For Immediate Release: September 15, 2020
Brookfield, Wis. – A proposal to amend the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Bylaws to, among other things, facilitate better member communication by transitioning to Issues Forum meetings, has passed, with 69.24% of members voting in favor of it. Two-thirds of votes cast must be affirmative for bylaws changes to be adopted.
Eligible members had from August 16 to September 14 to vote on the proposed changes to the NFDA Bylaws, which included:
Membership Voting Period. The voting period for membership votes on proposed changes to the NFDA Bylaws will be reduced from 30 days to 14 days.
Advocacy Committee. The size of the Advocacy Committee will be reduced from the NFDA officers and 10 NFDA members to the NFDA officers and seven NFDA members. The coordination of funding for and contributions by the NFDA Political Action Committee will be done in consultation with the NFDA CEO, President, Treasurer and Senior Vice President, Advocacy. The Committee will monitor the strategic action plans for NFDA’s Advocacy program.
Policy Board. NFDA will build an open communication structure through Issues Forum meetings that will allow for more open communication and multiple voices from one state to share information when they are convened. Issues Forums meetings, which will replace the Policy Board, could take place at major NFDA Conferences and/or Convention or be held virtually.
State associations will retain and appoint a State Association Representative who will continue to attend the in-person voting meeting and cast the vote for the At-large Representatives to the Board of Directors positions in-person at the NFDA Leadership Conference.
An Issue Forum will be scheduled during the Leadership Conference to allow each State Association Representative to cast their state’s vote in the election during the Issue Forum for at-large representatives to the Board of Directors.
Leadership Development Committee. The size of the committee will increase by three people and the term by one year for a total of three-year terms. NFDA will hold a one-time special election from members of the Policy Board to begin the revised committee.
These changes will go into effect on October 17, 2021. More information about the changes adopted by NFDA members is available online, www.nfda.org/vote.
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
# # #
Contact: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org