 | National American Legion Press Association |
“Message from Executive Director Mike Duggan”
Dated: November 30, 2009
First and foremost I wish to thank over 600 NALPA members who have renewed with their 2010 dues.
The NALPA membership is not as well as it could be. As in every organization there are the few that keep the organization as a viable institution. We as members of the American Legion and the National Press Association are among the few that support the majority in maintaining the statuesque of this great organization. Your individual membership is very important to NALPA as well as the American Legion. We are the communicators. The membership card that we carry reflects the dedication we have in getting the veterans stories out to the public. Please renew your membership today.
We are the few that keep the wheels of communication turning. Although NALPA has experienced some bumps in the road, there are a couple of states that have fallen behind in membership There is still time! If those states were to accomplish what Texas did, NALPA would be on the mend in membership today. I have well over 300 membership cards on file of the members who have not renewed as of this date.
The four vice presidents should be in contact with the State Adjutants in your areas and determine who in their state the contact person for NALPA is, make contact with them and, provide help advice and resources in gaining new and renewing membership. Remind them that we have a very good and up to date web site, nalpa.org, and a very informative newsletter. Our newsletter editor is soliciting our membership for opinion editorials (opeds). We are the communicators and we have the vehicles in place to get the word out. Send your thoughts to our web master at alpost201@bellsouth.net or editor aforman@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us or executive director mdug1015@roadrunner.com. Our business is communication lets communicate.
As in every organization, without membership and dues we could not have a National American Legion Press Association. The biggest expenses are the National Convention and awards luncheon. There is little we can do about these expenditures. Postage has become the third largest expenditure and one of the most time consuming duties. Mailings are more evolved than just putting a stamp on an envelope. First, we have to purchase the envelopes, and then we have to address the envelopes. insert the membership cards, and adhere the stamps on the envelopes. Finally they need to be transported to the post office. Very little of this process can be changed. Maintaining a current mailing list can become a very big job. This is were you as members come into the picture. When you change your address send me an e-mail, fax or drop me a card. My Job is operating the day to day business of NALPA, but from time to time I have to call on our membership for help. It doesn’t take much to notify us that you moved. My e-mail address is mdug1015@roadrunner.com or fax me at 1-716-674-2717, as well as our post office box NALPA, P.O. Box 334, West Seneca, NY 14224-0334. Every membership is very important to us we don’t want to miss any one.
Now that we have come under the wing of the Public Relations committee and have a timely newsletter coming out, we don’t want our members to miss any PR information or miss receiving a copy of our newsletter. As for the newsletter we have to thank Joe March and Debra Murrell for their assistance.
Last but not least. Many thanks to Mark Johnson for taking the helm of Florida’s Press Association. Mark has stepped into a most difficult situation and we at NALPA thank him for taking the reigns. Because of the incomplete records of who paid for their NALPA dues for 2010 and who did not we at NALPA sent all current membership cards to the members. Mark and NALPA left the payment or lack there of up to the individual member. If you received a 2010 membership card and did not renew you membership we ask you to forward your payment to Debra Murrell P. O. Box 1055 Indianapolis, IN 46206 and we will see that Florida gets credit.
