In his State of the Association address, ANPR President Lee Werst made these remarks Nov. 11, 2006, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at the annual Ranger Rendezvous.

Welcome to Coeur d’Alene and the 29th Ranger Rendezvous. When I assumed the office of president in 2004, ANPR faced an imminent financial crisis due to the drain placed on the treasury by the cost of maintaining the executive director, which was aggravated by the lack of fundraising to sustain the position.

The Board of Directors realized at that time that some hard decisions had to be made for the survival of the organization and did decide to terminate the executive director position. Since then the board has worked to find efficiency in operation while adopting budgets tied to realistic revenue projections. While these measures have helped stabilize ANPR, more needs to be done in order for a full and permanent recovery of the association.

With that in mind, the board explored an option over the summer that could have led to better service for the membership. For some time there has been dissatisfaction with the level of support ANPR has received from the current business office. The board and members in general have noticed a lack of attention to detail in the maintenance of our membership database, the lifeblood of any organization. As a result the board looked into the possibility of transferring our business office to an association management company (AMC), a firm that deals specifically with the operations of organizations. After a thorough screening and interview process it was determined that it was not financially viable for ANPR to hire an AMC at this time. Instead, the board is looking at alternatives, including the use of volunteers and contracting some services, in order to move away from the current business office. Specifics on this will be decided at this Rendezvous. This should result in better service for members and more accurate membership records.

Another area that will see action during this Rendezvous is a revision of our dues structure and membership renewal dates. Some of the AMCs we talked to gave advice on how to become more efficient in this area. One suggestion was to charge dues that fully service a membership. Many of our current categories ask for dues at a level below that needed to service the membership. A new dues structure with fewer categories to simplify membership will also be acted on here. Another suggestion for simplification was the establishment of one annual date for renewals. A decision on that implementation will also be made here.

Fundraising is another area that needs emphasis. This past year the association actively pursued an overture from a major corporation for sponsorship of ANPR. That deal eventually fell through. However, I believe that opportunity demonstrated that a sponsorship deal is possible and needs to be pursued. Other fundraising initiatives have already been discussed at this Rendezvous. The board has moved toward increasing the number of ads in Ranger magazine and the start of ads on the ANPR website. We will also seek clarification on the possibility of contributions, not membership dues, being tax deductible in order to have an annual donation drive as other organizations have.

Based on the current state of these affairs I can say that ANPR may have been better off 10 years ago, but we are now moving in the direction we need to go in order to return to complete health. I also want to point out that the three board positions most responsible for the areas I have mentioned — President, Fundraising and Membership — are open for nomination at this Rendezvous.

The current board is moving the organization into a position that will make the work for these board members very challenging, as well as rewarding, and it will have a major impact on the future of ANPR.

Additionally, the secretary position has become vacant, with one year left on the term, and will be filled through an appointment with the concurrence of the board. I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in any of these positions to talk to a board member about taking up this work for the association.