membership
The term for any one individual on the steering committee is four years. Exceptions may be considered to extend any one term for any one additional year. The chair and vice chair may assume other roles on the steering committee following their terms so long as not to exceed a total committee term of four years. Re-entry to the steering committee is allowed after one year of step-down. The chair should remain on the committee for one year following his/her role as chair.
Membership of the steering committee should be representative of the various position levels within the field, (i.e. director, associate director, and assistant director positions). There shall be no more than one individual from a single institution represented on the steering committee with the exception of possibly two positions available from the host institution.

Institution Membership

1.    Criteria and Rationale
The objective of S.T.A.F.F. originates from the first conference held at Colgate University in 1986. The founding members of S.T.A.F.F. created a conference with the objective of having an “intimate” number of like institutions join in an inexpensive setting to focus on and share topics concerning annual giving. Consequently, the following membership criteria addresses current membership based on the founding membership goals:
Institutional size:                       1,000 – 3,500 undergraduate students
Endowment size:                       $100,000,000 or more
Annual Gifts:                             $2,000,000 or more in annual gifts.
Members:                                 annual giving administrators
Membership Limits:                Membership is not to exceed 40 institutions.
Ratified by S.T.A.F.F. institutions on November 30, 2003.

2.    Membership Objectives
S.T.A.F.F. is a volunteer driven organization. Thus, each member institution is expected to actively participate in the S.T.A.F.F. organization each year. This participation takes many forms, from attending the annual conference and mid-year directors conference, to providing data for the salary, statistics and mid-year surveys. Members should reach out to the Steering Committee to express their interest in becoming involved. Each member institution must make every effort to be represented at each conference. Any institution not in attendance at the annual conference for two consecutive years will be considered for dismissal from S.T.A.F.F. allowing the opportunity for a new institution to gain membership. Similarly, institutions that do not provide survey data for two consecutive years will be considered for dismissal. Institutions that do not provide data for any single survey will not be provided with the data provided by other schools for that survey.

Conference Structure

1.    Conference Objectives
S.T.A.F.F. is a volunteer driven organization. As such, the general objective of the conference is to provide a two to three day conference during which member institutions are expected to participate in preparing and presenting topics of interest, facilitate discussion and focus groups, and assist in organizing and implementing other various sessions and events.
The conference should provide meaningful content with an annual giving focus at a reasonable cost so that the conference remains accessible and affordable for three professionals to attend from each member institution.

The success of the conference is accomplished, in part, by the smallness of the group of the attendees. Thus, membership in S.T.A.F.F. is limited to 40 membership institutions with a maximum of six additional “guest” institutions invited on an annual basis, to the annual conference. The conference is limited to no more than 150 participants and will be held at the same location for two years with dormitory lodging and local accommodations available.

The purpose and scope of the annual conference:
Excitement/inspiration
Building relationships
Small
Affordable
Volunteer based
Participation
Active
Year-long resources/network
Salary survey
E-mail lists
Directory
Career development
Motivation

2.    Conference Planning
The S.T.A.F.F. Conference is scheduled for July each year. At the fall planning meeting, committee members will confirm and solidify the date and location of the conference, as well as notification schedules. The objective at the fall meeting is to establish the conference theme (if any), the basic structure of the program, begin the recruitment of “outside” speakers, and establish the majority of the schedule. Planning will continue through the next several months. At the winter meeting, the objective is to finalize the program and schedule, establish the list of prospective speakers, assign the speaker recruitment list, and finalize preparations at the host institution. Through the spring, the committee will communicate via email and phone where needed to finalize the speakers and other logistics in preparation for the registration mailing.

  • Save-the-date e-mail will be sent to all S.T.A.F.F. institutions in December.
  • Hotel information will be sent via email in mid-April.
  • Registration material will be sent to all S.T.A.F.F. institutions in May.

3.    Host Institution Responsibilities
The host institution, with the support and assistance of the steering committee, is responsible for the logistics of the conference, including, but not limited to: budget, meals, registration, lodging, scheduling rooms and meeting areas and evening recreation facilities and events. When possible, it is required that an institution host the S.T.A.F.F. Conference for two consecutive summers.

4.   Guest Institutions
Four guest institutions are invited to participate in the annual conference each year. They must ask each year. After two consecutive years of attendance, a guest institution must skip at least one conference before being considered for a guest institution slot again. The secretary will keep a list of those institutions who request to participate. These guest institutions must meet the S.T.A.F.F. membership criteria (see above). In addition., the host institution has the latitude to invite two additional guest institutions for a total of six guests. These two additional guest institutions do not need to meet STAFF membership criteria.
At the spring meeting, the steering committee members will review quest institutions—those who have inquired, and those who may wish to come. Those chosen will be notified by the Secretary and a save the date notice will be mailed to each institution. Guest institutions may register two professionals, which includes the director (or acting director) plus one staff member.

5.    Attendance Guidelines
The attendance goal of the conference is to limit the attendance to no more than 150 participants. [Modified 2/2009 by increase to four spots per school, described as follows:] Each member institution is permitted to register four administrators (40 member institutions x four professionals = 160 participants). Members of the steering committee are not included in this four member limitation (9-14 participants). Guest institutions may register two professionals, which includes the director (or acting director) plus one staff member (6 guest institutions x two professionals = 12 participants). These criteria permit a maximum of 186 participants at any one annual conference.

If the conference attendance is below expectations in the final weeks prior to the conference, member institutions will be allowed to register a fifth staff member, upon approval from the steering committee. This proffering will be communicated to member institutions in the registration packet/letter, or by e-mail. Member institutions will be instructed to log such requests with the host institution at point of registration. Based on available slots, requests will be met on a first come, first served basis, with each requesting institution receiving one additional slot. If additional slots still remain, each requesting institution will receive one additional slot, following the same first come, first served order, until all slots are filled or until a single-institution limit (determined by the Steering Committee) is reached.

6.    Cost Guidelines
The objective is to keep the cost of the conference well affordable for all institutions and their members. As a result, the steering committee will make every effort to organize the conference on a college campus where dorm rooms and classrooms will be provided, as well as in a geographically central location.

7.   Conference Refund Policy
A refund policy similar to the following will be in effect for the annual conference: “The conference host reserves event space, entertainment and catering services in advance of the STAFF Conference to ensure conference quality. In the event that you need to cancel your reservations, please provide a written request to the STAFF representative at the host school. Refunds will be granted at 100% prior to June 30. From July 1 to July 15, refunds will be granted at 50%. After July 15, no refunds will be issued unless the spot is filled by someone on the waiting list and then the refund will be issued at 50%.”

 Organizational Decision-Making

Membership Decisions Are Made by Agreement of a Majority of Member Schools
Decisions pertaining to general requirements of membership, general benefits of membership, which candidate school will be invited to join S.T.A.F.F. in the case of a vacant membership and other membership decisions will be made by agreement of a simple majority of S.T.A.F.F. member schools, as represented by the directors of the schools or, if a school does not currently have a director, by a senior member of the school's advancement staff, such as an assistant vice president or vice president.
To resolve a membership-related issue, typically a S.T.A.F.F. co-chair will propose a resolution to the S.T.A.F.F. schools using the directors' list serve or by presentation at a plenary session during the annual summer conference. The issue will be described in sufficient detail to educate the schools about the ramifications of accepting or rejecting the proposed resolution and a reasonable opportunity for discussion will be provided.

In order to change an existing organization policy, a simple majority of member schools in favor of the proposed change must be attained. In cases where the proposal represents a new policy area, if a majority neither accepting nor rejecting the proposed resolution is attained after a reasonable number of communications (for example, two email messages sent to the directors list serve, one week apart from each other), the proposal can be implemented with agreement from two-thirds of Steering Committee members.

In the case of filling a vacant membership, a list of every school that has applied to fill the current vacancy, along with a description of how each candidate school measures against the criteria established by the Steering Committee (see below) will be distributed to member schools along with the candidate school recommended by the Steering Committee (see below). Which candidate school will be offered membership must be agreed to by a simple majority of member schools.

Member schools whose annual giving directors are not attending the annual summer conference may designate another staff member (typically an associate director) to represent the school in decision-making sessions held during the conference. This staff member will represent their school as their director would in casting votes accepting or rejecting policy proposals made during the sessions. In order to designate another staff member to represent the school, the member school’s director (or, if a school does not currently have a director, a senior member of the school's advancement staff, such as an assistant vice president or vice president) is expected to notify the S.T.A.F.F. co-chairs at least one week prior to the conference.

Operational Decisions Are Made by Agreement of a Majority of Steering Committee Members
Decisions pertaining to the details of how requirements of membership are enforced, how benefits of membership are provided and what exact form those benefits take, by which criteria potential member schools will be evaluated and other operational issues of the organization will be made by agreement of a simple majority of the Steering Committee.

To resolve an operations-related issue, typically a S.T.A.F.F. co-chair will propose a resolution to the Steering Committee using the Steering Committee list serve or by presentation during a Steering Committee meeting. The issue will be described in sufficient detail to educate the committee members about the ramifications of accepting or rejecting the proposed resolution and a reasonable opportunity for discussion will be provided.

In order to change an existing organizational policy, a simple majority of committee members in favor of the proposed change must be attained. In cases where the proposal represents a new policy area, if a majority neither accepting nor rejecting the proposed resolution is attained after a reasonable number of communications (for example, two email messages sent to the Steering Committee list serve, one week apart from each other), the proposal can be implemented with a consensus agreement by the S.T.A.F.F. co-chairs and vice-chairs. The Steering Committee, by agreement of a simple majority of committee members, can delegate decision-making authority on a specific issue, or for a specific activity, to an individual committee member or subcommittee.

In the case of filling a vacant membership, Steering Committee members will establish, through agreement of a simple majority of committee members, criteria by which candidate schools will be evaluated. Once the candidate schools' have been measured against those criteria, the Steering Committee will, by agreement of a simple majority of committee members, identify a candidate school to recommend for membership (see above).

Executive Decisions Are Made by the S.T.A.F.F. Co-Chairs in Consultation with the S.T.A.F.F. Vice-Chairs
Decisions pertaining to the leadership of the S.T.A.F.F. organization are made by the S.T.A.F.F. co-chairs, typically in consultation with the S.T.A.F.F. vice-chairs. These issues include who will be invited to join the Steering Committee, which members of the Steering Committee will be offered officer roles and which proposals will be brought to the member schools or the Steering Committee for consideration (see above).

Emergency Decisions are Made by the S.T.A.F.F. Co-Chairs
When a decision must be made immediately in order to avoid serious harm to the S.T.A.F.F. organization and the decision-making process described above will create unreasonable delay, the S.T.A.F.F. co-chairs, typically in consultation with the S.T.A.F.F. vice-chairs, will make such decisions as are necessary. These issues and decisions must be described and reported to the Steering Committee and/or the member schools as soon as is possible and the appropriate group (see above) should be given the opportunity to revise or change the decision of the S.T.A.F.F. co-chairs if possible.

Revised February 2009