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State VOAD Program Development and Organization
Formal
Recognition of VOADs Needed
VOAD Manual Development
State VOAD Structure and Policy Developments
Chartering VOADs
State VOADs / Regional VOADs
State Council of Churches as VOAD Applicant
State VOAD Role in NVOAD
The Annual VOAD Leadership Conference
The State VOAD Consultant for NVOAD
Coordination vs. Operation at the Local Level
Consolidated NVOAD/VOAD Manual
Non-Profit Status for VOADs
Use of the Name "VOAD"
Summary Statistics
Not long after the organization of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, the possibilities for State organizations similar to NVOAD were seen as useful in promoting communication and coordination among voluntary disaster organizations on the level of the States and large population centers. As a result State and regional "voad" organizations sprang up patterned in general after NVOAD principles. Their membership consisted mostly of State or local branches of national organizations which were members of NVOAD. The first State VOAD (without NVOAD charter or agreement) was formed around 1975. By 1979 these organizations had gained some recognition in NVOAD. A number of State meetings were noted in The Newsletter of NVOAD. In his newsletter column Chairman Dibrell offered consultation to interested leaders in any State. The hope was expressed in The Newsletter that the regional leadership conferences would stimulate organization of State VOADs. Examples of State groups whose meetings were announced over a period of several years in The Newsletter are as follows:
- Arkansas VOAD meeting 5/16/78
- Florida -proposed VOAD organization meeting 8/22/78
- California Red Cross Disaster Institute 9/78
- Mississippi VOAD meeting 9/10/78
- Texas VOAD Committee meeting 9/18/78
- Ohio VOAD meeting 9/20/78
- Delaware - state-wide meeting to form VOAD 6/5/79
- Southern California held 2nd annual conference 5/11/82
- Oregon VOAD held
first meeting 10/1-2/82.
Formal Recognition of VOADs Needed
It may well be appreciated that the VOAD movement at first grew without much order and without official sanction or direction from NVOAD. As various State groups of disaster organizations got started, they called themselves a "VOAD" without necessarily adhering to the NVOAD emerging principles. On the other hand NVOAD had not yet made any provisions for national oversight of organizing State VOADs nor for setting up a pattern for their relationship to NVOAD. The growing number of State organizations under the name "VOAD" and especially their diversity soon made it clear to some of the NVOAD member representatives that communication and guidelines on the relationships between the State VOADs and NVOAD had to be established and documented. New members of the NVOAD Executive Committee (EXCOM) inquired about the existence of a list of VOADs and proposed more formal relationships such that there be membership requirements of affiliated VOADs and entitlement to be represented somehow in NVOAD affairs. This also suggested that better articulation and documentation of NVOAD principles was needed as previously mentioned in the section on NVOAD Principles and Structure.
In the spring of 1984
in response to member concerns, EXCOM appointed a committee of Bobby Baines
and Bob Vessey of American Red Cross and Ernest Miller of the Salvation
Army to use their field people to contact all the "VOADs" and
develop a roster of them including names of key leadership. Then at the
June 1984 meeting of EXCOM a specific suggestion was made that a manual
for State VOADs and emerging groups be developed. Neil Molenaar was asked
to draft an outline of what it should contain, and Brother Joseph Berg,
Neil, and Jan Thompson were appointed to work on specific policies and
procedures to be included. It was also decided to make it NVOAD policy
to respond to State VOAD needs by having NVOAD representation at State
meetings as well as at the NVOAD regional seminars.
A draft outline of
the proposed State VOAD manual was presented and discussed at the next
meeting (August 1984) of the Executive Committee (EXCOM). At the December
meeting an expanded outline of the manual was reviewed, and it was presented
for comment to the membership at the annual meeting in January 1985. A
motion was passed to proceed with the manual as initiated. Nevertheless
progress was made rather slowly, for it would be several years before
VOADs would be officially recognized and an approved manual would be completed.
State VOAD Structure and Policy Developments
Meanwhile other events
occurred which created pressure for a more formal structure for State
VOADs and more formal ties to NVOAD. One State VOAD wanted incorporation
as nonprofit agencies for itself and NVOAD, but at the October 1984 meeting
EXCOM decided not to seek this for NVOAD. In response to greater VOAD
interest the annual meeting program in January 1985 included a presentation
on the State "VOAID" Experience in Texas by George Schram of
the Texas "VOAID".
At the April 1985
meeting of EXCOM article 11 of the minutes recorded the following: "After
a general discussion of the issues involved in VOAD interrelationships,
incorporation, manual for State VOADs, and acronym differences it was
agreed that a basic issue is the philosophy of the organization and functions
of the national and State voluntary organizations active in disaster and
further discussion seemed desirable."
In June 1985 some
policy positions taken by EXCOM were further indications of the kinds
of issues involved in setting VOAD patterns. It was decided that State
VOAD structure and relationships should be analogous to NVOAD as laid
out in the Directory and all nonprofit disaster related organizations
in a State should be eligible for membership. Leadership should come from
the voluntary sector not dominated by State or local government agencies.
And at that point it was decided to draw up an agreement form between
a State VOAD applicant for affiliation and NVOAD.
By the annual meeting
in January 1986 a draft manual, "Your State VOAD: Helpful Guidelines
Toward an Effective Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster" was
available for review by the membership. Also a draft statement of policy
on the relationship between NVOAD and State VOADs was accepted in principle.
In March EXCOM voted to establish the policy that government agencies
should not have voting power in affiliated VOADs and their representatives
should not hold office in affiliated State or regional VOADs. A statement
to that effect was placed in the principles of NVOAD to which an affiliated
VOAD would be expected to agree. In another area it went on record as
not favoring incorporated status for itself or VOADs. EXCOM members agreed
to contact their field people in the State whose VOAD had incorporated
asking them not to become members until the issue was resolved.
Several other statements
in the constitution of this same VOAD were problems for the NVOAD policy
development. An especially nettlesome problem was the definition of coordination
over against operation - when does an activity breach the line and become
a direct service to disaster victims? This problem has come up a number
of times at disaster sites. The problems in the incorporation and with
the constitution of the one State were eventually resolved after further
policy decisions by NVOAD. The State VOAD then dissolved its corporation
and reorganized under a new constitution drawn up according to the NVOAD
guidelines.
At the annual meeting on March 27,1987 (delayed by a snowstorm from the expected January date), the manual, "Your State VOAD," was reported to the membership as having been edited and reviewed and at the printer for reproduction. The air was cleared by several additional policy decisions made at the annual meeting; i.e., that the purposes of NVOAD are better served by not being incorporated; that State VOADs should serve as chapters of NVOAD; that NVOAD and its counterpart State VOAD chapters have no operational functions and no role in providing direct services to victims of disaster and that all such services are provided by, and under the auspices of, member organizations; and that associate membership be granted to chartered State or regional VOADs (understood as sub-state regions).
As a result of the policy decisions noted above, structural changes in NVOAD affecting VOADs were made. Others were needed, such as procedures for chartering associate members, the newly created membership category for VOADs. The new procedures would have to cover both existing VOADs and new ones as they were being organized. Monte Sahlin and Lowell Detweiler designed the procedures which included use of a cooperative agreement form, a required statement of principles for the VOAD, and a plan for its organization. The procedures were adopted by the membership at the Annual Meeting in January 1988. Already at its next meeting EXCOM began to modify the procedures by adding a requirement that each VOAD provide information on its participating organizations and by authorizing the chair to sign agreements with existing VOADs to be subsequently ratified by EXCOM. The first State VOAD accepted as an associate member under the new chartering was Oregon (ORVOAD) which was approved by EXCOM at its March 1988 meeting. At the annual meeting in January 1989 it was reported that by the end of 1988 15 State VOADs had been chartered under the new procedures and 14 were in the process of being organized or obtaining a charter. Six State VOADs were represented at the annual meeting. Rosters of State VOADs (both chartered VOADs and groups developing a VOAD) were published rather frequently to keep up with the increasing number of VOADs and the rather frequent changes in their leadership. Experience with the chartering process had led to enough changes in procedures and policies to warrant a revised edition of the "Your State VOAD" manual. This was authorized by EXCOM in March 1989.
Formation of VOADs other than one State level VOAD was raised as a possibility very early. In the instance of California two "State level VOADs" for separate geographic areas were approved as a practical, but very unusual exception to the more common one State/one VOAD concept which had been adopted. So it happened that California was recognized as two State VOADs - one Northern and one Southern, but these were not community level units. The formation of VOADs at the county or community level was also recognized early as a possibility, but it is not certain when the "regional" VOAD referred to in policy was interpreted as covering county level units. In 1988 the Northern California VOAD inquired about forming or recognizing local VOADs in its area and what kind of guidelines could be given. EXCOM decided that NVOAD priority was on chartering and working with State VOADs, but local VOAD units could serve a useful function if organized under the direction of the State VOAD through agreement and relationships similar to NVOAD/State VOAD. Such a charter had to be consistent with the State charter and national VOAD principles. This matter was to come up again especially in Florida in recent times.
State Council of Churches as VOAD Applicant
A different kind of problem arose in 1988 in a State where the disaster committee of the State Council of Churches wanted to be the State VOAD while another group of voluntary organizations had also applied for a charter as the VOAD. EXCOM worked with the two groups to get their differences resolved. A part of the outcome was a policy position that a State Council of Churches may be a member of a VOAD but should not constitute a VOAD. The groups did come together as one group which elected its leaders from the total group and became a chartered VOAD.
In 1989 six State
VOAD groups accepted the NVOAD invitation to send a leader to the annual
meeting. They were given the opportunity to have a meeting of their own
group during the lunch hour with a report to the annual meeting in the
afternoon session. The four organized VOADs reported to the meeting. Kentucky,
2 1/2 years old, met quarterly for preparedness, planning, and getting
to know each other to better work together on disaster sites. Maine met
bimonthly-and sponsored a disaster drill in 1988 and planned additional
ones. Minnesota had bimonthly meetings, a new member packet, and had a
network for disaster stress intervention. Northern California was currently
emphasizing county involvement for which a volunteer was developing a
manual, and they were looking into protection of volunteers. The other
two State groups, Indiana and Delaware were working on organizing.
The above description
of VOAD activities illustrates the role of State VOADs in the 1980's.
For some years the State VOADs' attention was focused inwardly toward
cooperating and coordinating functions among their own voluntary organization
membership. What role State VOADs should have in NVOAD organizationally
and functionally has been a very fluid, developing thing over the years.
Gradually State VOADs took more interest in leadership roles in communicating
and coordinating volag participation on disaster sites in cooperating
with FEMA and State and local government emergency management agencies.
Further interest in such a broader role was stimulated at the 1992 NVOAD
annual meeting by a discussion of relationships with the voluntary sector
by a State Director of emergency management and a panel of VOAD leaders
discussing the relationship from their point of view.
In follow-up of the
1992 leadership conference and also Hurricane Andrew, the EXCOM went on
record that the practice of having several levels of meetings during immediate
disaster response was redundant. There should be a single meeting of voluntary
organizations convened jointly by the Red Cross/FEMA liaison representative
and the VOAD representative. The first action of the VOAD leader should
be to hold a conference call of the VOAD leadership to determine what
the VOAD strategy will be and who will represent NVOAD/VOAD to work with
the ARC volag representative. These latter two should work together to
jointly convene the "volag meetings." EXCOM noted that there
spring up in major disasters organizations (possibly one-time) which have
no connections to the disaster response community. The need for some kind
of "accrediting" process was seen as requiring scrutiny.
Much progress in this area was made in the next two years. At the 1994 annual meeting the Chair reported another significant change in VOAD role. Written into the proposed policy for the management of donated goods is a specific role for State VOADs in which State emergency management officers will look to them for facilitating communication, coordination, and cooperation among voluntary agencies in the State. While this opened up major possibilities, it also places a major responsibility on NVOAD to support and assist State VOADs in being capable to carry out such functions. Then as reported by Chairperson Sahlin at the annual meeting in January 1995, an agreement was reached during 1994 on a joint process for ARC/FEMA volag reps and State VOAD chairs to convene meetings of voluntary agencies following major disasters. He also reported that cooperation continued to increase between VOADs and State and local government emergency management agencies.
The Annual VOAD Leadership Conference
The participation
of State VOAD leaders in the 1989 NVOAD annual meeting cited in the section
above was the fore-runner of a new approach to leadership conferences
for VOADs. In April 1989 C. Nelson Hostetter who attended the annual meeting
representing the Kentucky VOAD and who was also a former NVOAD member
representative sent a letter to NVOAD Chairperson Molenaar proposing a
longer session for State VOADs and the opportunity to choose their own
leader. He also proposed that EXCOM invite to one of their meetings in
a central location in US in 1990 "all state, regional and area organized
VOADs to send representation at local expense, for a day of introductions,
dialogue, cross information and sharing, a component of training, and
future planning together." EXCOM did not see its way clear to respond
positively at that time. It may be noted here that the EXCOM routinely
sent copies of its minutes to chairpersons of all State VOAD groups as
well as invitations to attend the annual meeting and all EXCOM meetings
as part of information sharing.
The annual meeting
program in January 1990 had two sessions on State VOADs. In the morning
Chairman Molenaar spoke on "Progress and Issues Related to State
VOADs" and outlined for the membership a number of problems impacting
on the functioning and vitality of VOADs. The second was a lunchtime "State
VOAD representatives session with NVOAD chairman--Neil Molenaar".
Again that year State VOAD leadership was invited to attend, and seven
State VOAD representatives attended the session from the Illinois, Kentucky,
Missouri, and Northern California VOADs, and groups from Indiana, Maryland,
and Florida. They had several recommendations to share with developing
and functioning VOADs - the importance of initiative in moving ahead and
organizing, of continuity of leadership, of fighting rumors with accurate
information after a disaster, and of good training materials and exchanging
of them with other VOADs. The session concluded that at the time of disaster
the State VOAD function was chiefly to inform, advise and update the voluntary
agency liaison persons working with FEMA. They recommended that NVOAD
continue to invite State VOADs to its meetings and urged the national
members to encourage their people in the States to belong to the State
VOAD and assist in sending State VOAD people to the annual meeting.
Seven State VOADs
were represented at the January 1991 annual meeting plus one pending and
one other group. At lunchtime they had a session with Neil which he reported
back to the meeting. The group saw a pressing need for a national meeting
of State level leadership. They said that the lunch-break session at NVOAD's
annual meeting was not adequate for these needs. They proposed a state
leadership conference at an early date in 1991 in conjunction with a NVOAD
Executive Committee meeting. The EXCOM was informed at its lunch-break
meeting of the State leadership conference request and decided that it
might be possible to hold such a meeting in June 1991.
In March, however,
EXCOM decided to hold a planning conference looking toward holding a national
State VOAD Leadership Conference in 1992, and invited all State VOADs
to send a representative to the planning conference with EXCOM on September
24, 1991. Nine VOADs which had accepted the EXCOM invitation to the conference
planning met separately the day before while EXCOM conducted other business.
The VOAD group recommended that a national State VOAD leadership conference
be held annually jointly with an Executive Committee meeting rather than
at the time of the NVOAD annual meeting and that the conference be held
in a different part of the country each year and that NVOAD make efforts
to have every FEMA Region represented each year. The State VOAD group
wanted both an annual leadership conference and the continuation of the
regional seminar program, but EXCOM felt it could not handle both. It
did agree that NVOAD would work with VOADs through the leadership conferences
on how training functions could be done by the State VOADs. In addition
a number of recommendations were presented relating to specific matters
of State VOAD functions and relationships.
In follow-up of the
planning session for the State VOAD leadership Conference, a planning
committee was appointed and proceeded with work on the first annual conference
to be held September 13-15,1992 in Kansas City, MO. The planning committee
set a pattern for conference development. As the meeting date approached
plans gained greater specificity. In March 1992 the EXCOM clarified that
the conference was designed to be a convening mechanism of NVOAD conducted
with the cooperation and participation of the State VOADs and that the
primary purpose was to develop leaders of State VOADs especially through
VOAD training programs.
When in September
the first annual State VOAD Leadership conference convened, fourteen State
VOADs were represented of which twelve had their current or next chairperson
present. A total of 42 persons had registered for the first annual conference,
but ten were unable to attend because of assignments in response to Hurricane
Andrew.
Anticipating that
the 1992 first conference would be a success, EXCOM decided to hold a
1993 State VOAD Leadership Conference when it met the day before the 1992
conference. EXCOM announced its decision to an approving audience of VOAD
representatives during the first conference. Moving ahead quickly at its
November 1992 meeting EXCOM accepted the Georgia VOAD invitation to hold
the 1993 State VOAD Leadership Conference at Simpsonwood Conference Center
north of Atlanta, GA, September 12-14, 1993. It also appointed a planning
committee consisting of the NVOAD State VOAD consultant, NVOAD chair or
designee, and leaders of Georgia, Arizona and Arkansas VOADs. The second
annual conference went on as scheduled, and it was reported that 37 State
VOADs and groups were represented.
EXCOM received offers
from New York and Arizona VOADs to host the Third State VOAD Leadership
Conference and decided to accept the offer of New York to hold the 1994
conference there in the second week of September and to accept the Arizona
VOAD as host of the 1995 conference in the second week of September if
agreeable to them. The planning committee for the 1994 conference was
appointed promptly in September 1993 following the pattern of representation
from NVOAD and from New York and Arizona (to gain experience for the following
year).
EXCOM initiated a
policy of granting a very small number of scholarships to cover expenses
of State VOAD leaders to attend the annual State VOAD Leadership Conference
which he or she would not otherwise have means to attend. For the 1994
conference five scholarships of $900 each were approved.
The 1994 State VOAD
Leadership Conference took place in Albany, NY. The scores on the evaluation
sheets turned in by participants averaged 4.2 on a 5-point scale for each
program item measured. No item was rated lower then a 3. The need was
expressed for a basic orientation for first-time attendees and advanced
training for those having attended two or more years previously.
The 1995 State VOAD Leadership Conference was scheduled for Phoenix, AZ. And the Board of Directors in January 1995 approved a motion to accept the invitation of the Washington State VOAD to host the 1996 Conference.
The State VOAD Consultant for NVOAD
After the completion
of his term as chairperson in January 1990, EXCOM appointed Neil Molenaar
as NVOAD liaison to the State VOADs. Shortly after his appointment he
sent out a State VOAD Questionnaire updating information on the officers
and other data. Neil also continued his regular memoranda to State VOAD
chairpersons. At its September 1990 meeting EXCOM asked Neil Molenaar
and Daniel Rift to develop an annual questionnaire to State VOADs to be
sent out in the fall each year to update NVOAD on State VOAD activity,
organization, officer changes, participating organizations, etc. The first
one was sent out in October 1990 and results were reported at the annual
meeting in January 1991. Twelve of the 23 chartered VOADs had responded.
A varied "state of health" picture was portrayed by their replies.
At the March 1991
meeting EXCOM set aside a full day for an informal seminar with Neil Molenaar
on State VOADs. Besides, a most important decision to hold a planning
session looking toward developing a national State VOAD leadership conference
in 1992 and set a pattern for future conferences. many of the VOAD issues
were reviewed at the meeting. Ad hoc sub-committees were appointed
to develop ways of resolving the issue of the gray area between coordination
and direct operation by a VOAD and to consider shifting from the regional
seminar program to promoting annual State VOAD meetings. In a general
discussion on future directions of NVOAD the possibility was raised that
in a few years State VOAD liaison would require paid staff as the workload
exceeded the capacity of volunteers or else NVOAD would have to settle
for a less expansive role. Several activities to broaden State VOAD roles
were mentioned. One proposal was to emphasize developing and strengthening
State VOADs in areas of the country which experience more disaster occurrences.
At that same March
1991 meeting EXCOM faced an immediate problem of continuing liaison to
the State VOADs. Late in 1990 Neil Molenaar left CRWRC and thus was no
longer a member representative to NVOAD. Neil offered to continue on a
volunteer basis to serve as a consultant on State VOADs. By agreement
with his new employer, a Red Cross chapter in Washington State, he would
be able to use their facilities on his own time only needing occasional
travel funds from NVOAD. EXCOM approved of the new arrangement to continue
the liaison program.
At the September 1992
EXCOM meeting Neil Molenaar reported that he could no longer do the VOAD
consultant work on a volunteer spare time basis, but he was willing to
provide full time services with VOAD consulting and perform other services
for NVOAD under contract. EXCOM decided to undertake a three-month contract
with Neil without any commitment by either party to renew after that time.
The principal area of work was consultation with State VOADs and eliminating
a large backlog of work including updating the VOAD files and rosters,
sending out a monthly memo of information to VOADs, and initiating renewal
of charters. Another area of work was research on funding sources for
a long term project which included future development of NVOAD in addition
to State VOAD building. As NVOAD considered its future, that aspect of
development and staffing needs related to VOAD consulting work was more
and more folded into broad "future directions planning of NVOAD"
and related funding proposals which is considered elsewhere in this historical
review. As far as VOAD consultation is concerned Neil Molenaar worked
under contract through May 1993. With NVOAD funds running out, EXCOM decided
in June 1993 to have Executive Committee members assume the role of consultants
- each taking States in two or more FEMA regions. This decision was never
implemented. The Great Flood of 1993 occurred that summer, and all committee
members were engaged in the disaster response so that no division of labor
was made. Then second thoughts by EXCOM members led to reconsideration
of the matter at a special EXCOM meeting on September 13, 1993 during
a session of the Second Annual State VOAD Leadership Conference. At that
session Mike Bruinooge offered the services of Christian Reformed World
Relief Committee volunteer, Clarence Van Dyke, for the period from September
through at least the spring of 1994. Hilary Freeman of Second Harvest
offered that her organization would contribute $5,000 to fund the expenses
of a volunteer VOAD consultant. Offers of office space and phone were
received from the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross. EXCOM voted
to proceed on this option.
At the 1994 annual
meeting, the interim VOAD Consultant made his first report to the membership
on the work he has been doing to assist VOADs and establish a VOAD data
base.. It was noted at the annual meeting and the followup EXCOM meeting
that national members should contact their State representatives to urge
their participation actively in the State VOAD and to provide Van Dyke
with a roster of their State Representatives and who to contact in emergency
in States in which they have no representatives.
Considering the fluid situation in the spring of 1994, Clarence Van Dyke agreed to extend his volunteer service as interim VOAD Consultant until after the State VOAD leadership conference in September. It was later extended to November 1994. Beginning in January 1995 after NVOAD signed a contract with Rino Aldrighetti for part-time NVOAD management services, the VOAD consultant services were folded into the management functions.
Coordination vs. Operation at the Local Level
The long-term issue of the gray area of coordination vis-a-vis operation at the VOAD level particularly at disaster sites came up again and again. After the issue had been discussed with VOAD leadership in March 1991, EXCOM again took a look into the matter in September 1991 and several times since. It was concluded that the basis for meetings and other VOAD-type activities should be related to the characteristics and quality of collaboration among voluntary organizations following a disaster not to direct services to disaster victims. In the absence of a State VOAD in the disaster area the NVOAD national chairperson or his/her delegate should be able to call a coordinating meeting at the disaster site to facilitate and encourage voluntary organizations in working together. Where there is a State VOAD, its leader should also be able to call a meeting for VOAD type purposes. However, no person from one voluntary organization should be put in the position of making decisions or taking action for another organization. Gradual broadening of NVOAD interpretation of acceptable coordination while at the same time holding to strict prohibition of VOAD provision of direct services is serving to enhance the VOAD role at the time of a disaster without infringing on the functions of the various member voluntary organizations.
Consolidated NVOAD/VOAD Manual
In March 1992 the
EXCOM had decided that, with all the developments going on, NVOAD policy
changes should be compiled and the VOAD manual should be updated and appointed
a subcommittee to be responsible. The subcommittee presented a draft of
the manual at the September EXCOM meeting in time to be presented to the
leadership conference for comment. EXCOM requested the subcommittee to
follow up on the comments and also to rewrite the NVOAD principles statement
for inclusion in the manual. At its November meeting, EXCOM reviewed a
revised draft including the principles material, revised from that formerly
in the Directory, and approved it for presentation to the annual meeting.
The updated and consolidated manual was retitled, "NVOAD and Your
State VOAD: Understanding the National Voluntary Organization Active in
Disasters Movement". The revised directory only carried a mission
statement (prepared by the subcommittee) and the descriptions of the member
organizations.
In September 1994 the NVOAD and Your State VOAD Manual Committee made its annual report of recommendations for changes. As a result it was decided by the Board to retitle the manual as the "VOAD Organizational Manual", to make some changes to update policy expression, and to explain the role of meetings in the coordination of services by agencies responding to a disaster including jointly convened VOAD/ARC VOLAG meetings, unmet needs committees, and VOLAG meetings convened by the American Red Cross in pursuit of its duties as lead agency for Emergency Support Function (ESF) 6, Mass Care, in the Federal Response Plan.
With the incorporation of NVOAD as a non-profit organization and its approval by IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization., the State VOADs are blanketed in by virtue of their being Associate members. At its June 1994 meeting EXCOM noted that the VOAD bylaws should be consistent with and conformed to the NVOAD bylaws and adhered to by the VOAD member organizations.
In 1995 the Board decided to affirm previous decisions and thereby clarify that State organizations using the name voluntary organizations active in disaster (VOAD) but not having a signed agreement with NVOAD will not be recognized by NVOAD as members or affiliates and that sub-state , regional, or local groups using the same name that are not registered with their State VOAD will not be recognized by NVOAD or State VOADs as members or affiliates.
The following table depicts the growth in the number of chartered State VOADs after the process of chartering was initiated in 1988
:
Figure 1, Growth in the Number of Chartered State VOADs, 1988-94
