Volunteerism always is critical to IASA, stresses Joe Pomilia, executive director. "While we work on events, infrastructure, governance, and all kinds of things every other organization or association cares about, volunteerism always is at the forefront because we continue to remain a small-staffed organization," says Pomilia. "We want to stay close to our customer, and the only way to do that is have volunteers tightly integrate with everything we do."
As chairman of the volunteer development committee, Daniel Roskopf reports his group is charged with generating new volunteers for IASA. This is done either directly through correspondence or in more subtle ways.
Most of the direct recruiting at this year's conference will be done through addresses made by IASA president Jim Keal and the incoming president, Craig Lowenthal, during the morning breakfast meetings.
"They'll point out the need for people," says Roskopf, who when he's not volunteering for IASA, serves as vice president of corporate accounting for West Bend Mutual Insurance.
Roskopf's committee also makes sure both the management team and those who already are serving as volunteers are looking for others to volunteer, focusing on chapter volunteers as well as wherever anyone has contacts.
When attendees register for the conference each year, they are asked whether they are interested in serving as a volunteer. Attendees who indicate they have an interest in volunteering are contacted via e-mail and are asked to stop by the IASA operations booth at the conference, where IASA representatives can fill them in on the benefits of being involved with the organization.
To attract new volunteers, though, Roskopf believes it is imperative the current group of volunteers feels rewarded from its service to IASA. "When they come to the volunteer planning meetings, we keep them involved, so they feel they are getting what they need from this," says Roskopf.
Calling All Companies
IASA has struggled with finding new volunteers from insurance companies, Roskopf admits. It has been much easier, however, to find volunteers from the vendor companies that are members of IASA.
"It's easier on the vendor side to get volunteers because that's part of their networking," he says. "It's definitely getting more difficult to get people from the insurance companies. We are making more of a concerted effort toward attracting those types of volunteers."
Pomilia understands the problems insurance carriers have been facing the last two years, which has complicated IASA's efforts to enlist volunteers. "It's harder for [insurance carriers] to carve out the time, and in some ways, there is an expense that also comes along with it," he says.
But despite industry and economic woes, Pomilia points out the number of insurance company volunteers IASA has at the national level has not changed in the last five years.
"We've been able to maintain a core number of volunteers, but as our organization has grown and we are doing more things, we could use some good, solid, active volunteers," he says.
That means IASA has to make the return on volunteerism clearly identifiable. The organization believes it is important the information volunteers obtain and the connections they make bring real value in helping the volunteers execute their jobs when they return to their desks. "Knowing people and being closely aware of what's going on in the industry is extremely valuable for professionals," says Pomilia.
Personal Experience
Roskopf started off as a volunteer at the chapter level for six years. "I went through many different roles with the chapter–president and past president–and I found myself wanting to get involved at the national level," he says. He has worked as a volunteer at the national level for the last five years.
It didn't take much arm twisting with his bosses at West Bend Mutual to approve his volunteer duties with IASA, according to Roskopf.
"They saw the value of the networking and the ability to be involved in the forefront of the insurance accounting world," he says.
In addition to the value of networking, Roskopf also preaches the value of the educational opportunities that can be found at the conference and trade show.
Why It's Worthwhile
Roskopf believes in the soft-sell approach to attracting volunteers to IASA. "It's a matter of just doing a good job in the organization itself and hopefully the CFOs and CIOs that participate in the annual conference see what a good value it is," he says. "We talk about it all the time at the conference, and hopefully that leads to someone saying [IASA] is a worthy organization and builds networking opportunities for their people."
The relationships volunteers establish with their peers in the industry transcend any worries about competitive advantages, points out Pomilia. "A CFO for one company and a CFO for another will have a certain level of camaraderie, and they often are willing to help and support each other, even if the companies compete on a certain level," he says. "That's not to say two organizations that are bitter rivals are going to go out of their way to help each other, but in many cases, companies are not competing directly. Even if they are in the same lines of business, they are targeting different areas of the country or different market segments. It isn't that often you are coming across your biggest rival. People in common positions with their counterparts in other companies, normally within the IASA world, become great friends and great supporters of each other."
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