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MPI Chapter Leader Newsletter

January 2025

January 9

Welcome!

 

Success Through Collaboration

 

Welcome to all Volunteer Chapter Leaders and a special welcome to those of you joining your Chapter Board of Directors for the very first time. Our monthly Chapter Leader Newsletter is a summary of the resources, information, and training to help you succeed this year. We are excited to see you lead in 2025!

Leadership and Engagement

Reminder: Appoint Governance & Nominating Committee in January

Chapter Presidents - January is the month to appoint your term’s Governance & Nominating Committee. The committee assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities relating to developing and implementing sound governance policies as well as a nomination process for directors and officers. This committee should be active for your entire term. The committee should be made up of at least six members including the Immediate Past President as Chair, President-elect as a non-voting member, and having a quorum of 5 committee members for action. Now is the time for committee formation, familiarization with MPI Chapter Bylaws and the MPI Chapter Policy Manual. Additionally, it is a great time for the committee to begin to digest the Board structure, roles and review all Board job descriptions to ensure relevancy and necessary revisions.  

New Board Report Template Available

A refreshed and revised Board Report Template (a.k.a. Team Status Report or Committee Status Report) is now available on the CLRP. The resource includes a sample report and the template. Keep your Board Meetings flowing by keeping your conversations high-level using this new template to set you up for success! CLRP > Office of the President > MPI Chapter Board Service > Board Report Template

Reminder: Monitoring Board of Directors Membership

As you begin the year, create a process to monitor active membership for your Board of Directors. If a Board member’s membership lapses, they shall no longer serve on the Board and must be removed. There are no exceptions to this compliance requirement.

Thank you, Drew!

Drew Holmgreen will be leaving MPI to become the President and CEO of Promotional Products Association International (PPAI). Over his seven years at MPI, Drew has been a passionate advocate for volunteers, significantly contributing to the growth of our communities and Regional Councils. His leadership and insight will be deeply missed, but his new role is a testament to the caliber of leaders MPI cultivates - leaders who go on to thrive in influential positions. Drew will transition immediately, remaining active with both organizations in January with his last official day with MPI being January 24.

Timothy Gunn will continue to oversee the Community team during this transition, while plans for Drew’s replacement are being developed.

Chapter Demographics Report

The bi-annual Chapter Demographics Report is now available via the CLRP under the Chapter Metrics area. This report provides a snapshot of your chapter’s membership profile and useful information for developing sponsorship prospectus. A quick reminder that this report is only updated twice a year, in January and July. 

Chapter Leadership Summit 2025

All FY2026 Chapter Leaders will be invited to attend the virtual Chapter Leadership Summit on Thursday, September 11, 2025.  Please mark your calendars now and include this date in your Nomination Process to ensure new Board members attend this important training session. Complete details will be shared as they are finalized in the Chapter Leader Newsletter.

Membership

Membership Update

December Membership Campaign Results

Thank you to all the Chapters, Clubs, and members who helped promote the Cyber Monday and Holiday Sale last month. Your emails, social media efforts, and other outreach helped us close 2024 on a high note.  

The Cyber Monday sale brought in 240 new members and more than 500 renewals, and the Holiday Sale brought in an additional 60 new members. We are thrilled to begin a new year with so many new and returning members!  

We’re here to support your membership efforts!

As the new year begins, remember you can always reach out to your Member Engagement Representative at MPI Global for any membership support. They can assist with New Memberships, Membership Renewals and Reinstatements, Auto-Renewal Activation/Deactivation, Membership Upgrades, Installment Plan Agreements, Membership Transfers, Unemployed Member Assistance, Retired Membership, Lifetime Membership, Profile Updates, Membership Reports, Login Assistance, and more!  

If you don't know who your Member Engagement Representative is, check the CLRP under Chapter Leader Training > Board Orientation > MPI Team Contacts 2025, or email the Member Engagement Team at feedback@mpi.org. 

Administration and Finance

FY2023-2024 Dashboard Information Review

The FY2023-2024 Chapter Dashboards will be closed/locked soon February 1. Please review your dashboard data in its entirety for missing or incorrect information and if you have any changes, please submit them to your Regional Operations Manager (via a dashboard update form) immediately to ensure they are corrected.  Any missing or incorrect information submitted after January 31 may result in a loss of the Annual Metric Incentive Awards.

Reminder: Board Meeting Materials and Meeting Invitations

Please remember to include your Regional Operations Manager in the distribution list of all monthly Board Meeting materials and meeting invitations.

Education

GMID Chapter Participation and Shout Out

This year, GMID is on April 3. We are taking attendees on "The Road to GMID” as our theme for this year’s production as we look to celebrate globally with our industry collectively.   

 

We are inviting you to participate in this monumental event that promotes advocacy & celebration of great industry! If you are interested, the MPI Academy would like to highlight your chapter or tune in to a live celebration. 

For more information or to confirm you are interested in participating, please email Lexi Roberts at lroberts@mpi.org by February 7.

Events

Sitefinity Training

Training will be held for Chapter website administrators or anyone who is making updates to the Chapter website. Learn tips to be more efficient, tactics to help engage your audience, and best practices to save you time. Plus, a Q&A with MPI's IT team so bring any issues you need assistance with. 

QuickBooks Training and Support Session

This session will provide general guidance on how to use QuickBooks, share best practices, and answer any specific questions you may have. Bring your questions! Open to any Chapter Leader or Administrator who uses QuickBooks at an MPI Chapter.

March 4 at 10:00am CST - Register here

Who Has QuickBooks Online Questions?

The MPI Finance Team will be providing a QBO training session in March, and we need your feedback to create helpful content.  We will be sending a survey shortly to collect information from your Chapter Administrator or VP of Finance.  Please respond when you receive it, so we know what your challenges are when using QBO.  Thank you, look forward to seeing you in March!


Receptions and Meet-ups at WEC St. Louis

Need assistance selecting a location for your after-hours chapter reception or meet-up during WEC in St. Louis.? If you are planning to schedule chapter meet-ups/receptions/etc., please do so on Thursday, June 19 between 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Please contact Darian Jenkins with Explore St. Louis at DJenkins@explorestlouis.com or 314-992-0621. 

Register Today for Q1 Volunteer Chapter Leader Calls

January 16 Solution Rooms Virtual Meetup

They're back! MPI Solution Rooms foster active, meaningful connections between attendees, and provide peer-to-peer support and solutions to the challenges Volunteer Chapter Leaders are current facing.

This month Solution Rooms will be available for the following departments: Office of the President, Marketing & Communications, Finance & Sponsorship, Education, Chapter Administrators, and Membership.

Breakout room recordings available on the CLRP > Chapter Leader Training > Solutions Room.

January 30 All Hands Call

MPI Chapter Leader All Hands Calls inform Volunteer Chapter Leaders with crucial information and updates about our association. Hear from MPI Leadership about important association updates, projects and programs to help you guide your chapter to success in 2025.

Listen here! 

April 24 All Hands Call Chapter Awards

Join your fellow Volunteer Chapter Leaders as we recognize our FY2023-2024 Chapter Merit Award Winners! Come see if your Chapter will be recognized as a Chapter of Excellence, Top Performing Chapter, or Chapter of Merit based on your FY2023-2024 performance. Register in advance and invite your entire Board.

April 24 at 10:00am CST - Register here

EMEC Türkiye Registration is Next Month!

Registration for EMEC Türkiye in Istanbul, 22-25, February 2025 is open! To help spread the word and promote it to your Chapter audience, we've provided a toolkit on the CLRP with assets and copy to use. 

The toolkit is available on the CLRP > Chapter Toolkits > Monthly Toolkits section.  All FY2025 IBOD, GBOT, Volunteer Chapter Leaders, Chapter Administrators, and Regional Council members are eligible for discounted registration.  You must be a member in good standing at the time of registration.

WEC 2025 St. Louis Volunteer Chapter Leader Discount Registration

All FY2025 IBOD, GBOT, Volunteer Chapter Leaders, Chapter Administrators, and Regional Council members are eligible for discounted registration. You must be a member in good standing at the time of registration.   

WEC 2025 Discounted Rates:   

  • Planner Member = $729   
  • Supplier Member = $1,129   
Use this link to access the leader discount: Register Online Today! 

MPI Foundation

WELCOME 2025!

Hello Chapter Leaders (Thanks for reading to the end!)

I am sure you are all curious, I know I was. Imagine how excited I was to learn in 2024 MPI Chapters provided a donation of over $40,000 (USD) with a response rate of 40% of MPI Chapters who chose to support the Foundation. I appreciate that this sum is the accumulation of personal effort and your commitment to’ just do something’. Thank you all so much.

Welcome to 2025!
A new year brings opportunities to not just do more, but also to do some things differently and some things better. I trust encouraging you to ‘plan ahead’ will result in an even higher participation rate and a higher donation total in the coming year. Let’s keep our momentum going!

I am hoping that you will continue to share ideas and strategies for creating easy and interesting activations on how your Chapter has found success.  I recently received a note from MPI San Diego Chapter on their 2024 achievements: They implemented a registration fee strategy mid- year and added a Book Sale in the fall. Their donation was approx. $1,000.00. Easy. Thank you.

As you know, the funds raised for the MPI Foundation allow us to provide Scholarships and Grants. I will always provide the link, however; see below for some specific scholarships that are very timely. Please note all options can be found using this link: https://www.mpi.org/foundation/get-help/scholarships.

The MPIF can confirm 2025 will see more scholarship opportunities to benefit MPI Members.  It is so important to share these opportunities with your chapter members on a regular basis.

EMEC Istanbul 2025 Scholarships - Applications still open January 6 -19, 2025.

Hardship Scholarships following Hurricanes (2024) - open until January 31, 2025.

Discover Puerto Rico Certificate Course Scholarships are available in the type and variety listed on the webpage. Applications received by January 26 will receive notification by Feb. 7 and those received between Jan. 27 and Feb. 16 will receive notification by March 3.  

NEW Visit Tampa Bay HMCC Scholarships are eligible for planners to take their HMCC certificate course through the month of August, or until all scholarships are awarded, whichever is sooner.  

Check out the options for Chapter grants too. How can we help with your programming success? https://www.mpi.org/foundation/get-help/chapter-grants  

We still have $500 Cvent grants and ALHI Anti-Human Trafficking Grant funds are still available.

Schedule of What’s Next:
Early 2025 - Chapter Impact Reports. These will be sent to the OOP. It is important to remember that these reports are a snapshot of your chapter activity and reflect donations made and scholarships received.

Early 2025 - Chapter Pledge Letters. This will be your opportunity to commit your planned support to the MPI Foundation in 2025.  

Reminder: if you are really proud of your 2024 fundraising efforts and results, we have an AWARD for that called “Chapter Champion”. More details are coming soon.

Thank you again for a terrific 2024, and I look forward to keeping you up to date through 2025.