Affiliate Application

This process is intended to be inclusive and as easy as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, see the Frequently Asked Questions Section below, or contact Sarah Bodor at sarah@naaee.org.

Apply here or send a letter of application to the Chair of the Affiliate Network Steering Committee, Ashley Hoffman at director@kaee.org

The Steering Committee will make a determination of membership and inform the applicant organization in a timely manner. Applicants meeting all of the criteria will receive pre-approval status from the Steering Committee. When your membership with NAAEE is established, your status as an Affiliate and member of the Affiliate Network will be finalized. Current members of the Affiliate Network will be linked from the NAAEE website.

Requirements for Membership

To become a member of the Affiliate Network, an organization will:

1. Have a mission statement that is compatible with that of NAAEE.
2. Be a professional organization that offers services to and represents environmental educators. Though coordinating networks and government agencies are valued, they are not candidates for membership in the Affiliate Network.
3. Represent a significant portion of the environmental educators in the state, province, region or country. Normally only one organization covering a state, province, region or country will be recognized, however, exceptions may be considered by the Steering Committee when:
   • multiple organizations represent distinctive segments of the environmental educator community, such as teachers and nonformal educators
   • an organization represents a region of several states or provinces, recognizing that their area of coverage may overlap with state or provincial level Affiliate Network members
   • organizations within a state or province present a unified proposal that identifies a unique situation requiring that more than one organization be a member of the Affiliate Network in order to effectively represent environmental educators in that state or province.

To retain status as a member of the Affiliate Network, the organization will:

1. Maintain an Affiliate membership in NAAEE
2. Publicize NAAEE membership and events in communication, such as newsletters, conference materials, and websites.
3. Acknowledge membership in the Affiliate Network in communication, such as newsletters, conference materials, and websites.
4. Designate one or two representative(s) to serve as liaison(s) to the Affiliate Network. The Affiliate Liaison(s) will:
    a) serve as main communication link between your Affiliate organization, NAAEE and the Affiliate Network
    b) maintain individual membership in NAAEE
    c) represent the affiliate at the Affiliate Network pre-conference workshop, and the NAAEE annual conference, as funds allow
   d) participate actively in the governance of the Affiliate Network
   e) participate in the Affiliates listserv
   f) provide the addresses (including phone, fax and email) for the Affiliate Liaison(s), and provide updates in a timely manner, to the Chair of the Affiliate Network Steering Committee and to NAAEE
   g) at the end of his/her service, meet with new, incoming Affiliate Liaison(s) for the Affiliate to provide background and orientation materials, review current issues and activities, provide contact information, and review Affiliate Liaison responsibilities and communication process

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change our contact person and/or other contact information for our Affiliate? How do I make sure that we are on the Affiliates listserv?

There are two places you need to make sure have updated information.

1. Communicate your changes to the Affiliate Network Steering Committee.
   The Affiliate Network Steering Committee maintains a spreadsheet with information on each Affiliate. This may include a primary and secondary contact for each org. That information is currently kept by the Affiliate Steering Committee Chair, Ashley Hoffman at director@kaee.org. This list is also the source for the Affiliate listserv.
2. Login and update your Affiliate Member Record in the NAAEE Membership system (http://naaee.net)/.
   Each Affiliate membership has only one key contact who is the named liaison. The Affiliate member record needs to be identified with a general business/organizational email address (instead of a personal email address) such as naaeeinfo@orgname.com. That general email address is also the login for your member account. When you wish to register for the NAAEE annual conference, in order to get the affiliate member discount, you will need to login using the organizational email address.

Do we have to have an individual membership in addition to the Affiliate membership with NAAEE?
One person from your Affiliate organization can be the liaison or primary contact on the membership, which will give that person the member benefits (conference registration, EE News subscription, etc.). That individual does not need a separate membership. Affiliate membership price is currently $200/year.

Do we have to reapply each year?
No. You will have to renew/maintain your membership with NAAEE each year, but there are not other reapplication requirements for the Affiliate Network at this time.

What if there is already an Affiliate for my state/province and my organization should be the Affiliate?
The steering committee strongly suggests that there is only one organization serving as an Affiliate for a state/province. In extreme cases, the steering committee will review an application for more than one organization to serve as Affiliates for a state/province. The application should include the unique situation requiring more than one organization and be a joint application from all organizations wanting to serve as Affiliates for that state/province. For example, if the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) and the Colorado Environmental Educator Group (CEEG) needed to both serve as Affiliates, they need to send one joint application. Separate applications will not be considered.

Our organization has a membership with NAAEE already, do we have to also get the new Affiliate membership? 
If the applicant organization has an organizational-level or Partner membership with NAAEE, then change it when it expires to the Affiliate membership.

We’ve been an Affiliate for years, why do we have to apply now?
There has long been confusion over what it takes to become and remain a member of the Affiliate Network, and how the Affiliate Liaison position connects the affiliate organization to the network and to NAAEE. Both the network and NAAEE have found it difficult to maintain contact with organizations as the liaison changes over time. Therefore this application process was developed to formalize the process to designate member organizations. No organizations will be “grandfathered” in, but the network will endeavor to make the process as quick and painless as possible, and will support organizations in their efforts to continue or become members.

Other Questions?
Contact Ashley Hoffman at director@kaee.org