Red flags such as a 6.3% decline in total donors and a 2.4% dip in total revenue year-over-year in the first quarter indicate charitable giving in the US could be slowing, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Elizabeth Boris of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute says it may be too early to declare a decline in giving, citing tax code changes that may have bumped up 2017 giving and the fact that most donations are made in the year's final quarter.  Read more.  Credit: The...

Earlier this week, Banfield Pet Hospital released its 2018 State of Pet Health Report, which explores the science behind allergic dermatitis in pets and sheds light on flea, atopic and food allergies. This is the largest report of its kind, capturing medical data from more than 2.5 million dogs and 505,000 cats cared for by Banfield in 2017. With food allergies in humans being reported at an all-time high, veterinarians are seeing pet owners become increasingly concerned about food allergies in their pets. However, according to the report, food allergies are diagnosed...

The Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA) and Veterinary Medical Association Executives (VMAE) – organizations that share a commitment to help veterinary practices thrive – have entered into a strategic partnership that will deliver a series of online financial seminars available to your members at no charge. VHMA and VMAE are launching a four-part webinar series, Boosting Your Financial IQ to Maximize Fiscal Performance, designed to elevate the financial literacy of those involved in veterinary management. The webinars will be delivered from 1-2 PM Eastern time on these topics and dates: Financial...

VMAE members headed to Houston for VMAE | ThinkWORKS 2018, convening on Thursday evening, April 12 to probe the topic of “Diversity & Inclusion: A Roadmap for Success in Organized Veterinary Medicine and the Veterinary Profession.”  The workshop was designed to help participants understand how to foster inclusive cultures where uniqueness of beliefs, backgrounds, talents, capabilities, and ways of living are welcomed and leveraged for learning and for informing better decisions – in veterinary medical associations and in veterinary practice. Lisa Greenhill, MPA, EdD, Senior Director for Institutional Research and Diversity...

The complete brochure will reach your email in box very soon … but this preview will help you plan your itinerary while in Denver for AVMA Convention 2018 and the VMAE | Summer Conference!  The Professional Development Committee has shaped a stimulating program based on input from members, and learning sessions are coupled with networking and social activities to deliver what promises to be another memorable gathering of VMAE members.  Here’s the schedule of events: Friday, July 13, 2018 Noon-1:30 PM VMAE Awards Luncheon 1:45-5:00 PM The Evolving Ecosystem of Animal Care Roger Haston, PhD...

An extra allocation of floating holidays for the executive director. A sabbatical. A singing bowl that implies “slow down.” These are a few of the tactics being utilized by executive directors according to author Mark Athitakis. His recent blog post opens with the statement “Executive burnout has a way of trickling down. The smart leader knows when a break is necessary – and plans ahead for it.” A longer article by Athitakis, Ways to Wellness: Leadership and Self-care, appears in Associations Now magazine. The issue of executive self-care will be...

The SAWA | VMAE Collaboration Summit was convened on March 19-20, 2018 in Tempe, AZ. With 31 individuals in attendance -- including board members from both organizations, key staff from both organizations, an expert facilitator, and Dr. Roger Haston and Dr. David Haworth of PetSMart Charities, the primary funder of the Summit -- we enjoyed rich dialog and sharing of expertise, experiences, and insights. The agenda was structured to move from  getting acquainted and setting ground rules (namely, focusing on the opportunities possible through collaborative effort) to presentations (by Drs....

The Access to Veterinary Care Coalition (AVCC) and the University of Tennessee Center for Applied Research and Evaluation have extended the deadline for survey responses as part of a national study about access to veterinary care affecting more than 25 million pets. The VMAE Board of Directors encourages your VMA to help publicize the opportunity for veterinarians to provide input on this critical topic and lend understanding about how to best address this crisis. The survey can be found here. The AVCC is a diverse group, including: veterinarians, animal welfare and...

Two VMAE members have been quoted recently about developments in two domains of association management: In a thought piece authored by Bob Harris, CAE, of the NonprofitCenter.com, about key performance indicators in successful organizations, Bob included comments from Kim Brown Pokorny, executive director of the Wisconsin VMA. Kim stated “I don't just want to improve it - I want to measure it long-term so we are able to identify areas of concern or question through the dashboards and then determine the ‘why’ there is a change.” Bob recently asked an...

VMAE is excited to announce that the 2018 VMAE | Fall Conference will be held in Nashville, Tennessee at the beautiful Hotel Indigo in the heart of Downtown Nashville. The conference will take place November 8-10, 2018; program details and registration information will be released in April. We have negotiated a great rate of $209/night at Hotel Indigo. You can make your reservations by calling 877-834-3613 or online by visiting this link. Please ensure you are either referencing the group block name: VMAE Fall 2018 Conference or the group block...