New Life Membership Incentive
Beginning April 1, a new Life Membership incentive is available for chapter members.

ZIP Code Project
It has been almost three years since assigned and unassigned chapter ZIP codes were last updated. 

Levels of Excellence Awards
The 2007 Levels of Excellence Awards submissions are due June 1. This is your opportunity to tell us about all the great work your chapter is doing in your community.

Get an MOAA National Speaker for Your Next Chapter Meeting
Are you interested in having an MOAA national speaker visit your chapter?

New Flat-Rate Box from the U.S. Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service now is offering a great discount on packages that are mailed overseas to U.S. troops.

MOAA Unveils Year of the Chapter Coin
Read about this and more in the May 2008 issue of The Affiliate.

Give Me 10! New Life Membership Incentive

Beginning April 1, a new Life Membership incentive is available for chapter members. Chapter members now can receive a 10 percent discount when they convert to a MOAA Life Membership, and the chapter will receive Give Me 10! credit for the membership conversion ($20). Interested chapter members should call the Member Service Center at (800) 234-6622, ask for the 10 percent discount, and give the name of their chapter.

Members also are urged to use this new incentive when recruiting national MOAA members for their local chapter. This is one more we can say thank you to our chapter members for all they do.

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ZIP Code Project

It has been almost three years since assigned and unassigned chapter ZIP codes were last updated. At the April 2008 Council Presidents’ Seminar, our current ZIP code listings for each chapter were given to state council and selected chapter representatives (in states with no councils) for review and verification.

These lists also were sent by e-mail attachment in Microsoft Excel format to the president, vice president, and secretary of each council and independent chapter.

In order for us to be able to produce meaningful member recruiting lists for use by chapters, we need the most accurate ZIP code information available. To date, we have received responses from seven councils and five chapters with no state council. We are planning several major recruiting efforts in the next few months, which require accurate ZIP code information. Please provide your updates to us by mail or e-mail by June 15, 2008.

We appreciate your cooperation in providing us with this updated information so we can maintain an accurate database. If you need assistance with the review and updating of these files, please call Carol Robertson at (800) 234-6622, ext. 118, and she will be happy to help you in any way possible.

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Levels of Excellence Awards

The 2007 Levels of Excellence Awards submissions are due June 1. This is your opportunity to tell us about all the great work your chapter is doing in your community.

The Council and Chapter Affairs Committee will review each submission and evaluate it using the criteria listed on pages 76-78 of the Council and Chapter Policies and Procedures Guide. (Download available within Council and Chapter Resources.)

Two types of criteria will be used--objective and subjective. Chapters scoring at least 220 points out of a possible 240 will receive five-star Levels of Excellence Awards, and chapters scoring between 200-219 points will receive four-star awards.

Results will be posted on MOAA ‘s Web site at www.moaa.org/LevelsofExcellence in mid-August, and will appear in our written publications beginning in September. Winning chapters also will receive an award streamer.

Mail entry packages to MOAA, Council and Chapter Affairs Department, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314.

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Get an MOAA National Speaker for Your Next Chapter Meeting

Are you interested in having an MOAA national speaker visit your chapter? If so, here are a few things to keep in mind before making your request.

We have more than 400 chapters, and our goal is to visit each chapter at least once every three years. To achieve this goal, we have established a visit policy based on chapter size.

First, chapters with 500 or more members may be visited every two years, and chapters with 500 or fewer members can be visited every three years. You may request a visit, even if your chapter is not due a visit, if a national speaker will be in your area at the time of your meeting. For example, if your chapter holds a meeting, and a MOAA national staff member is speaking at a Retiree Activity Day nearby, you can invite that staff member to speak at your meeting.

Second, when making your request please tell us the date of your meeting, time (social and dining hour), and place (if known). We attempt to schedule more than one visit during each trip, and this information helps in our scheduling.

Third, what topics would you like our speaker to touch on? The purpose of our visit is to meet the needs of our members, and we solicit support from our entire staff to meet that goal. The director of Council and Chapter Affairs, Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret., and our deputy director, Col. Barry Wright, USA-Ret., are well versed on the current issues facing our chapter members.

The last important tip to keep in mind is “planning is everything.” We ask for at least two to three months lead time when you make your request for a speaker. That’s because we mail out advance invitation letters to potential members who reside in the chapter’s jurisdiction whenever a national speaker visits a chapter.

We hope you will keep these guidelines in mind, and we look forward to working with your chapter to arrange a successful visit. 

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New Flat-Rate Box from the U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service now is offering a great discount on packages that are mailed overseas to U.S. troops. The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box will allow you to fit as many items, regardless of weight, into the box, and mail it to any overseas military APO/FPO (Army/Air Force or Fleet Post Office) address for only $10.95.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate box also is 50 percent larger than the Postal Service’s other two current Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes. The boxes are FREE and available to customers in Post Offices, at www.usps.com/supplies, or by calling (800) 610-8734. For more information visit the USPS site.

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