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By Michele Swann
Every now and again, it’s beneficial to revisit
events that over time have become somewhat routine or second-nature. By
re-examining what we do or why we participate in this event or why we belong to
a certain organization, we hopefully come to a better understanding of (and a
better appreciation for) those things that are important in our personal and
professional lives.
As one of your Trustees serving on the IAAM Foundation Board, I not only took a
look at our own Foundation, but I looked at foundations in general, reviewing
their mission statements, and their goals and accomplishments over the past few
years. It was an eye-opening experience.
Most foundations of professional organizations have at the core of their mission
the goal of empowering their members – usually through education and active
participation. “To stimulate a high standard of excellence …” to be “a catalyst
for progress … to inspire people to achieve their potential … to educate,
enable, and encourage” and “to broaden the opportunities” are just a few of the
many ways foundations describe their primary purpose for existence.
I concluded that in addition to empowering its members, the “ideal” professional
foundation provides direction for doing the right thing. It does so not only by
addressing opportunities that match its membership’s core competencies, but also
by inspiring their commitment as well—a commitment that, in the end, says what
we want to be remembered for within our industry. When I looked at our
Foundation and how it “inspired commitment,” one shining example immediately
came to mind: the recently unsolicited contribution of IAAM member Charlie
Thomas.
Charlie Thomas is the Assistant Athletic Director at Kansas State University in
Manhattan, Kansas, and IAAM District 6 District Vice President. He has been an
IAAM member since 1983. Charlie started his career working in the student union
and has primarily worked in university venues ever since. He has seen first-hand
the benefits that grants and scholarships make to education.
“Universities and colleges depend on foundations,” Charlie observes. “Were it
not for the generosity of thousands of public and private foundations and other
philanthropic endowments, most institutions of higher learning would not
survive.”
It is this very real-world view of the role that foundations play in the field
of education that inspired Charlie and his wife Sue to support the IAAM
Foundation. “The programs sponsored by IAAM are not free,” says Thomas. “They
have to be underwritten on some level, and this is where the IAAMF comes into
play.”
The Thomases had planned for several years to give the Foundation a gift and
first shared the idea with Mich Sauers during the IAAM Annual Conference & Trade
Show in New Orleans. Charlie connects with the Foundation on another level as
well—a personal one. “IAAM is like family and from time to time, like every
family, it has its special needs. We should all contribute to the Foundation. It
is the life blood of IAAM. Whether you can give a lot or only a little, it
doesn’t matter. It’s not what you give, it’s that you give. At the end of the
day, it’s the percentage of the membership that gives that is important.”
According to Chris Bigelow, his friendship with Charlie and Sue goes back many
years. “Whether it was attending their wedding or having them host our family in
‘Aggieville’ as we began our oldest son’s college search, they have always
opened their hearts to others. They truly believe in the value that each of us
can contribute to improve this world and through their lifetime of work with
educational institutions, they understand the tremendous results and return on
investment that funding education can make. On behalf of the IAAM Foundation, we
want to thank Charlie and Sue for their generosity and commitment to funding our
industry through education.”
To make a donation to your IAAM Foundation, go to our website:
www.iaam.org/secure/FoundationAnnual.htm. |
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