Less than 10 years after the incorporation of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) the STFM Foundation was established primarily to provide the 501c3 tax status necessary for STFM members to make contributions in support of their professional organization. To ensure that the tie to STFM was strong and reciprocal, the membership of the Foundation was defined as the STFM Board of Directors; however, the Foundation Board is a separate group of leaders.
During its infancy, the Foundation’s sole fundraising effort was in support of the Leland Blanchard Memorial Lecture. In 1987, during what might be considered its teenage years, the Foundation identified leadership development as its primary focus, recognizing the need for academic family medicine representation at the highest levels of health care administration and policy making. This commitment led to the New Faculty Scholars Program, the Faculty Enhancement Experience Program, the Bishop Fellowship, and the International Scholars Program. One hundred eighty-six STFM members have benefitted from these programs. A brief foray into grant-making in 1992 and 1993 was discontinued due to lack of funding in 1994.
The Foundation may now be seen as in the young adult stage, maturing but with a long life ahead. In fact a good way to think of the Foundation is as timeless, while STFM is timely. In recent years Foundation Trustees have surveyed STFM members to ascertain the perception of the Foundation’s relevance to the STFM member. It was discovered that many STFM members had little knowledge of the Foundation’s programs, making the Trustees aware that better communication between the Foundation and STFM members was needed. Many STFM members requested funding for research and projects that fall within the strategic priorities of STFM.
The increasing success of the annual giving campaign enabled the Foundation to respond in 2008 to the request for grant funds by initiating the Group Project Fund. More than $75,000 has been awarded for 10 projects, resulting in curricula for adolescent health, e-mail communication, and dietary supplements, in addition to surveys gathering information on domestic violence education, the effect of admission policies on rural service, and factors impacting resident satisfaction.
Also for the first time in 2008, the STFM Board of Directors presented requests to the Foundation for funding of special projects. All requests were approved as submitted. The projects are: the Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum ($25,000); Center for the History of Family Medicine ($10,000 over 5 years); Annals of Family Medicine ($25,000 for a supplement reporting on the results of the TransforMED demonstration project).
As the Foundation increasingly made financial decisions in response to STFM’s strategic priorities, the Trustees scheduled a strategic planning session to align their bylaws and practices with their synergy with STFM. In essence the Foundation’s focus changed from working independently of STFM to working collaboratively with STFM. STFM was a partner in this transformation as will be evident in the actions taken since that meeting in November 2009.
Perhaps of greatest significance is the Foundation’s new purpose statement, “growing the capacity of STFM to meet its mission and goals.” While the Foundation will continue to offer leadership programs, this purpose statement reflects the spirit of harmony between the 2 entities. Changes that have occurred this year are:
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Adding a Foundation Trustee to the STFM Board of Directors (The STFM Board has had a representative on the Foundation Board of Trustees since 2007)
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Sharing of financial statements
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Formalizing the process for the STFM Board to submit proposals to the Foundation
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Revising Foundation bylaws to reflect the new purpose statement
What’s next for the Foundation? How do we grow into middle age, defined as providing an optimum level of support for STFM? The success of the Foundation directly impacts one of 4 key strategic priorities of STFM, that of financial independence. The long-term sustainability of STFM will be to some degree dependent upon the largesse of STFM members who contribute annually to the Foundation, and who remember STFM in their estate plans. With fewer than 10% of STFM members being Foundation donors, there is a lot of potential for additional support of leadership programs, research and curriculum development, and special projects. There is also the need to build reserves for operations in times of a slow economy. We know we need to keep moving forward; we know where we are going. If, as this quote says, “You are successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal,” then the STFM Foundation is well on its way.
- © 2010 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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