If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can see it online.
704 Lisburn Road | Suite 102 | Camp Hill, PA 17011 | 717.236.7644
Dear Pam:
We have a favor to ask - one of our chapters requested a sales tax exemption form for Tractor Supply and apparently it was submitted without all the needed information so it's bouncing out of the submission system. If this was your chapter, please contact Bernadette as soon as possible.
During this month of Thanksgiving, I wanted to express my appreciation for your commitment to Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests. Volunteers are an important tool for ensuring the success of our parks and forests. I wish you and yours a pleasant and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Yours in the Outdoors,
Marci
Marci J. Mowery, President - and the whole PPFF team!
TRAINING
Several groups have added new leaders or executive committee members, so we will once again be hosting virtual opportunities to learn more about such topics as: board roles, committee roles, procedures, etc. Look for an email from us soon with dates for such a meeting. We are also planning our 2022 training calendar…let us know what training you would like. We have found that we need a good deal of lead time to get some of the programs in place.
It's everyone's favorite time of year again. Time to complete your annual report! The form is basically the same as in prior years with two notable exceptions. First, we know that the usual question about your biggest challenge for the year was probably COVID-19. Still. So we're asking you to think beyond that near universal roadblock and think about what else might be standing in the way of your listing four or five biggest successes in 2022. Let's think about ways to improve for the upcoming year.
Second, we've asked whether you have begun or plan to begin thinking in terms of expanding your reach to diverse communities. Those who participated in our level set introductory leadership training with Deborah Vereen this fall learned that Pennsylvania's demographics have changed in ways you might not have noticed - especially if your programs and events remain geared to the same ol', same ol'. Maybe you haven't truly begun yet to plan; maybe you are already ahead of the curve. Either way, the question is designed to, once again, help your group get its thinking caps on.
Access the annual report on Chapter Resources in pdf and/or Excel.
If you know of a local business that benefits from proximity to your park or forest, please let us know so that we might feature them in a case study advancing the idea that parks and forests are an economic powerhouse for the commonwealth.
KNOW
SB 525, which would allocate funding to DCNR for park and forest infrastructure, passed its second consideration in the Senate committee. We believe it will be up for a vote in the Senate during the week of December 12. A companion bill is slated to be introduced in the house by Representative Culver. When it comes time to build the number of cosponsors, we will let you know.
Read our action alert (and send your own version if you have not done so already) with a click to the Take Action Center of our website (https://paparksandforests.org/our-work/stewardship/be-a-voice). Look for "American Rescue Plan important to our state parks and forests".)
PPFF just completed our annual audit. For the most part, it went smoothly, but for one hiccup related to a friends group. Please bear in mind that our financial policies were put into place for a reason—first and foremost to protect you, as volunteers. Please follow these guidelines to ensure compliance with federal and state non-profit management laws.
In 2022, we will be requiring all groups who have sales to keep inventory of the items for resale. The auditor is working on a simple form for tracking, which we hope to share with you in the December tidbits. Sales as a means of raising revenue more than quadrupled from 2019 to 2020, most of it in firewood and ice sales. (The tracker will not track pieces of firewood!) The tracker will better help you to monitor your inventory to maximize your return on investment.
SHARE
We hope to be sharing with you a series of videos on outdoor recreation and health. These videos are good for your social media channels as well as to members—encouraging them to get outdoors.
If you have a success for us to include in our next newsletter—which we will send out in February—let us know. We are always happy to celebrate your accomplishments with our readers.
Finally, our #ERA50 is coming to an end but not before a salute to the three winners of our song contest saluting the amendment made their debut. Please feel free to share the video (found at https://ppff.events/era50-song-winners) that pairs these terrific compositions (by 7-year old Brooke Buser, and slightly older Debra Wolf Goldstein and Edward Holcomb) to photographs.
RESOURCE REMINDER:
The PPFF website is a great source of information and guidance with forms you can use and information you should know.
You receive this monthly email as a result of your position with a Chapter of the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation, our board, or interested DCNR staff. PLEASE do not unsubscribe from this email or you will miss important Chapter information. If you are no longer a member of the Chapter's board, please contact Marci or Pam to let us know.
