About the Fund
The ICMA Fund for Professional Management is committed to educating students and citizens alike about the role and benefits of professional local government management. Established in 1985, the Fund has supported more than 80 communities as they organized to adopt or retain professional management, as well as broader civic education initiatives such as statewide civic education textbooks for students.
Your contribution to the Fund ensures there will be resources available to support form-of-government campaigns or address the need for civic education, whether in your community or that of a colleague.
What's NEw?
"Life, Well Run" Campaign
ICMA recently announced a national campaign to raise awareness of the role and value of professional local government management. Working with an accomplished advertising agency, ICMA has developed this Value of the Profession Campaign over the past several months. It will center around the theme of "Life, well-run" and take advantage of social and traditional media to reach citizens around the country. Learn more about the campaign and how to get involved here or make a donation now.
New Ideas for State Assocation Support
In addition to making an annual contribution to the Fund, consider these options for providing financial support (in small doses!):
- Are you still handing out physical awards? In the past, the Ohio City/County Management Association gave conference sponsors a physical award thanking them for their support. This year, however, OCMA offered sponsors a choice: they could continue receiving the physical award or, instead, have a $75 donation made in their honor to the Fund or another charity. Eight of the sponsors chose to donate to the Fund for a total contribution of $600. We did something similar for the ICMA service awards program last year and raised nearly $4,000.
- Don't forget that the Fund accepts and encourages gifts made in honor or memory of others. The Illinois City/County Management Association has contributed $1,800 to the Fund over the past four years specifically to honor the retirement or memorialize the passing of colleagues in the state. These donations (each of $50 or $100) are a great way to celebrate someone's contribution to the profession and foster the profession’s continued growth.
If your association is interested in adopting either of these ideas, email fund@icma.org.
Questions?
Contact Fund staff at fund@icma.org or 1-800-745-8780 with questions, comments, or suggestions. To learn more about ICMA’s support for professional local government management, contact Jared Dailey, assistant program manager, form of government and ethics, jdailey@icma.org or 202/962-3557.