View From HQ - 2010/08
"No one plans to fail, but many fail to plan"
After many hours of work by the Executive Council, staff, and other volunteers, the Academy now has its first five-year Strategic Long Range Plan (SLRP). This is a road map of where the Executive Council, with input from the membership, wants to direct the organization.
The old saying "No one plans to fail, but many fail to plan" was the starting point for developing direction and long-range objectives and goals for the Academy. The SLRP gives the Academy a much-needed tool in its development efforts. From the SLRP we develop AMA's Annual Program of Work (POW) and supporting budget.
The complete SLRP is available on the AMA website at http://www.modelaircraft.org/news/2010SLRP.aspx.
Along with its importance to the membership, the SLRP will help the general public better understand that the AMA is more than people flying airplanes. I plan to cover the SLRP and its various parts in my next few MA columns. Following are excerpts from the plan.
In most SLRPs, the first part of the document is dedicated to setting the stage for the reader. It is written as though the reader has no prior knowledge of the organization.
If you don't have the time to read the entire SLRP, the Executive Summary will give you a brief overview.
Academy of Model Aeronautics
Established in 1936, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) is the world's largest model aviation association, representing a membership of more than 146,000. The Academy is a self-supporting, non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote the development of model aviation as a recognized educational, sport, and recreation activity.
The AMA is governed by its Executive Council, a volunteer board elected by the AMA membership. The council consists of 15 members:
- a president
- an executive vice president
- one vice president representing each of the AMA's 11 districts across the nation
- an appointed chief financial officer
- the president of the National Aeronautic Association
AMA is the official national body for model aviation in the United States and sanctions more than 2,000 aviation events throughout the country each year. The organization certifies official model flying records on a national and international level through the National Aeronautic Association and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
AMA is the chartering organization for more than 2,500 model airplane clubs across the country and offers its chartered clubs official event sanctioning, insurance, and assistance in getting and keeping flying sites. AMA is the voice of its membership, providing liaison with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and other government agencies. AMA also works with local governments, zoning boards, and parks departments to promote the interests of local chartered clubs.
The Academy is headquartered on its 1,100-acre International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, which also houses the world's largest model aviation museum.
Executive Summary
Model aviation is constantly evolving. To stay relevant and vital, it is important that AMA always be aware of, and keep pace with, this evolution. This Strategic Long Range Plan (SLRP) was built as a combined effort of the AMA staff and the AMA Executive Council. Working together, we identified current trends and projected where these trends would lead aeromodeling. Based on these projections, we built an SLRP that would guide AMA over the next several years.
Our members have consistently told us that their primary concerns rest in flying site acquisition and retention and government intervention that may impact what we do as model aviation enthusiasts. Additionally, education outreach has been an important part of AMA's history. AMA's membership contains several aviation and aerospace notables who have cited model aviation as the springboard to their careers.
Finally, we wanted to address the concern over AMA's declining membership base. In the final analysis it was felt that in addition to establishing goals and objectives in each of these specific areas, developing a strong marketing program would also provide a collateral benefit in each of the other areas of importance.
Promoting model aviation as a worthwhile, recreational, and educational family activity is the foundation for building a successful approach to meeting all of the goals and objectives established in this SLRP.
This SLRP addresses the primary concerns of our members, works toward maintaining our history of education outreach, and looks to the future by creating a strong marketing effort that will build the credibility of what we do as model aviation enthusiasts. This credibility can only help improve the perception of model aviation in the eyes of everyone from our friends and neighbors in our local communities to elected officials from the local to the federal level.
The result will be a stronger organization, enhancing our ability to protect and preserve model aviation going forward, providing a greater value proposition to our members, while securing AMA's future as the world's leading model aviation organization.
—Dave Mathewson, AMA President
With the development of the AMA SLRP, a change in the allocation of resources was needed to follow the course set by the plan. In the past, the Academy had two separate departments: a Marketing Department and a Programs Department. The two were combined in a cost-saving effort a few years back. The Marketing Department took on the programs and was staffed to support the efforts of both under one department head.
In building the Marketing Department, we were fortunate to hire Chris Brooks, whose experience includes not only public-relations expertise but also development skills. One section of the SLRP is devoted to AMA's development efforts, which have previously been passive.
To truly make a meaningful impact in this area and with the expertise in-house, we have established a new Public Relations and Development Department. It will work with Marketing to promote the Academy, while each department will work in other areas specific to its goals.
Please welcome our new Public Relations and Development director, Chris Brooks.
In the spirit of flight.
Jim Cherry Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
