I wonder if the SSA Founding Fathers ever dreamed of the progress we would make in glider technology, or even imagined the SSA would still be around today? We’ve been in existence since 1932 – a grand seventy-seven years. Think of the technology used in gliders today, and how much has been accomplished in the last seventy-seven years. Amazing! We’ve done this in no small part because of the dedication of all SSA members. The passion you have for the sport has kept the SSA going. Your innovation has kept soaring technology moving forward, in materials, aerodynamics, instrumentation, and social activities.
Like the sport itself, the SSA has relied on your soaring passion to keep going, and this year, like our Founding Fathers have done, we want to insure the SSA is here for future generations – the fledgling pilots and dreamers.-. To help insure that future, we will invest fifty percent of all this year’s ‘undesignated’ donations received into our endowment fund.
Members who stuck with SSA through our recent years may recall that our endowment fund was the security account that allowed SSA to weather a financial firestorm, and still continue the core of member services. The endowment fund is the same as a savings or retirement account, sacred and untouched for daily business, yet essential to a family’s security. SSA’s current leadership knows that setting funds aside for the future, and creating an income-producing corpus is part of balanced long-term management.
Donors to this year’s Eagle Fund campaign may still designate the programs they wish to support with their contributions. Some of you may wish to allow your donations to be applied flexibly, as current events warrant, at the Director’s discretion. These are the monies that will be split between the endowment and the general fund. We are delighted to advise the members that we can finally ‘look ahead’ to the future, rather than respond with crisis management.
We’re building for our future and we’re implementing new programs along the way. In January we will begin a chapter rebate program to help SSA Chapters and Commercial Operators to grow the Society. We will present more information on this program in a future issue of Soaring, along with other programs as they are developed and implemented.
In order to implement and administer programs, we need your help. Your continued support of the SSA is needed. The support received in Eagle Fund donations allow us to delay dues increases for general operations expenses.
Because your donations are greatly appreciated, we want to better recognize your generosity by presenting new ways to recognize our Eagle Fund donors. Below you will see the gifting levels we have developed.
Diamond Donor - $2,000 and above
Gold Donor - $500 - $1,999
Silver Donor - $101 - $499
Bronze Donor - $1 - $100
Whether you are a Bronze or Diamond Donor, each of your donations are important to us. Remember, half of all 2009-2010 undesignated donations will be reserved for our future.
Thank you,
Denise Layton
Chief Administrative Officer