Local Daycare Associations

[blandino]

Last time my monitor was out, she mentioned that because I speak frequently and am close with 4 providers in close proximity, that I look into starting an association. Tulsa has one, but not our specific Tulsa suburb. I have a couple other friends who belong to ones in other cities, and they have been able to tell me a little about how they work --- but I am really interested in knowing about your local provider association if you have one. Tell me about meetings/ the structure of those in charge/ dues/ what they provide to DCproviders/ etc. I have never been a member of one, so I am a little lost and confused when it comes to thinking about setting one up.

I would LOVE to know.

[DaisyMamma]

Can you contact another association to see what they do

[blandino]

Can you contact another association to see what they do

Yes, and I have. I have read the info from the one closest to us - but I don't think they will be very helpful - because despite being in a different city, they have asked all providers in my area to join theirs - even though it is an entirely different city.

I have a friend who is part of one 2 hours away, and she gave me the contact info for her association. I am in contact with the woman who runs that association. But that is only one way of doing things, I want to hear about as many different ways as possible.

[Laurel]

Yes, and I have. I have read the info from the one closest to us - but I don't think they will be very helpful - because despite being in a different city, they have asked all providers in my area to join theirs - even though it is an entirely different city.

I have a friend who is part of one 2 hours away, and she gave me the contact info for her association. I am in contact with the woman who runs that association. But that is only one way of doing things, I want to hear about as many different ways as possible.

No time now but I can tell you about ours later.

[CraftyMom]

I'd love info on this as well! There are a few in other towns, but not my town.

[Laurel]

Okay, naptime so I can begin. This year is the 25th year for our local association. It was started back then by a few providers to network, etc. Our local association is connected to our state association. Here is the state's website. Our local doesn't have a website. http://familychildcare.org/providers/

Our association is a professional non profit organization (for tax purposes). It's main function is for networking, training, and to provide scholarships to providers for various reasons. When our members attended a training or our state conference it would cost something. If they attended an Applebaum training or other such thing we would also reimburse them. We would pay all or part of their expenses depending on how much money we had from dues/fundraisers, etc. as long as they provided a receipt. That was the main objective of the money collecting part of our local. Also the association was for networking. We also had a speaker at each meeting to talk on some childcare related subject. We found various ones in the community. This was considered 2 hours of training for our yearly inservice requirements.

I was on the board for the last 8 years (mostly cause no one else would take it over :. So myself and 3 others just kept changing titles. We had a president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary as well as a state chapter and area representative. The later so we could be represented at the state meetings held twice a year (I think). We just resigned and new board members were voted in last Saturday as the 3 of us are retiring this year.

We have meetings once a month except for June and December (cause providers don't want to come during vacation and holiday time). A monthly meeting was run according to our by-laws (I think the state association provided those for each chapter originally). Our meeting ran by Robert's Rules of Order. You can Google that.

We had a formal meeting and then the speaker took over. At the end of the meeting each person would receive a certificate of attendance to be used towards their yearly inservice hours.

I am going to do Part 2 on another post as I've had problems before when I wrote something long and then lost it from a computer glitch.

[Laurel]

Part 2

Our local collected dues from each member. That amount was voted on by us as an association. A portion of that money went to state so we could be members of our state association as well. When we first started we had less dues and did fundraisers but members got tired of always doing fundraisers so we all voted to up the dues and do away with fundraisers. Our dues up until recently were $55 a year. We did not pay for speakers. They came for free as most had their own agendas like the tax lady who got business from our providers.

Our dues take care of all our expenses such as scholarship money, stamps for any mailings we might do, brochures we might print. We have an association checking account so the money is used to buy checks, any bank fees, etc. also.

We find free places to have our meetings but most places will want you to carry liability insurance for your group. Up until recently we didn't want to pay for that so we met at the very few places that didn't require that. Now (that we are quitting, grrrr) the state association covers us in theirs. OR you can meet at someone's house but we didn't.

Besides meeting once a month, the board had an executive board meeting when we felt like we needed one. Our by-laws said how many times we had to do it but we did it every month for quite a while. That meeting was attended by the pres.,v pres, treasurer, sec. and the states reps if they want to come or any committee chair people that want to come. Only the 4of us wanted to come so we just met at a restaurant and did it after dinner (we paid for our own meals). It could also be at someone's house. The main purpose of that was to talk about what we would discuss at the general member monthly meeting...to plan it.

We voted on everything, kept good financial records (in case of an IRS audit and also cause we were honest). It was and is very professional.

If you go to our state's website via the link I posted be sure to check out the section that says 'Why join an association?' It gives examples of laws that Florida had that providers got together and got overturned. There is strength in numbers and we have gotten a lot of things changed. It is also great to network and speak to others that do what you do at both the local and state levels.

If you have any questions, just ask. I can also email you copies of our executive board meeting notes, general meetings, etc. so you can get a feel for what they entail.

Laurel