Branch Activities

Branch Support and Association Membership

Branch Support and Association Membership The United Nations Association in Canada currently has 14 active regional Branches, in St John's, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec City, Montréal, the National Capital Region, the Quinte District, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, the Kootenays Region, Vancouver and Victoria. The Branches carry out the mandate of the Association in the communities in which they are located by engaging the local population in UN and global issues. UNA-Canada's Branches vary in size and amount of activity, and are almost exclusively volunteer run.

The Branches are an essential component of UNA-Canada. In 2003, each Branch will continue to carry out programmes and activities as decided by their Boards of Directors and which are within their capacities. Each Branch will be asked to submit a programme plan and associated budget to the National Office for the year 2003 by 1 December 2002. These programme plans are intended to give an overview of anticipated activities at the Branch level, ranging from conferences and UN day celebrations to Model UN Activities and school-oriented programmes.

The National Office will grant each Branch a sum in order to assist them in carrying out their activities for the year. These transfers will be based on submitted programme plans and budgets and will complement other sources of funding for Branches, including new memberships, fundraising events and external grants. Branches will report to the National Office three times yearly on their proposed programmes and budgets. New, easier to use standard forms have been designed for Branch programme planning, budgeting and reporting in 2003.

The priorities for Branch support in 2003 are:

ensuring strong and clear communication between the National Office and Branches;
defining a role for Branches in National Office projects and programmes;
defining a role for the National Office in Branch projects and programmes;
providing National Office support to ensure Branches are able to realize their anticipated activities;
identifying and providing capacity-building tools for Branches; improving communication between Branches;
and ensuring sound financial management at the Branch level with the support of the National Office.

The organization will also put a primary emphasis on new membership recruitment in 2003. Members are an essential part of UNA-Canada's mandate to engage Canadians on UN and global issues. The recruitment of new members benefits the entire organization, as they provide:

Active Participation: New members are a source of new leadership, new ideas and new energy. Members who are recruited by Branches are often more interested in becoming involved locally than those recruited by the National Office.

Credibility: A growing and diversified membership shows opinion-shapers and decision-makers that Canadians care about UN issues and support a strong Canadian role in the UN. It also strengthens our ability to effectively advocate and lobby on UN issues.

Undesignated Revenue: Members are UNA-Canada's only source of sustaining funding. Increased membership directly benefits Branches, since 100% of the first year membership monies of locally recruited new members are returned to Branches. Furthermore, over the longer run, the annual transfers from the National Office to Branches come directly from the pool of membership donations. Currently, about 20% of total gross membership revenue is being returned to Branches in transfers.

In short, an expanded membership base means greater undesignated funds for the organization, increased transfers to Branches, greater first-year membership returns to Branches on an annual basis and a continual source of new volunteers at the Branch level. As such, the National Office will be emphasizing membership recruitment and retention through its direct mail programme, and all Branches will be encouraged to engage in recruitment efforts to attract new members in 2003.

It is recommended that each Branch set a measurable goal for new membership recruitment and refer to the Membership Recruitment Guide to help meet that goal. As an example, if a larger Branch set a goal of recruiting 50 new members for 2003, this could translate into an additional $2000 in revenue for the Branch, based on our average membership gift of $35.