Idea No. 8 for keeping AAJA extraordinary:

I believe that everyone serving on AAJA’s chapter boards and National Boards should contribute to the organization an amount above his or her membership dues. Some nonprofit boards actually stipulate that each board member will donate or raise a certain minimum amount of money every year, sometimes called a “Give, Get or Get Off the Board” policy.

What does AAJA get out of it? More than our dollars, AAJA needs people committed to our mission, both in terms of donations and sweat-equity. We wouldn’t be the organization we are, or have survived 31 years, without our unbelievably committed, generous volunteers and local leaders. And we can’t very well ask people to contribute to our cause unless each of us has already made our own generous donations to show we’ve got “skin in the game.”