Thursday, May 1, 2014



Helen Modly, CFP®, CPWA®

Later this week, I will be traveling with Peggy Nelson, our executive director, and Dan Lash, our treasurer, to the Alliance Forum meeting. This is a gathering of chapter executives and executive board members from the 12 largest FPA chapters in the country. (We are among the top 5 chapters in the country.)

The purpose of these semi-annual meetings is to share best practices and common challenges among the larger chapters, as well as to facilitate effective communication between the chapters and the executives at FPA National and the National Volunteer board.

FPA National has expressed their concern that the individual FPA chapters and National are “not highly aligned in their external communications and messaging”. They have task forces working on new initiatives that will explore increasing the standardization of policy, communications, branding, etc., between the chapters and National. They are also exploring whether there should be a “nationalization” of revenue raised from our respective chapter sponsors (we currently are in the top 5 chapters in terms of revenue, also).

It boils down to a fundamental question: does FPA National exist to enhance the effectiveness of the individual chapters in their respective communities of financial planners, or do the chapters exist to promote FPA National’s message to our members. Should the individual FPA chapters retain their traditional independence, or would our membership be better served by a more centralized structure? I believe these are important questions and deserve an open airing of opinions.

If you have strong opinions on this subject, please share them with me by email. In order to best represent our chapter’s members, I need to know what you are thinking.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have ideas for increasing our member’s satisfaction with FPA NCA. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Warmest regards,
Helen Modly
hmodly@focus-wealth.com

2014 President, FPA of the National Capital Area

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