Get Ready — Chapter Renewal Is Almost Here!

October 2021 – It seems hard to believe, but here we are in the middle of October. That means that the chapter renewal cycle is fast approaching. Each year, November through December, all chapters must renew their charters and purchase insurance for the coming year using our online renewal tool. This is also an opportunity for you to check the accuracy of your chapter meeting and officer information and make any needed updates. It is the only time of year that you can go in and make these changes yourself. Any other time, you must call or email the chapters department to make them for you.

Our goal is to release the tool by November 1 to give you plenty of time to complete it before the December 31 deadline. Regardless of the December 31 renewal deadline, chapters who have completed renewal in November will enjoy having insurance opportunity for their December 2021 events. Each of the four main officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) will receive an email containing a link to the tool upon its release. Login information as well as helpful tips and tricks for completing it will be included. Even if you’ve completed the renewal process before, carefully reading the entire email will help to answer questions you may have as you’re working through each step. Even though the email is sent to multiple people, only one needs to complete the renewal for the chapter.

We try to make completion as easy as possible by pre-loading the fields with data from last year’s renewal so that all you need to do is look it over and make updates as necessary. Completing the process should take less than 15 minutes as long as you have all of the requested information ready at hand.

Serena’s top tips for chapter renewal completion:

• Be accurate! Check and double check to make sure the information is correct — meeting information, number of chapter members, and officer info. Accuracy is important for three reasons. It impacts EAA’s communications with the chapter, the efforts of people to get in touch with your chapter through the find-a-chapter tool on EAA’s website or your EAA-provided chapter website, and your chapter recognition score.
• Be timely! Timely completion of renewal will ensure your chapter remains in good standing and is covered by EAA’s insurance.
• Take ownership! If you are an outgoing chapter officer, please forward the information on to the new chapter officers as they will still need to complete the renewal. Follow up as needed to make sure renewal actually gets completed and payment sent. Paying by credit card is the easiest since you can do this right through the system — then you’re done and don’t need to worry about mailing a check. You will know your renewal has gone through when you receive two emails. One is a summary of the information you just entered and gives you one more opportunity to look it all over for accuracy. If any changes need to be made, please call or email them in right away. The second email either confirms your payment by credit card or gives you information on where to mail your check.

A word about insurance

We are often asked by chapters throughout the renewal cycle if they are required to purchase insurance. Participation in EAA’s Chapter Insurance program is mandatory for all chapters located in the United States and Canada and is one of the things agreed to when the annual renewal agreement is signed during the renewal process. The policy provides protection to chapters, their members, officers, directors, and volunteers by providing comprehensive general liability coverage seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and extends liability coverage to chapters that own or lease a clubhouse, hangar, or both. It also includes, without any additional premium, coverage for an unlimited number of approved chapter events. All of this is offered at a very reasonable price thanks to the phenomenal safety record of chapters. Chapters are encouraged to make full use of their insurance by having as many events throughout the year as they are comfortably able to handle. This has the additional benefit of keeping your chapter in the local spotlight providing multiple opportunities for membership recruitment and fundraising. An active chapter is generally a strong and healthy chapter.

Thank you for your service as chapter leaders and for your commitment to your chapter’s success. Only through the ongoing dedication of our chapter members and leaders has the EAA family been able to accomplish so much. Keep your eyes open for that renewal email and please reach out if you have any questions. I am happy to assist you!