President/CEO's Report

Jim Singerling, CCM, CEC

This year was tremendous for The Club Foundation!  The Campaign to Promote Excellence … Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow received stronger commitments from long term supporters, as well as significant commitments from new partners. The launch of the Corporate Advantage Program helped secure these longer term commitments, allowing the Foundation to truly begin planning its strategies well into the future. In addition, the fourth annual National Club Championship was a huge success as we welcomed Cadillac as the presenting sponsor. As a result, the event became profitable for the first time since its inception.  Furthermore, the next stages of development for specialized and expanded educational opportunities for the industry are flourishing. Thanks to the financial support shown by our partners, the Foundation will continue to take a lead role in funding many of these initiatives.

Thanks to your generous donations to The Campaign to Promote Excellence...Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, The Club Foundation is able to continually support the development of new educational offerings, enhance existing professional development programs, fulfill industry related grant requests,  and offer current and new scholarships. For example, the Foundation has helped fund the development of new BMI courses focused on Golf Operations and Food & Wine, both making their debut in 2007. Additionally, the Foundation continues to work with partners to enhance its existing educational offerings such as the work being done with Jonas Software on the technological piece of BMI II, hosted at Cal Poly. In addition, beginning at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Jonas software will be available to students pursuing a managerial career in the club industry. By including current industry software as part of the coursework, club managers and students gain practical, hands-on experience working with the tools of the trade.

Thanks to your dedication as CMAA members, the annual National Club Championship has been successful in increasing club member and industry vendor awareness of CMAA.  As you know, this prestigious event provides a national platform for all club champions from around the country to compete at the highest levels.  This last year, we were able to add Cadillac as the presenting sponsor. Cadillac represents the high quality brand that CMAA and The Club Foundation look for when partnering with another organization. The benefits to all constituents are endless. Cadillac is seeking to develop long standing relationships with CMAA members and the members of their respective clubs as we look to expand the image of the club manager. After a successful opening year with Cadillac, we will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen this beneficial relationship across many fronts. As the tournament grows, we not only plan to expand the exposure to the club management profession but also replenish the initial funding needed from the Foundation to kick start this event.

In conclusion, I am honored to be associated with the only charitable organization committed to the private club industry future as a viable business.  The benefits to CMAA members, as well as the industry at large, are vividly demonstrated through the Foundation’s Scholarship and Grant Program.  From funding student scholarships to manager workshops, the Foundation stays true to its mission of “raising funds to financially supporting club managers through education, training, and research initiatives”. I am extremely proud of how far The Club Foundation has come and excited about the future opportunities that it will provide.