ANFP is excited to kick off the new volunteer year starting June 1! Chapters typically use this month to put the finishing touch on the goals for the year ahead. Part of the preparations include training incoming officers and participating in training events like ANFP’s annual board member/chapter leader orientation session, online courses, and reviewing the large library of volunteer resources on ANFPConnect, to help each chapter leader succeed in their role. We also have some additional opportunities to ensure you and your chapter leaders are prepared for the year ahead.

Chapter Best Practices – We’re going “back to the basics” and discussing the need-to-know information for the upcoming year during our next chapter best practices session taking place on Wednesday, May 7 at 2:00 PM CT (click here to register). Participants attending the live session will receive 1.0 CE (GEN). We will go over the following best practices and updates:

• Financial management – transferring your Crowded account to new admins/account owners and review of the financial template.
• Communications – Sending out mass emails; roster downloads, sorting and filtering, mass email etiquette, etc.
• Governing documents – Bylaws, affiliate agreement, and policies and procedures
• IRS 990 Filing – We’ll be discussing the filing changes to your chapter’s 990.
• Rebate requirements and deadlines – What is due, when it is due, and who is responsible.
• Additional training opportunities – One-on-one training with other chapter leaders and role-specific training.
  

Annual Chapter Board Orientation – Join us for our annual chapter board orientation on Wednesday, May 21 at 2:00 PM CT when we review chapter leader roles and responsibilities, rebate requirements, as well as the chapter portal and volunteer resources. To register for this session, please click here. Please encourage your incoming chapter leaders to attend.

Role-Specific Training – As new volunteers come on board, it's important to ensure they receive the proper training for their specific role.

• One-on-one/hands-on – We recommend each chapter hold their own orientations with one-on-one and hands-on training for each role. (This can be done virtually.)
• Online courses – ANFP has online courses available (at no cost) in the Marketplace to incoming chapter leaders that are specific to each role. (Please reach out to staff for the discount codes).
• Live training – New this year, we will be holding live training for specific chapter leader roles in the new volunteer year (more information coming soon).

This month we are celebrating Rosemary Aho, CDM, CFPP, of the Michigan (MI) ANFP Chapter as our Volunteer of the Month.

Rosemary first joined ANFP in 2018 and began volunteering with the MI ANFP chapter in 2023, initially assisting with outreach and planning efforts before stepping into her current role as the President-Elect. She will also begin serving on the ANFP Marketing & Communications Committee starting in June 2025.

While her leadership has left a positive impression, Rosemary credits much of the impact on the chapter to the other chapter leaders who rose to the occasion to help relaunch the MI ANFP chapter. From the beginning of the rebuilding stages, it has been a team effort, and they have worked together continuously to bring about change to the chapter. They have been able to build momentum, form a strong leadership group, and start creating meaningful opportunities for engagement for chapter members starting with their fall meeting in 2024.

As Rosemary continues in her role, she would like to see continued growth in membership and engagement at the chapter level, more mentorship opportunities for new CDM, CFPPs, and increased visibility of the important work being done across all sectors of foodservice. She’d also like to strengthen the connection between local chapters and national initiatives to support ANFP long-term.

Thank you, Rosemary! Your dedication and perseverance have helped the MI ANFP thrive once again. We appreciate all you do for ANFP and our members!

If you would like to nominate another volunteer for Volunteer of the Month, please contact Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Join the Conversation! Leadership Happy Hour
Join us for our Leadership Happy Hour on the first Tuesday of each month at 2:00 PM CT (some dates may vary). These monthly calls are a fantastic opportunity to network with chapter leaders from across the country, swap ideas, and support one another as CDM, CFPPs. Look for the registration email in your inbox. Our next Leadership Happy Hour Call will take place on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 2:00 PM CT.

Congratulations to the following Chapter Champions:

South Dakota ANFP

Kansas ANFP

Texas ANFP

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion HERE.

Join the Conversation! Leadership Happy Hour

Join us for our Leadership Happy Hour on Tuesday, April 1 at 2:00 PM CT. These monthly calls are a fantastic opportunity to network with chapter leaders from across the country, swap ideas, and support one another as CDM, CFPPs. Click here to register.

Chapter Rebates

The deadline for the second rebate installment was January 15^th. The following items should be submitted as soon as possible to receive the next installment.

• Submit financial reporting template to ANFP Headquarters
• Bi-Annual Chapter Rebate Achievement Report - Part 2 (June - December)
• Policies and procedures if not submitted in the Fall
• (If you have any changes in your bylaws, please send an updated copy to chapters@ANFPonline.org. If your chapter did not have any bylaw changes, no action is required.)
• If you have not yet closed the account, we ask that you please do so as soon as possible. If you have closed the account but have not been provided with this documentation, we ask that you please request this from your bank. The closing statement and document should include:
  • The final balance prior to transferring the funds and the zero balance
  • Confirmation the account has been closed
  • Date account was closed

Templates are available in the chapter portal. Once completed, please upload via the chapter portal.

Also, if you have not submitted your chapter’s policies and procedures (please see below) or the final closing bank statements from your previous accounts, please do so as soon as possible. Documents can be submitted to chapters@ANFPonline.org.

Chapter Policies & Procedures

The new policies and procedures should be adopted and implemented, effective immediately. All previous versions of the chapter’s policies and procedures are no longer valid.  

Next, Chapters will need to complete the following:

• Under Policy 1 (page 8), select slate or ballot voting process. 
• If a chapter selects slate, they will also need to adopt the Leadership Development Committee listed in the addendum.
• Ensure their state is listed/named/added where necessary throughout. Please enter your state’s initials where you see ‘State’ or a blank space __. For example: 
  • Any member may submit new or old business to the (State)/___ ANFP Board for consideration by the attending members at the Annual Business Meeting of Members.
• Review the addendum starting on page 27 and decide what policies and procedures your chapter will opt into/adopt. Check all that apply. 
• Once the above steps are completed, please submit a copy via the chapter portal by November 1. 

If you have any questions, please contact Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Once chapters have selected the policies that are applicable to their chapter, we ask that you please submit a copy to National as soon as possible.

PAC Donations – New Way to Donate!

ANFP PAC is now taking donations via the new online platform. Members of ANFP will need to click on the following page and use the donate button or ANFP can provide a QR code for your chapter meetings.

The online form will collect all the required information needed for FEC reporting as donation forms are no longer needed. This will eliminate the responsibility of chapter volunteers from collecting forms, cash and checks, and mailing them to us. 

The updated PAC donation policy can be found here.

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page, DEI webpage, and check out eNews, which will include links to our toolkits and other resources as well as other significant holidays. This month ANFP proudly recognizes:

Women’s History Month (March 1-31) – Learn more about this year’s theme, “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations, and action you can take.

World Down Syndrome Day (March 21) - Learn about this year’s theme “Improve Our Systems”, which suggests ways to improve the support of those with Down Syndrome.

The end of winter is on the horizon, and spring will be here before we know it along with chapter meetings. There are many moving parts to planning a meeting and we want to be sure our chapter leaders have the support they need to have a successful meeting. We have several resources available in ANFPConnect as well as our fellow chapter leaders to ensure your meetings are engaging, impactful, and meet the professional development needs of your attendees.

Crowded Resources – Our chapters have become very well acclimated with Crowded and have managed the transition well. Should you need a refresher on how to perform specific transactions or learn additional best practices, take a look at our Crowded Resources document available on ANFPConnect in Volunteer Resources under Volunteer 101. (If your chapter has any best practices they’d like to share, please send them to Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.)

Prior Approvals Deadline – Be sure your meeting hours are prior approved by submitting your applications and supporting material at least 30 days prior to the start date of the program/event to allow time for processing, corrections, and advance publicity. Chapters that fail to submit the Prior Approval Application at least 30 days prior to the start of their program/event will be charged a $50 fee in order to expedite the approval process. Chapters that submit the Prior Approval Application at least 15 days prior to the start of their program/event will be charged a $75 fee in order to expedite the approval process.

Leadership Happy Hour as a Resource – Our ideas often come from unlikely sources. The monthly Leadership Happy Hour (typically the first Tuesday of the month at 2:00 PM CT) is an untapped resource for chapter leaders to share ideas and resources for meetings such as speakers, unique venue/settings, special events, and agenda topics. Join us at our next meeting (Tuesday, February 4 at 2:00 PM CT) to learn from others and share your own ideas.

1:1 Calls with the Chapter Leadership Team – Once again, we will be offering chapters the opportunity to meet with our Chapter Leadership Team (and staff) for our bi-annual one-on-one calls. This is an opportunity for chapter leaders to ask questions, provide feedback, and share their concerns with our team of national chapter leaders to help improve our chapters program. More information about these calls will be distributed to chapter leaders in February.

Last Chance! 2025 NAFEM Show – Complimentary Attendance Opportunity

The NAFEM Show is taking place February 26-28, 2025, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta and NAFEM has generously offered complimentary registration for ANFP operator members for this event. If you wish to attend, please use the discount code 25ANFP when registering, which will calculate on check-out as complimentary. This is good for anyone in the ANFP operator community wishing to attend, and there’s no expiration date – it’s good through February 28, 2025. For more information or to register, click here. 

Additionally, for those who have not attended the show before, NAFEM offers a Hosted Operator Program that provides financial support to attend.

They generously provide:

• Travel stipend
• Four nights lodging
• Tickets to the specialty events (the Tuesday Kick-off Party and the Thursday NAFEM Party with headline entertainment)
• All-day VIP lounge with breakfast, lunch, refreshments, connectivity, quiet space, etc.

If you would like to learn more or apply for this opportunity please click here.

Once you have completed the application, the Hosted Buyer Program Concierge will contact you to assist in making your arrangements. A limited number of opportunities are available, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible if you are a first-time attendee. Feel free to share these opportunities with your members as well.

Chapter Rebates

The deadline for the second rebate installment was January 15^th. The following items should be submitted as soon as possible to receive the next installment.

• Submit financial reporting template to ANFP Headquarters
• Bi-Annual Chapter Rebate Achievement Report - Part 2 (June - December)
• Policies and procedures if not submitted in the Fall
• (If you have any changes in your bylaws, please send an updated copy to chapters@ANFPonline.org. If your chapter did not have any bylaw changes, no action is required.)

Templates are available in the chapter portal. Once completed, please upload via the chapter portal.

Also, if you have not submitted your chapter’s policies and procedures (please see below) or the final closing bank statements from your previous accounts, please do so as soon as possible. Documents can be submitted to chapters@ANFPonline.org.

Chapter Policies & Procedures

The new policies and procedures should be adopted and implemented, effective immediately. All previous versions of the chapter’s policies and procedures are no longer valid.  

Next, Chapters will need to complete the following:

• Under Policy 1 (page 8), select slate or ballot voting process. 
• If a chapter selects slate, they will also need to adopt the Leadership Development Committee listed in the addendum.
• Ensure their state is listed/named/added where necessary throughout. Please enter your state’s initials where you see ‘State’ or a blank space __. For example: 
  • Any member may submit new or old business to the (State)/___ ANFP Board for consideration by the attending members at the Annual Business Meeting of Members.
• Review the addendum starting on page 27 and decide what policies and procedures your chapter will opt into/adopt. Check all that apply. 
• Once the above steps are completed, please submit a copy via the chapter portal by November 1. 

If you have any questions, please contact Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Once chapters have selected the policies that are applicable to their chapter, we ask that you please submit a copy to National as soon as possible.

PAC Donations – New Way to Donate!

ANFP PAC is now taking donations via the new online platform. Members of ANFP will need to click on the following page and use the donate button or ANFP can provide a QR code for your chapter meetings.

The online form will collect all the required information needed for FEC reporting as donation forms are no longer needed. This will eliminate the responsibility of chapter volunteers from collecting forms, cash and checks, and mailing them to us.  

The updated PAC donation policy can be found here.

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page, DEI webpage, and check out eNews, which will include links to our toolkits and other resources, as well as other significant holidays. This month ANFP proudly recognizes:

Black History Month (February 1-28) – Learn more about this year’s theme of ‘African Americans and Labor’ and other ways to recognize and celebrate this month in our toolkit.

World Day of Social Justice (February 20) - Learn about the background of this day and the efforts being made to support this movement.