Each of us wakes up every morning and is faced with a monumental choice to decide.  One choice is to productive, to inspire, to be dedicated, motivated, and committed to making today the BEST day possible!  To go out, fresh smiling and energized in the name of AFSA and “do the right things” to recruit and retain—to forge the future TODAY, one new member at a time.   The other choice we have is to be mediocre, to be average at best, and to just, “get-by” with little or no desire to inspire or develop on the path of professionalism that our fore-founders have laid at our feet. 

What a week this has been!  All around the Division, chapters have been on the road, visiting schools and presenting the Air Force Sergeants Association JROTC Medal and Certificate to our hard-charging and deserving young cadets.  I personally presented two myself to a couple of AFSA-Lutely deserving cadets.  One at a school in Lincoln Nebraska, and then just tonight in Bellevue Nebraska.

AFSA Friends….Spring is in the air and with it I propose each chapter in Division 89 adopt the “One-A-Day-In-May” recruiting/retention campaign.  This is an "AFSA-lutely" great opportunity to energize your chapters and get the youngest to most seasoned recruiters involved.  Basically, this initiative is to see if we can get an AFSA member (or hopefully many members) to recruit at least 31 new people during the merry month of May.  This is also a great opportunity for the recruiter and recruit to win cash/prices.

You can operate it in whatever fashion works best for your chapter; However, the basic construct is as such:

·         Retain or recruit one, your name is in the hat to win a prize. 

·         You get another chance for each person you recruit OR you could give them one chance for each five or similar formula.

·         For anyone getting 31 recruits I'd recognize them with a special award in addition to having their name in the hat for the cash/prize draw. 

Give it a try and get some energy in your chapters!   Remember, “Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

Go out and get some!

V/r

SMSgt Matthew R. “Mad Dog” Becker

Vice President, AFSA Chapter 984

“Lead Me, Follow Me, or Get Out of My Way…!”

Esteemed Friends and Warriors,

Hooah!  I want to take a moment of your time, so you can read this message and hopefully change your thinking.  Too often, many of us tend to focus on the negatives in our lives and forget about helping and encouraging others. We easily become engrossed in seemingly endless tasks, suspense’s, and deadlines and forget about the bigger picture.  The picture, which encompasses a culture of nurturing, developing, mentoring, and cultivating excellence in all we do. Too much energy is expelled obscuring our true purpose in life…Only you know what your true purpose is and if you do not I hope you will soon find out.  Nonetheless, I hope this message will help change your way of thinking…

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.  One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.  His bed was next to the room's only window.  The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.  Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.  Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his

Succesful Traits for a Non-Profit Organization Leader

Successful nonprofit leaders are required to have specific sets of skills. Nonprofit leaders are excellent organizers, excellent managers and usually have skills with raising funds. These skills are essential to the

success of nonprofit organizations. However, there are some essential skills that are often forgotten by nonprofit organizations when searching for leaders.

Team Building
One of the biggest resources that nonprofit organizations have is their volunteers. Team building is essential to the success of nonprofit organizations because many of these organizations depend on volunteer assistance. A strong nonprofit leader needs to be an excellent organizer of people. One of the best ways to organize people for any organization is team building. Creating a structure that allows people to contribute their time and talents in an effective manner is extremely important for nonprofits.

Dividing the organization into various teams helps manage and maximize the effectiveness of the nonprofit.
*Financial teams: Those who assist with the management and intake of funds
* Task oriented teams: Teams to care for the various day to day operations of the nonprofit
* Event focused teams: Individuals to assist with the various special events help by the nonprofit
* Management teams: People in charge of managing various aspects of the organization

Master Planning
Leaders are responsible for charting the course of the organization. The nonprofit leader must be able to take on the task of directing the organization into the future. The only possible way to move an organization from where they are to another level of effectiveness is through proper planning. The leader is responsible for creating a structured plan that is forward focused and motivating to the team.

A master plan will include multiple avenues for success. These are just a few of the areas that might be considered for a master plan

* Leadership development
* Fundraising
* Staff and volunteer recruitment
* Event and schedule planning
* Vision, mission and purpose statements

Warriors of Division 89!  Please read and act on the legislative grassroots push noted below.  H.R. 775 & 4923 CAN greatly affect us.  I encourage each and every member and friend to learn more about these proposals and act. You can find out who your respective Representative is by sourcing www.thomas.gov type in your zip code where you are a registered voter and see if he/she has co-sponsored.  If they have, send them a “Thank You” e-mail..If not, respectfully request their support as a registered voter.  Action begins with you!

 
I would like for the legislative committees within Division 89 at the Chapter and individual  grassroots level to call their federal legislators and ask them to support these pieces of legislation. Let’s act immediately but before 23 April as our targeted window to make the push to contact all 435 members of Congress for an answer on these bills.

Below is the content of the bills, I would ask those who are making the phone calls to read through these bills, familiarize themselves with it and reach out to their federal legislator and ask for them to sign on to the bills, along with signing the discharge petition on HR 775.

Over the past week or so I had the honor of grading some of the AFSA-Lutely outstanding awards packages for Division 89.  I read the tremendous accomplishments, which were the result of our hard working AFSA brothers and sisters from the Airman tier all the way up to our hard-charging NCO level.   The team accomplishments are what I was most proud of, as I am a true advocate for the “Together-Everyone-Achieves-More” concept.   

Division 89, you are tried and true professionals—reaching out where others only dream.  You touched our communities through your selfless service, you embraced our Veterans through the myriad of ceremonies you organized, led, and executed.  You sharpened the sword of justice by pushing legislative information and contacting your elected officials to do the same.  More importantly, YOU ALL LIVED the principles AFSA was founded on.

At the end of this month, many of us will gather in beautiful Rapid City, South Dakota to celebrate these accomplishments first hand.  As one of the judges of this year’s awards, I can honestly say that I had a difficult time deciding between our truly phenomenal packages and the absolutely extraordinary submissions.   I applaud and salute each of our beloved 11,000+ strong AFSA Members for what you do every single day!

Now…take a bow, smile and get back to work!  Let us forge professionalism one member at a time and bet 15,000 strong by the end of this year! RECRUIT/RETAIN…… HOOAH…..!

V/r

SMSgt Matthew R. “Mad Dog” Becker

Vice President, AFSA Chapter 984

Have you ever put on a pair of those oddly colored red and blue glasses and watched a movie filmed in 3-D?  I am sure you would agree that with those glasses on everything looked a bit more vivid, realistic—just like you were really part of the movie.  I ask you for a minute to look at AFSA involvement and recruiting the same way--in “3-D”.  Now, I do not have a pair of glasses for you to wear; however, I want you to look at things from a different vector.  The “3-D” I speak of is: DIRECTION, DETERMINATION, and DEDICATION. 

To reach our end state, in this case larger and stronger chapters we must first have involved recruiting and retention efforts, we must have DIRECTION.  Direction provides the focus from where we are to where we want to be.  Direction steers us from adversity and monotony and veers us to success—our ultimate goal.

Secondly, DETERMINATION is the motivation to succeed.  It provides the drive and enthusiasm necessary to forge through the rough patches and fosters are ability to learn when things don’t always go as planned.  Determination is the power to push through in the face of adversity.

Finally, DEDICATION is our staunch and steadfast commitment to the task at hand.  In this example, AFSA involvement and recruiting and thus represents our allegiance to the AFSA mission.  Dedication is a self-driven faithfulness which each AFSA Leader and member needs to internalize.   It’s what will make us part of that 3-D movie.

T.E.A.M AFSA I encourage you to embrace the “3-D” approach to AFSA and be part of a bigger phenomenon.  With your help via Direction, Determination, and Dedication…our organization will indeed flourish!  Are you up for the “3-D” approach?

V/r

SMSgt Matthew R. “Mad Dog” Becker

Vice President, AFSA Chapter 984

Offutt AFB, Nebraska