Building Our Resources

As has been documented here and elsewhere in CDA publications in recent months, the California Dental Association has been engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process this year. Once that process is complete, it will be time to actively engage the necessary association resources to a carry out the mission and pursue the goals and objectives that result from this ambitious undertaking.

In addition to annual dues, there are critical resources necessary to the operation of this and any other membership organization. In no particular order of importance, these resources include a talented staff and management team, volunteers to serve in leadership roles from committee members to officers, and financial resources to carry out not only organizational operations, but also the needs and wants of the membership. The staff and management are in place. Our present discussion will center on deficiencies we believe exist in the latter two categories, inadequate numbers of member volunteers and inadequate financial resources to carry out some of the most highly valued membership wants.

Let’s address the issue of volunteers first. This is not a new problem. In fact, it was discussed in this column in May 1996 ("Vanishing Volunteers") and again in June 1998 ("Commitment -- A Vanishing Commodity"). Continuing a disturbing downtrend, the number of volunteers submitted for consideration for service on association councils, committees, and other leadership roles in the period immediately preceding the 2000 deadline for submission, again showed that inadequate numbers of members feel that they have either the time for or the interest in volunteering their service. As in the recent past, it is our view that such factors as the practice time needed to operate a profitable business, elimination of educational debt load, and devotion to family needs top the list of reasons many either do not make themselves available to serve or decline if asked.

The need for volunteer members is crucial, however. The work of organized dentistry depends on an adequate number of volunteers, qualified by the experience they receive in the course of service over time. When members and nonmembers have been surveyed about what they expect from dues-paying membership in organized dentistry, they often criticize the lack of aggressive pursuit of issues and policies that they believe would benefit their business interests. They want to see more evidence of proactive advocacy on issues they feel are important to their practices. One of the factors that would aid a more proactive approach would be a larger cadre of qualified volunteers, enabling dentistry to gain a more visible and effective representation in hearings or other venues on issues of professional or public importance.

Year 2000 CDA leadership has favored initiatives that would provide a faster track into volunteer leadership activity, in hopes that it would encourage younger members to participate earlier, move through leadership activity faster, with a shorter total time commitment due to shorter terms of service. The theory is that a lesser time commitment would be more attractive to many individuals in today’s competitive, time-intensive business environment. Only time will tell whether this type of incentive will encourage in particular the younger practitioners, whose professional careers will be most affected by new policies and regulations over the many years they will be in practice. These initiatives illustrate the efforts being made to attract newer members into participating in their profession -- a responsibility that has been lacking with too many members in recent years. We believe that greater participation by the membership will be healthy for organized dentistry. Increased volunteerism will result in greater success in achieving dentistry’s goals and. at the same time, improve the spirit of members toward their organization and its perceived value. It is important that the trend toward fewer participants in the process be reversed!

Many members mistakenly believe that dues enable the association to cover the expenses of all activities important to serving the membership’s needs. That is incorrect. As was previously mentioned, one of the frequent criticisms faced by the association is the failure to be proactive by advocating appropriate public policy that will also be in the best interests of dentistry. Some members are critical because they believe dentistry is too often placed in a defensive posture in regard to regulatory activity.

This is where CalDPac comes in. This is a place where too few members (only 37 percent) have been providing the financial support that can make a difference in achieving dentistry’s goals over the long term. CalDPac contributions are voluntary -- but they shouldn’t be considered voluntary by any dentist who wants to see successful advocacy on the part of his or her profession. Unions and professional organizations that have mandatory fees are well-positioned to develop a presence on issues they believe will further their causes. With the current low level of member support, it is not possible for dentistry to achieve this type of presence.

Any dentist who is dissatisfied with the representation he or she believes dentistry is achieving and is not now contributing to CalDPac should immediately make a commitment to contribute NOW and every year when renewing membership.

In the 21st century, professional membership requires more effort than just contributing dues once a year. It also requires that a greatly increased percentage of members contribute to building the real resources of the organization. Volunteer service activity and financial contributions to aid the advocacy efforts are essential to a healthy contemporary professional organization.

Organized dentistry is much like the business of dentistry in the changes that it has experienced in the past quarter century. Some dentists were able to become successful without strong adherence to business principles and management practices some 25 years ago. The competitive environment today requires the successful dentist to develop good patient relationships, management, and marketing skills in addition to the treatment skills developed in school.

Organized dentistry did not require much more than dues support from the average member in exchange for membership services 25 years ago. Today, the profession really does require both volunteer service and voluntary financial support from members to build the human and financial resources necessary for CDA to achieve status as a successful advocate for dentistry.