Annual Report
Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2012

In FY2012 the ASSE Foundation surged forward, not only building on past success but also diligently laying the groundwork to guide the profession forward for many years to come. Despite the effects of a lingering recession on the global economy, our growth has been stable and our trajectory has been upward. Through smart investment, careful program expansion, and balanced fundraising, the Foundation has maintained upward growth while making strategic preparations for the future.

I. Finances & Contributions

Total revenues were $735,420 consisting of contributions, interest earnings, realized investment gains, silent auction & golf outing proceeds and income from the scholarship and grant program. Donations totaled $594,279 making it the second best year in the Foundation's twenty-two year history.  Of this total, restricted fund revenues (programs earmarked for scholarship and research) totaled $394,299.

• Corporate Support continued strong with leadership gifts received from the following organizations:
• Visionary Donors ($15,000+) include CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, the UPS Foundation and URS Corporation.
• Counselor Donors ($10,000-$14,999) include Applications International Corporation, Aon Corporation, the Bechtel Group Foundation, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, the CNA Foundation.
• Champion Donors ($5,000-$9,999) include Flatiron Construction Corporation and Summit Training Source, Inc.
• Contributor Donors ($1,000-$2,499) include Houston Area Safety Council, ISNetworld, SiteHawk, Span Safety Workshops, Willis Foundation and Willis North America.
• ASSE Regions & Chapters showed their support of the profession by donating a stellar $136,881. 
• Twenty-three percent of the ASSE chapters supported the Foundation this past fiscal year.
• Member support continues at a steady pace with 19% of ASSE members making contributions on their membership renewal form.  Members donated more than $130,000 while renewing their ASSE memberships.  In addition, the Board continued to showcase the Sustaining Donor program which recognizes those that have reached a lifetime giving record of $2,500 and give at least $100 each fiscal year.

II. Education

The scholarship and grant program is still our largest and most popular program.  In FY2012, we offered more than $167,000 to 99 students and safety professionals working to advance their professional credentials.

$96,689 was allocated to the restricted scholarship and professional education grant funds as required by the ASSE Foundation Restricted Fund Policy using interest earned in the investment portfolio ($74,896) but will not be reflected until the following fiscal year.

A $3,500 grant was awarded to Southeastern Louisiana University under the James A. Oppold Fund, which supports universities seeking ASAC/ABET accreditation of their occupational safety and health programs.

We awarded the Student Paper Competition award to Oakland University senior Danielle Kaminski. She received $1,200 for her submission entitled, “Gulf of Mexico Deadzone”. Kaminski graduated last summer with a degree in occupational safety and health.

III. Research

The Foundation’s research agenda was advanced through the funding of the following initiatives:

• $67,620 was awarded to the Rand Corporation for Phase II and III of a risk assessment study, entitled, “The Impact of Governmentally Mandated Employer Risk Assessments on Occupational Safety and Health Outcomes.”  The study aimed to provide a better understanding of the various legislative approaches to employer-mandated occupational safety and health risk assessment regulations, a comprehensive analysis of their impact and an identification of key language requirements, tools and techniques found in successful regulations. 
• Under the Liberty Mutual Safety Research Fellowship program, $19,000 was awarded to Tzurei Chen, M.S., of the University of Oregon for her study entitled, “Assessing the feasibility of using laboratory measures of gait imbalance to prospectively predict falls risk in the elderly” and Andrew S. Merryweather, Ph.D., of the University of Utah, for his research entitled, “A study to evaluate the effects of hospital bed adjustments and slip parameters in a population of fall-prone, older adults”.
• $29,500 was awarded to the Center for Sustainability. A global collaborative effort among the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability boosts the voices of safety and health professionals in the rapidly growing sustainability movement.

IV. Institutional Capital & Investing in the Future

The Foundation’s Planned Giving program, the Legacy Trust, continues to grow and will sustain the Foundation into the future.  Members can name the Foundation in their wills or as a beneficiary to their life insurance policies.  As of March 31, 2012, the Legacy Trust Program had 17 members.

The Foundation continued its support of students through co-sponsoring the ASSE Future Leaders Conference ($35,000), a program designed to mentor ASSE student members and prepare them for the transition from a safety student to a SH&E employee . 

In FY2012 we developed a new tagline for the Foundation: Generosity from you, growth within our profession, safety for all. The new tagline tells the story of the Foundation in three simple phrases – because of the philanthropy of our charitably-minded members, the Foundation is able to provide programs that advance the safety profession, keeping more and more employees safe at work and increasing safety everywhere. In conjunction with the new tagline, the Foundation redesigned the website to better represent the breadth of our programs, and began work on a logo meant to represent the comprehensive identity of the Foundation.

V. Looking Ahead

As we look to FY2013, the ASSE Foundation will offer nearly $200,000 in scholarships and professional education grants for students pursuing degrees in SH&E and to safety professionals working to expand their professional credentials.   In addition, we’ll implement an on-line scholarship management system.  This upgrade will streamline our entire process, making it easier for students and professionals to apply as well as improving the ease by which the review committees can select the top candidates for awards.

We will co-sponsor the ASSE Future Safety Leaders Conference which will be held in Chicago on November 8-9, 2012 and expanded accreditation activities will continue as we work with the Applied Sciences Commission (ASC) to develop and implement programs for schools seeking ASAC/ABET accreditation. 

We will also offer the “PhD Fellowship for Future Safety Educators”.   This program is a doctoral fellowship that is intended to cultivate future educators of occupational safety and health and to produce a thread of evidence-based research in the economic and financial analysis of safety-related programs and interventions.  Successful candidates will attend West Virginia University or Oregon State University tuition-free for three years, and will be required to teach at the collegiate level for a minimum of three years upon completion of their degree.

The Liberty Mutual Research Fellowship Program will provide two fellows the opportunity to spend time at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. In addition, the Applied Safety Research Grant program will be reevaluated in order to ensure the best possible allocation of our funding.

Other projects in development for FY2013 include the formation of an ad-hoc committee of young professionals. This committee will exist to generate a mutually beneficial relationship between the ASSE Foundation, who will secure the perspective and energies of ASSE’s next generation of leaders, and the young professionals of the Society, who will enjoy unique development and advancement opportunities.

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In closing, we are enormously proud of the work done in FY2012. We have effectively fulfilled our mission of generating funding and providing resources for scholarship, applied research, academic accreditation, and related academic initiatives in order to advance the safety, health, and environmental profession.

Moreover, the Board of Trustees is committed to being forward-thinking. We will continue to review and build on the Foundation’s strategic plan, repeating what has worked and improving what has not. We will continue striving to identify the most effective and transformative uses of our funds, guiding the profession forward and insisting that safety matters for every worker, in every workplace, all around the globe.

M.E. Eddie Greer, CSP, OHST
Foundation Chair, Fiscal-Year 2012

Statement of Revenue and Expenses

For the Twelve Months Ending March 31, 2012

 

Balance Sheet for 12 Month Period Ending March 31, 2012