March 2008 - COVAA Update

 

Dear COVAA Delegates and Friends,

The COVAA Steering Committee recently sought the opinions of COVAA Denver delegates on such things as our emerging organization's name, mission statement, membership benefits, and priorities. We have collected and analyzed your responses – almost 50% of you responded to the survey!

Please accept the wholehearted thanks of the Steering Committee for taking the time to register your thoughts and ideas. You are the heart of this organization and your input is invaluable. Based on your survey responses in which a majority of you were happy with the proposed name and mission statement, we intend to move forward with these decisions.

The Steering Committee continues to meet on a weekly basis via teleconference and is diligently moving through the long list of projects that need to be accomplished. The Steering Committee is excited to announce the status of the following projects as we move toward the development of our new association.

  1. The Articles of Incorporation have been reviewed by an attorney in Indiana and approved.
  2. The By-Laws have been reviewed and will be the initial guidelines for the new association. The Steering Committee members have decided to leave any further revisions (if necessary) of the By-Laws under the direction of the new board.
  3. The business plan for the new association is in its’ final stages.
  4. The Board of Directors’ Job Descriptions have been approved by the Steering Committee members.
  5. The Board Development Committee is working to finalize the process for electing the first board for "ALIVE". Announcement of the board development committee members and the proposed process as well as recruitment for nominations are expected soon.
  6. Proposed logos for "ALIVE" will be sent to the delegation for input in the next few weeks.
  7. The paperwork for IRS non-profit status is under development and will be submitted soon.
  8. Plans are being discussed regarding the official launch of the organization.

Attached are the Articles of Incorporation, the By-Laws, and the Delegate Survey Summary Analysis for your review.

The process for developing the new association continues to be thoughtful and careful. Steering Committee Members engaged their subcommittee members to help with this process and we have solicited the input of our initial Congress funders, Jane Justis with the Leighty Foundation and Liam LeDuc Clark with the UPS Foundation. In addition, we have solicited input from outside stakeholders. Information received to date on this process and our progress has been both encouraging and supportive. It has taken a great deal of time (and certainly more than some expected) to create an association that will be viable and sustainable in the years to come. We hope you are happy with our product so far and eager to join ALIVE.

Thank you to each of you for your contributions to date and to your future commitment to ALIVE and our profession. Please feel free to share your thoughts and/or your interest with me. I will be happy to share them collectively with the rest of the Committee. We are excited to be on the verge of launching the organization that you envisioned at the Congress in Denver.

Joanna

Joanna Johnson, CVA

COVAA Co-Chair
Volunteer Services Coordinator
Town Lake Animal Center
Austin, TX 78703
512-972-6017
Joanna.Johnson@ci.austin.tx.us or steering@covaa.org

Attachments: Articles of Incorporation
By-laws
Delegate Survey Summary Analysis

Copyright 2008© COVAA. All rights reserved.