Examples of recent proactive philatelic society & organization initiatives

Fortunately, many philatelic societies endeavor to respond to challenges and seek to place themselves and their members in a positive place. These initiatives are often diverse in nature, highly impactful and worthy of being shared. Following are a few efforts we have become aware of that should be shared. These examples also afford opportunities to learn about the pros & cons associated with the efforts being made to enhance and grow philately. Please let us know of others that you have become aware of.

·       Military Postal History Society (MPHS). In 2024 their nominating committee, amid concerns over succession challenges and an aging executive, restructured the organizational framework. Three vice president positions were created to support succession with individuals representing a diverse range of experiences. An effort was also made to split the previous role of Editor/Treasurer into two distinct positions. Significant energy was expended to include a more youthful element on the Board. This commenced with examining the interest areas of those associated with the Young Philatelic Leadership Fellowships. The process resulted in identification of an individual with interest in aspects of military postal history and subsequently developing a new Board position called “Youth Liaison”. Careful examination of a younger element associated with philatelic articles and exhibits that appeared in the past few years allowed for the identification of a younger person willing to take on the Secretary role on the Board. The MPHS Board going into 2025 has two individuals under the age of 30 and significant improvement with respect to long term leadership capacity. The current editor is also engaged in a process to explore developing an associate editor role.

·       Victoria Stamp Club (VSC). By the Spring of 2023 the Vancouver Island Philatelic Society (VIPS, 1931) and the Greater Victoria Philatelic Society (GVPS, 1939) had begun to respond to the challenges of declining membership and difficulties filling key leadership positions. A process was established to consider a merger with intense focus upon what this would need to look like, feel like, walk like and talk like to ensure viability and growth going forward. A key objective for the club would focus upon providing regional leadership in growing the hobby and is represented in a vibrant new web site (vicstamps.com). For more information, contact info@vicstamps.com

·      Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC). Went through a process of examining their impact upon and support for the hobby. It was determined that the society needed their focus to be upon guiding principles which were summarized as Community, Education & Connection. The society committee structure was re-configured to reflect an intentionality of purpose that focused upon these guiding principles. These changes and structural reconfigurations are described in the July/August 2024 edition of The Canadian Philatelist, p152-55.