Community relationships
View From HQ by Dave Mathewson, AMA Executive Director
With the flying season ramping up, clubs will begin to prepare for their summer events. Fly-ins, contests, open houses, etc., are a big part of many clubs’ yearly activities. As you make plans for your event, give some thought to doing a little community outreach and invite your friends and neighbors to come out and take part. You might even want to set aside some time to let some of your visitors try their hands at flying a model.
Although it might take extra planning and effort, there is a lot of upside to doing this. It’s always better for us when those in our communities have a clear understanding of what we do.
With all of the negative media attention focused on the irresponsible use of drones—and I want to be clear here that I believe it’s a small minority of users—it’s important that our neighbors are able to distinguish between what we fly as recreational model aviation enthusiasts and the bad things they’re reading about in the paper and seeing on TV. To those unfamiliar with what we do, the difference is sometimes hard to see.
There’s another good reason to build good relationships with your neighbors. That has to do with acquiring and retaining good flying sites. It doesn’t matter how long you have been using a site, whether you own the site, rent it, and have a small number of members or a large number who fly from the site, the odds are better than ever that someday that site will be at risk.
When that happens, a club will have to work to retain its current site or make an effort to acquire a new one. Either way, it’s always best to have your neighbors advocate for you when faced with these challenges. The best way to do that is to become an asset to your community.
When your club hosts an event
… it’s important that our neighbors are able to distinguish between what we fly as recreational model aviation enthusiasts and the bad things they’re reading about in the paper and seeing on TV.
that supports a charity, or an event to introduce model aviation to younger members of your community, the public sees that as a positive action. The public recognizes this and is more likely to support a club that is giving something back than one that does not engage in these types of activities.
Elected representatives like it as well because part of their job is to ensure that their community is an attractive place to live. There is no better activity for families than becoming involved in model aviation. The educational element is something that many other recreational activities might not have. There are serious concerns in this country about where the next generation of aviation and aerospace engineers will come from.
Model aviation has all of the elements needed to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Clubs that become involved in building instructional programs for young people stand out in their communities as an important asset. Your elected representatives recognize this, respect and appreciate your efforts, and are more likely to support you and your club when you go to them looking for their help.
The AMA Foundation continues to do well, and I want to thank everyone who has made a donation to help it grow. The foundation will benefit our association well into the future. AMA is fortunate to have thousands of members who donate annually to help support its programs including the scholarship program, education outreach programs, the National Model Aviation Museum, Flying Site Assistance Grants, the AMA Disaster Relief Fund, and many others.
The value of the AMA Foundation is that it houses an endowment that will hold these donations. As the endowment grows, AMA will be able to fund many of these programs with the gains earned from investing the funds in the endowment, leaving the principal intact.
Although there will be some immediate impact, the true value of the AMA Foundation and the endowment probably won’t be realized for many years. However, it’s important that AMA position itself so that years from now, we will be able to sustain these great programs, and others that benefit our membership without having to rely on membership dues.
See you next time …
