FCAA Membership Categories

In addition to our individual memberships, alumni and ally, FCAA offers organizational memberships. 

 

Organizational membership in FCAA brings your agency/organization access to the resources of Foster Care Alumni of America.  This includes the ability to utilize our materials in your training—for instance, by incorporating our acclaimed national community art project, Exploring the Culture of Foster Care into presentations and publications.  We are constantly developing new tools that organizations have found helpful. For example, tap into the alumni perspective articles for your newsletter, guidelines for how to effectively work with alumni in organizational planning and decision-making, and support for preparing young people and alumni who are involved with your programs to share their stories in a strategic way.

 

Membership benefits for all organizational members include:

Opportunities to engage FCAA members in organizational work which may include recruitment for board, volunteer or employment positions, recruitment of participants for surveys and research studies

Recruitment of trainers and speakers for organizational events

Access to information and support for effective and meaningful engagement of alumni

Receipt of quarterly newsletter featuring best practice information from the perspective of alumni

Heightened awareness of relevant issues through periodic action alerts

Visibility on  FCAA’s website with a link to your organization’s site

Discounts on merchandise in the FCAA store.  

Available to organizations with a local area focus – typically within a specific city or state; membership dues are $100 annually. Benefits include two individual memberships at no additional cost.

 

Available to organizations with a nation-wide focus; membership dues are $250 annually. Benefits include five individual memberships at no additional cost.

 

Available to institutions of higher learning; membership dues are $250 annually. Benefits include five individual memberships at no additional cost.

 

Available to government agencies; membership dues are $500 annually. Benefits include ten individual memberships at no additional cost.

 

Available to corporations; membership dues are $500 annually. Benefits include ten individual memberships at no additional cost.

 

In addition to our organization membership categories, FCAA offers an Alumni Sponsorship Program.  Based on a budget you identify, we determine the number of alumni you wish to sponsor and the duration of their memberships. 

 

Basically, with this option, your organization purchases memberships in bulk.  For example, if you indicated that you had a budget of $200, we could develop a plan that would offer 10 alumni memberships covering a 2 year period or 20 memberships covering a regular one year period.  Flexibility is our key – we work with you to maximize each dollar within your budget to provide the broadest membership benefits that we can.  If your budget is in excess of the appropriate organizational membership category, we would include that membership as a complimentary benefit within the program plan.

 

We urge you to consider this program for the young people in transition (ages 18-24) within your program.  FCAA membership is an additional support and safety net to them during this vulnerable time.  We encourage you to consider sponsoring memberships for 3 years, giving youth the opportunity to be part of the community during some of the most challenging years.  Purchasing membership for young people in transition provides a number of benefits to both the young people and the agency. Introducing youth to the alumni community provides the possibility of a life-long connection and support system of peers that is not available anywhere else. FCAA does not ‘deliver services’, instead we create avenues for connection, a sense of kinship, a place where alumni will always find belonging. Purchasing membership in FCAA is a low-cost, high-value strategy that agencies can use to support the well-being and permanent connections of the young people for whom they are responsible.

 

Organizations that purchase memberships for their program participants have the opportunity to specifically track members who join under the sponsored membership. FCAA will work with your organization in outreach and follow-up efforts if desired, providing long-term access to former participants (who have stated willingness to be contacted) for the purpose of program evaluation or outcomes research. Finally, the organization also has access to the expertise that alumni of foster care have to share about practice and policy. Organizations purchasing memberships for program participants will benefit from the tools and resources developed at FCAA, including best practice guidelines from the perspective of alumni of foster care.