<p>By Lewis Speaks-Tanner DignityUSA Vice President&nbsp;</p> <p>Spring is finally here! It has been a long winter with colder temperatures and more snow than we usually have in a winter. Dignity members throughout the northern states have experienced that same long winter. Dignity members in southern and western climates escaped winter but not all: those in Texas did get colder weather than they are used to. During this time DignityUSA has been very busy.</p> <!--break--> <p>On Friday April 11-13 your DignityUSA Board of Directors met in Boston. During the meeting the Board and staff worked on improving the Board&rsquo;s fundraising skills and techniques. In addition to being a 100% giving Board each member is expected to help in the fundraising goals of DignityUSA. Each Board member gives up his or her time for Board meetings weekly emails&nbsp;monthly committee commitments and the costs of traveling and staying in the various cities in which it meets. The commitment is significant but the rewards are great!</p> <p>Speaking of fundraising hopefully you saw the article in April&rsquo;s Dateline about DignityUSA&rsquo;s participation in Give OUT Day. This is an amazing opportunity to contribute to DignityUSA&rsquo;s mission. On May 15 LGBT organizations are invited to be part of history and participate in the second annual Give OUT Day. Give OUT Day is a national initiative that will engage hundreds of organizations and mobilize thousands of people on a single day across the country to give in support of the lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer community. DignityUSA is among those organizations. To give or learn more visit <a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/content/dignityusa-joins-one-day-online-fundraising-campaign>here</a>.</p> <p>We hope you will participate especially during those non-peak daytime hours. Please broadcast this day to family and friends so they can support DignityUSA. A few extra clicks to share this website URL with your Facebook networks and friends will help fund the work of Dignity.</p> <p>If you are not in a position to give financially we are always looking for more people to join our committees. We have the following active Board committees: chapter relations national convention nominations elections finance marketing publications technology and fundraising. Talented human resource professionals are also needed to assist the Board as part of a human resources committee. We also have several special interest caucuses: transgender women&rsquo;s young adult and the Defenders.&nbsp;</p> <p>Another online auction is coming! It would be wonderful if we had more items &ndash; large small or miniature! As long as it is an item or experience that others would enjoy. Please email me at lspeakstanner@gmail.com if you have something to contribute. Once the auction is live we are always looking for our members to cast the net far and wide to everyone including sharing it on their own Facebook page and with email contacts. More bids on each item helps DignityUSA raise more money: yes it does increase the price of an item you are bidding on but it is all for a wonderful cause: DignityUSA!</p> <p>During this busy time you might find it helpful to carve out some time for a retreat: there is still time for women to sign up for the <a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&amp;id=56>third annual Women&rsquo;s Retreat</a> June &ndash;13-15 2014 cosponsored by DignityUSA and Women&rsquo;s Alliance for Theology Ethics and Ritual (WATER).&nbsp;Additionally young adults can sign up for the <a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&amp;id=57>Dignity Young Adult Caucus Retreat</a> July &ndash;25- 27 2014 in Washington D.C. Jamie Manson will help lead the weekend&rsquo;s theme &ldquo;Discovering Our Place at the Table.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Lastly it is never too early to plan for the next DignityUSA Convention which will be in Seattle Washington July &ndash;2-5 2015. Pre-registration allows you to leave a deposit now so that when you register next year for the convention you will receive a discount.. Seattle is certainly to be a lot of fun and we hope to see you there. Preregister <a href=http://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/event/info?id=48&amp;reset=1>here</a>.</p>