What are our priorities?
Where is the money going? A couple of recent articles on the Dynamic Chiropractic website provide the answer.
End of an Era: FCER Decides on Self-Liquidation announces that “The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) will self-liquidate, meaning the organization will cease operations after serving the chiropractic profession for more than 60 years. The FCER Board of Trustees made the difficult decision after numerous efforts to find another organization that could take over the foundation’s efforts on behalf of the profession.
When interviewed FCER President Dr. Charles Herring said that over the years, large contributors have not continued supporting FCER at the level they once did and the current economic crisis that began to emerge in late 2008 has resulted in significant decreases in individual membership renewals. This has made FCER unsustainable from a financial standpoint.”
On the other hand, another article in Dynamic Chiropractic, Foundation for Chiropractic Progress Receives Record Pledge Support reports that “a $500,000 donation from Standard Process highlighted the record financial support received by the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (FCP) at the Florida Chiropractic Association 2009 national convention and expo in Orlando.
All told, the foundation received approximately $650,000 in pledges, including the surprise donation from Standard Process, which will be staggered over the next five years.”
The mission of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress is “To increase the public awareness of the benefits of chiropractic.” I’m all for that but perhaps we could channel some of those funds back into research thereby increasing our credibility and making chiropractic an ‘easier sell’.