GUIDELINES FOR MATCHING FUNDS REQUESTS
EVERY Matching Funds request received at NARFE Headquarters MUST include the name and address of the Chapter / Federation officer designated to receive the Matching Funds check. No request will be processed at HQ without this information. Also, no request will be accepted without a specific requested amount. Please note that no Matching Funds can be used for current NARFE members.
To apply for Matching Funds: First, determine the nature of your PR/Membership Recruiting proposal. This must be as detailed as possible. For instance, if you are planning to run advertisements in the local paper announcing a chapter meeting or soliciting new members, you must include the cost of the ads, the size of the ads, the potential general audience (circulation), and the potential number of prospective members who might see and respond to the ad. The request for matching funds must have information on the various costs associated with the project (estimated line item budget) and show how the costs will be shared. (See attached example)
NOTE: It is our experience that newspaper ads must be at least one-quarter page in size, and should run at least three times. We are willing to discuss this provision if applicants find this will stress their budget.
Second, once this is determined, submit this information to your VFC Public Relations Chair. The PR Chair will examine the proposal and ensure correct format and content. The PR Chair will forward to the VFC President for approval and forwarding to National HQ. [The Federation President’s recommendation will play a role in evaluating the request but is not the final dispensation.] All Matching Funds money must be spent on the proposed project. Proposals from Federations should be transmitted directly to National by the Federation President.
NOTE: If you wish to sponsor a pre-retirement session or meeting for local CFEs, Matching Funds can be used as long as it is not advertised as a “NARFE Pre-retirement Seminar.”
Every Chapter / Federation that receives Matching Funds is REQUIRED to provide an “After Action Report” on how the money was spent – including receipts – as well as what was accomplished. This report MUST reach National HQ as soon as possible following completion of the project. A copy of the After Action Report – with copies of the receipts - must also be sent to the Federation President and the VFC PR Chair. Failure to provide such a report will affect the Chapter or Federation’s future Matching Funds requests.
The VFC PR Chair is available to discuss the proposal or answer questions about the Matching Funds process. Contact Gaston Gianni at 703-508-4339 or email at . The National PR Office is available to discuss proposals and offer assistance in designing them, if requested. If you have a question on the eligibility of a Matching Funds proposal, call PR at 703-838-7760, Ext. 268, or via e-mail at . An e-mail version of the Matching Funds Guidelines may also be obtained from . We encourage the use of email to transmit requests and final reports. If that is not possible, the mailing address for Matching Funds requests and After Action Reports is: NARFE Public Relations, 606 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. E-mail: . Effective: 09-01-10 Revised 01-25-13
Additional Guidance for VFC Matching Funds
PRIMARY PURPOSE OF MATCHING FUNDS: The intent of matching funds is to assist Chapters fund events and projects that are primarily directed toward recruiting new members.
Requests for matching funds should include the following information:
· Chapter name and number
· Brief description of the project, the planned approach to implement and what is hoped to be accomplished
· Date and location of event
· Estimated budget/cost of project
· Contact information (email, address, and phone) for Chapter person responsible for the project
Send request with the above information via email to VFC President Luther Santiful and the VFC PR Chair Gaston Gianni at
Additional Guidance on Matching Funds for Advertisement
Chapters can mix and match paid advertising with free advertising any time they want. If the chapter decides to buy radio ads, for example, and they have been getting free ads from the local paper, those freebies may stop once the people at the paper hear that a Chapter was paying for ads on another media outlet. Chapters are encouraged to use paid ads to leverage free ads; the chapter pays for a recruiting ad in the paper a few times in exchange for a pledge from the paper that they will run meeting and news announcements for free. Most media say they won’t do this, but many of them do, especially in small media markets. A caveat for ads: Don’t expect free NARFE ads from a local media source if another local media source is being paid to run NARFE ads.
VFC Matching Funds Final Report
When your event using NARFE HQ and VFC matching funds has occurred, the Chapter is responsible for preparing a final report for submission to VFC for forwarding to NARFE Headquarters.
Letter report should be addresses to: Mr. Luther Santiful
President, Virginia Federation of Chapters
758 Lantz Road
Edinburg, VA. 22824-3073
The following should be included in the final action report:
· Chapter Name and number
· Brief summary of project
· Total Cost of Project (Please attach documentation for expenditures)
· Matching Funds received from VFC
· Matching Funds received from NARFE HQ
· Brief summary of what the project accomplished
· If possible, provide a digital picture or two of the event
· Letter should have the address and contact information (phone and email)of the person preparing the report.
Please forward your report to the VFC PR Chair, preferably via email at . If this is not possible, then mail to Gaston Gianni, 3816 Mulberry Point CT, Dumfries VA. 22025.
Failure to file final action report on a project will prevent a Chapter from being considered future matching requests.
Examples of a request letter and final report follow for your information.
EXAMPLE 1
Ms Elaine Hughes
Secretary
National Active and Retired Federal Employees
606 N. Washington Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-1914
Re: Request for Matching Funds
Harrisonburg Chapter 164
Rockingham County Fair Booth
The Harrisonburg Chapter 164 is requesting matching funds to cover the costs of sponsoring a NARFE booth at the Rockingham County Fair during the week of August 13-18, 2012. The Fair is one of the largest county fairs in the commonwealth and is an excellent venue to spread NARFE’s message and attract new members. This year there was an estimated 80,400 in attendance. The Chapter had three goals:
· Increase public awareness of NARFE and to respond to questions about federal benefits.
· Increase membership with a concentration on attracting active federal employees.
· Provide information regarding the current budget and deficit matters before congress.
The Chapter booth at the fair was open from 10AM to 10PM and was generally staffed with two people from the chapter. During the Fair, the Chapter maintained a Log Book to determine the number of contacts. The following were the visitor totals: 5 NARFE members, 15 non-members, 11 active federal employees and 84 general public.
This was the second year the chapter has sponsored a display booth at the fair. The experience gained from the previous year benefited in a number of ways. Prepackaged Tote bags were filled with a copy of the July NARFE Magazine, membership application, note pads, NARFE pens, various NARFE brochures and the NARFE refrigerator magnet in order to have a handout ready for a visitor. Two table easels displayed NARFE posters applicable to recruiting members. The utilization of Form M 2 cards to collect data regarding potential new members proved to be of great value. Twenty-six cards were collected from people who were quite interested in joining NARFE. A program to follow-up with these individuals is now underway. Some of the cards were from people who lived out of our area; however, we will follow-up with them as we will with all others.
Matching funds are being requested to cover the following costs: Booth rental, $425; Fairground Liability insurance, $75; Passes for workers $80; Postage to mail passes to workers, $3.50. Total costs were $583.40.
The following shows the match allocation:
National $291.80
VFC $145.90
Chapter $145.90
Total $583.90
If this request is approved by NARFE Headquarters, please send a check for $291.80 to VFC Treasurer Samuel R. Harris at 5451 Wintercreek Drive, Glen Allen, VA 23060-6394. The Treasurer will then issue the appropriate check to the Treasurer of Chapter 164. Mr. Paul Graham, Chapter Public Relations Chair is the contact person on this project. His email address is , (540-828-1108). Chapter 164 Treasurer, Al Lillendahl is authorized to receive the matching funds. His address is 3806 Krystal Drive, Broadway, VA 22815.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely
Luther Santiful
President
Virginia Federation of Chapters
CC: Gaston Gianni-VFC Public Relations Chair
Steve Dansker-VFC Area VII Vice President
Paul Graham, Chapter 164 Public Relations Chair
Samuel Harris-VFC Treasurer
EXAMPLE 2Ms Elaine Hughes
Secretary
National Active and Retired Federal Employees
606 N. Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1914
RE: Request for Matching Funds
Woodbridge 1270
4th of July Float
Once again the Woodbridge Chapter 1270 is planning to have a float in the July 4th Dale City, Virginia parade. This is reported to be Virginia’s largest 4th of July parade with over 10,000 people lining a 1¼ mile stretch of Dale Boulevard. The parade is also televised live over the Comcast public access channel to the larger Prince William population which has a large federal employee and retiree component. It will also be rerun several times in July. This year’s parade theme is “America’s Independence Day”.
The Chapter’s NARFE float will feature NARFE members walking and wearing clothing representing their federal careers. Some of the costumes will be rented. Again, this year the Chapter wants to represent NARFE’s “Protect America’s Heartbeat” theme and would appreciate receiving any materials that may be available from National Headquarters. The Chapter is requesting matching funds for the project. The estimated budget for the float is $350 and is broken down as follows:
Ad in program $50.00
Float decorations $80.00
Float Banners $40.00
Costume rentals $150.00
Candy $30.00
Total $350.00
The following is how the project would be funded using matching funds:
Matching funds being requested from NARFE HQ: $175.00
Matching funds provided by the VFC: $ 87.50
Chapter funds $ 87.50
Total $350.00
If this request is approved by NARFE Headquarters, please send a check for $175.00 to VFC Treasurer Samuel R. Harris at 5451 Wintercreek Drive, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060-6394. The Treasurer will then issue the appropriate check to Woodbridge Chapter Treasurer John Lange. An after-action report will be prepared with receipts by Jim Little, Chapter 1270 Vice President and Float Project Leader and forwarded to National as soon as it is available. His e-mail address is and his cell phone at 703-655-9259.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely
Luther Santiful
President
Virginia Federation of Chapters
CC: Pierce Johnson, VFC Area IX Vice President
Jim Little, Chapter 1270 Vice President
Gaston Gianni, VFC Public Relations Chair
Samuel Harris, VFC Treasurer
FINAL REPORT EXAMPLE 1
Final Report on Use of Matching Funds
Woodbridge Chapter 1270
July 4th Parade Float
This is Chapter 1270’s final report on the use of Matching Funds for its 4th July float in the Dale City Parade. The Parade is the largest 4th of July Parade in Virginia. It was viewed by over 10,000 people along the mile and a quarter route in Dale City VA. In addition, the parade was televised live on the Prince William County community cable network and was rebroadcast several times throughout the month. As the float passed the review stand the parade commentators announced the float and that NARFE was representing all active and retired federal employees. Several pictures of the float are included in this report.
The matching funds were used to purchase decorations, signs, candy, drinks for NARFE members on the float, rental of the float bed, and an ad in the parade booklet. The total project costs were $350 with $175 being provided by National and $87.50 provided by the VFC. The Chapter provided the final $87.50. A detailed breakdown of the expenses is attached along with copies of the receipts. In addition, the Parade Book cover and the Chapter ad are attached.
The overall effort was a success and the Chapter was able to get NARFE’s name into the community. This will help as we continue to recruit new members into NARFE.
Jim Little, Chapter 1270’s Vice President, was the committee chair and he was assisted by a number on chapter members in decorating the float and participating in the parade. We appreciate the support of National and the VFC in providing matching funds.
Attachments not included in the example.
FINAL REPORT EXAMPLE 2
FAIRFAX NARFE CHAPTERS FINAL REPORT ON MATCHING FUNDS FOR AD
Thank you for your support of the matching fund project for the seven chapters located in Fairfax County.
In May 2012, I saw a notice in the Fairfax County Times Newspaper about a pull out tabloid publication which would be published in their weekly newspaper on July 27 and September 28. It stated that it was geared toward Fairfax Seniors and it would include articles on retirement communities, health, lifestyle, travel, hot topics and much more. I thought, how about adding NARFE to that list??? I thought that the chapters in Fairfax County who receive this newspaper might want to participate in a VFC matching funds project. Given the heavy concentration of federal retirees in the Fairfax County area it seemed to be a good idea. The following locations were listed as distribution points: homes in Burke, Chantilly, Centreville, Clifton, Fairfax, Springfield, Fairfax Station, McLean, Vienna, Great Falls, Reston, Herndon and Oakton as well as other drop locations such as the Vienna Community Center. I contacted the seven NARFE chapters based in Fairfax County which covered these locations. This included three chapters in Area 9 and four chapters in Area 10. All chapters agreed to participate in the project. At a meeting of the Northern Virginia Caucus of Chapters, we decided we should go for the ½ page ad in the September edition since we had missed the July edition.