Dear Friends,

 

We are announcing some major changes that will help the Registry serve you better. First, we have decided to eliminate membership dues. Eliminating dues removes the currency exchange barrier that can limit full inclusion of every family.  In order to be a truly international organization, we feel that it's best to offer a centralized system of membership registration for all families, regardless of where you live.  Although we have removed the membership fee, we encourage families to continue to contribute when possible.  Our groundbreaking research and family support services can only continue with financial support from our members, friends, and benefactors.

 

Second, in an effort spearheaded by Jason Fisher with help from Gene Johnson, we have transitioned our various sources of member information from multiple single-use databases to a single constituent management system called Sales Force for Nonprofits. This system will significantly improve our connectivity between members, coordinators, and the office.  One of the things we are now able to do is to include all members of each household in the database including the siblings and self-advocates. For this reason we are asking you, regardless of when you last renewed your membership, to register your family on the website using the new Membership form.  Registration using our new, more comprehensive, membership form will ensure that we have the most up to date and accurate information on all of our families. 

 

Our focus this year is to bring you more opportunities to get involved.  In the upcoming weeks and months we look forward to bringing you more information on; regional events, fundraising events like Birdies for Charity and the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, and most excitingly, our Annual Family Conference.  Please continue to visit the interactive calendar page of our website for more information on events, including the conference.  I look forward to seeing at you at the conference in San Antonio, Texas or Rome, Italy.

 

All the best,

Jannine Cody

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