The
Financial Planning Association has selected 11 chapters from around the country to begin a trial run in January of a new governance structure that is designed to make the sprawling organization more efficient and more valuable for its members.
The FPA chapters that will participate in the
OneFPA Network beta test are Charlotte, Colorado, Illinois, Greater Kansas City, Northern New England, Metro New York, New Jersey, Orange County, Philadelphia Tri-State Area, Middle Tennesse and the Triangle, which includes many areas of North Carolina.
The selection of the test chapters is the latest step in the organization's effort to restructure itself. A proposal earlier this year to merge its 85 local chapters with national FPA
was met with resistance. The final plan was issued in July. The OneFPA beta test will last two years.
Under OneFPA, each chapter executive will become an FPA staff member to improve communication between the chapters and FPA headquarters in Denver. Accounting, finance and technology also will be centralized.
"We heard loud and clear that it feels very frightening for FPA to centralize the actual resources," FPA President Evelyn Zohlen said in an interview at the recent
FPA annual conference in Minneapolis. "What we feel really is most important is sharing of information around accounting and finances."
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Each of the beta-test chapters will adopt a standardized chart of accounts and will send that information to national FPA, which will compile and analyze it.
"Once we get a little critical mass on that data over a few months, then we'll be able to start sharing best practices and benchmarking [for] accounting and finance functions across our chapters," said Ms. Zohlen, who is president of
Inspired Financial.
FPA leaders hope that the OneFPA Network initiative will improve the membership experience and help the organization attract new members, especially young financial planners just beginning their careers. FPA membership has decreased from 23,000 to just over 22,000. About 70% of FPA members
hold the certified financial planner credential.
"One of the reasons that we're really engaged in the OneFPA Network program is to address some of the headwinds that are happening not only in the financial planning profession but in the association world," said Lauren Schadle, FPA executive director. "One aspect of this entire endeavor is to make sure that for the future of FPA that we are providing the absolute strongest value proposition collectively."
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A goal of the OneFPA Network is to allow the local chapters to concentrate more on substantive programs than administration.
"Nobody ever volunteers because they like printing name tags," Ms. Zohlen said.
As part of OneFPA and a push toward more transparency, the organization recently
provided its audited financial information to members in a webinar. FPA had $6.7 million in total assets with revenue of $18 million and expenses of $17.9 million as of Dec. 31.
"Our revenue trends are stable," Ms. Schadle said.
