Adopt-an-EAC

What is the Adopt-an-EAC Program?

The California Employer Advisory Council's Adopt-an-EAC Program is intended to provide help with any issues which adversely affect the local EAC's abilities and effectiveness in the employer community. The Adopt program provides assistance to EACs and their members. These problems can span the entire spectrum of the following categories of the most frequent problems, which beset the EACs in California.

The range of problems includes, but is not limited to, the following:

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
CEAC Dues
Conference Registration and/or Travel Expenses
"Seed" Money
Operating/Startup Loan

MENTOR SERVICES
Assistance with:
Membership Campaign
Marketing
Recruiting Board Members

Seminar Planning:
Brochure
Speakers
Registration Table
Publicity
Logistics

Contact your CEAC Region Vice President for more information and assistance.

Adopt-An-EAC Program Process

Regional Vice Presidents will need to play a large and active role in order for this program to be successful. The RVPs must identify EACs in need of assistance and EACs willing to help out, and then assume the role of matchmaker in order to bring applicable skills and strengths of the latter to the assistance of the former. Since proximity is important in providing and receiving mentoring assistance, mentors should ideally be found within the region, which makes the RVPs' role important. Assistance from the CEAC should be considered in some respects as a last resort and a short-term solution, typically to a financial need rather than a mentoring one.

RVPs should be the principal point of contact for both the local EACs and the CEAC, and should be aware of and involved in any assistance efforts on behalf of an EAC in their region. They should be highly proactive about intervening before an EAC is seriously weakened.

Process Outline:

  1. Identify EACs in need of assistance
    1. RVPs publicize the program so that EACs can ask for help
    2. RVPs stay current on health of EACs in their regions
      1. Current dues paid up
      2. Membership numbers
      3. Frequency of and attendance at seminars, other events
      4. Governance structures in place and stable (Boards/Steering Committees)
      5. EAC Coordinator on board and available
  2. Determine what assistance is needed (note: the types of assistance needed are general rather than detailed, in order to give RVPs room to be creative in both identifying areas of need and developing local solutions.)
    1. Cash
    2. Membership building
    3. Organizational structure
    4. Board training
    5. Event planning (speakers, locations, etc.)
    6. ???
  3. Try to offer assistance at the local level
    1. Cash need:
      1. RVP will determine whether other EACs in the region, either singly or as a group, can offer financial assistance
    2. Need for other expertise:
      1. Pair with a healthier neighboring EAC, if available
      2. RVP personally meet with Chair or committee to evaluate needs, offer advice
  4. CEAC level assistance (local assistance unavailable or insufficient)
    1. RVP assists EAC to make assistance request to CEAC
    2. CEAC maintains small standing committee to evaluate/act on requests
    3. Cash requests:
      1. Application must demonstrate need
      2. CEAC may waive dues
        1. Dues may be waived for maximum two years
        2. Second-year waiver dependent on verifiable progress during first year
      3. CEAC may grant or loan money for a specific use (facility rental or speaker fee for a seminar; or forgive conference registration, for instance)
        1. Amount should not exceed the equivalent of two years' dues
        2. Proposed expense must be clearly in line with EAC's improvement objectives
    4. Non-cash requests
      1. Committee will develop and maintain a list of EACs interested in mentoring other EACs
        1. RVPs should recruit potential mentors
      2. Match up EAC requesting assistance with a mentor EAC. Look for a mentor with at least one of the following:
        1. Similar employer bases (agriculture, urban, etc.)
        2. Similar history (struggle, recovery, growth)
    What is an EAC Mentor?

    An EAC Mentor is an EAC that volunteers to assist or support an EAC that is having difficulty.

    How you can become a Mentor?
    Let your R.V.P. know that you are interested in becoming a Mentor.

    What are some of the activities of an EAC Mentor?
    1. Helping plan and organize a membership campaign;
    2. Attending a board or general meeting of the group requesting assistance;
    3. Helping develop a board of officers for the group, even if it is only two employers and their coordinator;
    4. Helping the board and coordinator recognize their strong areas and the areas that need reevaluating, developing a plan of reorganization; and
    5. Assisting with planning a seminar, covering the following:
      1. Brochure designs
      2. Speakers
      3. Registration table D. Publicity
      4. Logistics
      5. ATTENDING THEIR SEMINAR AND ASSISTING WHERE ASKED
        (If you help with the registration table, the local employers can interact with the seminar attendees.)

    FINANCIAL AID
    Financial aid can come from two sources:

    1. Other EACs in the region
    2. The CEAC Adopt Program

    As a mentor, your should help the reorganizing group evaluate their funds or "seed" money. If there is a shortfall, you should apply for assistance through your R.V.P. This assistance can be in the form of forgiving current CEAC dues, and all or part of the conference fees or loan for operating money. The applications are easy to complete, and most requests can be handled at the region level.

Click here for an Adopt-an-EAC Application Form.



Printed from the CEAC website: www.ceac.org - on Monday September 6th, 2010
http://ceac.org/about/adopt_an_eac/

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