IEEE MGA: 2013 Geographic Unit Rebate Schedule, Requirements, and Procedures

1. Allowance: All sections in existence on 31 December 2012 and meeting minimum requirements shall receive a US$2,000 annual allowance. For sections formed during 2012, these funds will be pro-rated from the date of establishment until 31 December.
2. Membership rebate: US$3 for each Member, Student, or Associate grade member, US$1.50 for each Affiliate, and US$4 for each Senior or Fellow Grade member, based on 31 December 2012 statistics.
3. Subsection rebate: US$500 for each subsection meeting minimum requirements. Subsection rebates are included with the section's rebate.
   1. Financial activity: data should be consolidated into the section's annual financial report form.
   2. Meeting activity: subsections should file all meeting reports using the vTools 31 meeting report form. A subsection should hold at least five meetings per year and maintain a membership of no fewer than fifteen (15) members other than students.
   3. Current officers: a list of current officers should be sent to the section's secretary to be reported to IEEE MGA.
4. Chapter and affinity group rebate: US$200 for each chapter and/or affinity group meeting minimum requirements.
5. Bonus for timeliness: All sections whose reporting (financial, meeting, and officer) is submitted by Friday, 15 February 2013, will receive a 10% bonus of the total rebate.
6. Activity bonus: In an effort to encourage activities at the local level, activity bonuses may be awarded as follows:
   1. All sections reporting ten meetings or more, at least five of which must be of a technical nature, shall receive an additional US$200.
   2. All subsections reporting ten meetings or more, at least five of which must be of a technical nature, shall receive an additional US$100.
   3. Joint meetings may be counted toward only one unit’s bonus. For example, joint meetings of different chapters and/or affinity groups may not be counted as a meeting for both units.
   4. All chapters or affinity groups reporting six or more meetings of a technical nature shall receive an additional US$75.
   5. Activity bonus funds are excluded from the 10% bonus for timely reporting.
   6. All units must qualify for the timely reporting bonus (see #5 above) in order to be eligible for an activity bonus.

View available forms, materials, and guidance

For additional information, refer to the MGA Operations Manual. To be eligible for a rebate, sections must provide current officer, financial, and meeting/activity reports based on the following requirements. Units are advised that utilizing online reporting options will result in faster processing and release of the Section rebate. 

1. Current officer report: Reports of current section, subsection, chapter, and affinity group officers must be submitted within 20 days following the election and/or appointment of such officers. These reports must be updated during the year whenever officers change. If officers have been re-elected or re-appointed to another term, this should be verified through reporting.
2. Financial report: A financial report summarizing the previous year's financial activities must be submitted annually. If the section is unable to obtain financial records from a subsection, chapter, or affinity group, it may opt to submit a statement that the subunit has failed to submit a timely financial report and waive its right to a rebate for that particular subunit. Delinquent subunits may be subject to probation or even dissolution, according to procedures outlined in the MGA Operations Manual.
3. Bank signature card: The bank signature card(s) must be returned to the IEEE Operations Center for the signature of the IEEE Staff Director-Financial Services before the section rebate will be released. This is required for all bank accounts for sections and their subunits within the US, and those Units outside of the US where banking and legal restrictions will allow. The Section rebate will not be released until all signature cards for the section and, if applicable, its subsection(s), chapter(s), and affinity group(s) have been received in the IEEE Operations Center.  Councils are also required to comply with this policy for the council’s bank account and that of any subunits.
   
   An exemption from the signature card requirement may be requested from the Region Director. Exemptions may only be granted due to local, state, or federal banking laws, and regulations prohibiting the signature of the IEEE Staff Director, or where the requirements would be prohibitive (exemption form is included in the L50 Financial Report form).
   
   If a section or subunit has not changed officers and the Staff Director’s signature is already on the signature card, a new signature card is not required.

4. Meeting Activity Report(s): Meeting activity reports are key to unit maintenance and viability. To facilitate accurate reporting, a Meeting Report Form (L31) should be submitted via the Web for each meeting and contain the information requested in the form fields. 
   
   The MGA Operations Manual requires the following activities:
   
   Section Eligibility
   Sections are required to hold and report at least five meetings each year and also maintain a minimum membership of twenty-five (25) members other than Students. Meetings held by a chapter or affinity group, or joint chapter or affinity group, of a section may be counted in fulfilling the MGA Operations Manual requirement.
   
   Subsection Eligibility
   Subsections are required to hold and report at least five meetings each year and also maintain a minimum membership of fifteen (15) members other than students. A copy of each meeting report should be e-mailed to the section secretary, using the copy field on the L31 form.
   
   Chapter Eligibility
   A chapter is required to maintain a membership of not fewer than ten (10) members other than students, and to hold and report not less than two meetings in the technical category per year. Joint chapter meetings (where the chapter is joint with two or more sections) will be credited to the administrative (parent) section.
   
   Affinity Group Eligibility
   An affinity group is required to maintain a membership of not fewer than six (6) members other than students, and to submit an annual roster of members, including names and member numbers. They should hold and report not less than two meetings per year, or maintain a level of activity acceptable to the regional director. Joint affinity group meetings (where the group is joint with two or more sections) will be credited to the administrative (parent) section.
   
   Geographic Councils
   Geographic unit councils, comprised of sections, are not eligible for a rebate. Geographic councils can receive only chapter/affinity group rebates (US$200/unit) for active chapters and/or affinity groups. If the council is the parent organization of a chapter or affinity group, the council will receive the rebate for the subunit(s) only, including the 10% bonus for timely reporting, and activity bonus, if applicable. Councils receive no other rebate allowance; there is no additional allowance or payment per membership. 
   
   - Financial activity: If your geographic council has no bank accounts and no financial activity, the "General Information and Certification Schedule" in the Financial Report form should be completed and submitted along with a statement indicating there were no bank accounts and no financial activity for the year. If your council has a bank account, with or without additional financial activity, a financial report must be submitted.
   - Meeting activity: If a council has no chapters or affinity groups, meeting reports are not required.
   - Officer reporting: submit an annual roster of officers.

Note:

• A meeting jointly sponsored by more than one IEEE Organization Unit (chapter, subsection, or section) may qualify as a meeting for each, but will count toward the activity bonus of only one of the units (see A.6.c.).
• Non-technical (e.g. professional and administrative) meetings are an important part of an effective section or subsection program, and are encouraged.

Rebates are paid based on the section's eligibility, as determined in part by reporting and upon approval of all submitted reports. The section secretary and treasurer or secretary/treasurer should verify that all required reports are submitted for 2012 activity by 15 February 2013. In cases of unavoidable delay in section reporting, unless these reports, including all subsection, chapter, and affinity group meeting activity reports, are received by 31 March of the current year, the section may not receive the current annual rebate payment. This is also true of those councils receiving a rebate for their subunits. The respective region director must approve exceptions to this deadline.

The section rebate shall be paid by 30 April 2013 to all sections whose officer, financial, and meeting activity reporting is received complete by 15 February 2013 and subsequently approved. Those sections submitting their reports at a later time will receive their rebates as soon thereafter that eligibility is established.

In order for a unit to be eligible for the 10% bonus of the total rebate, all required information must be submitted by the assigned deadline. If the information submitted is not complete or contains errors, and if corrections are not submitted within 60 days of a written request, the 10% bonus will be forfeited. The written request provided by IEEE will clearly state what action is expected, the date by which it must be submitted, and the consequence if not submitted.

Member and Geographic Activities can not make additional subsection, chapter, or affinity group subsidy payments for meeting activity reported at a later time; as such, the section secretary should certify when submitting section, subsection, chapter, and affinity group meeting activity that all activity has been reported. Rebates for council subunits will be sent directly to the council treasurer unless the council chair otherwise instructs staff.

The rebate is paid to the section. The funds provided are intended for the support of not only the section’s activities, but also the activities of its subunits, including subsections, chapters, affinity groups, and IEEE student organizations. Section officers are encouraged to use rebate funds to support the activities of existing units and to form new units.

For sections formed from subsections after 31 December 2012, the current year's rebate for the new section shall be based upon the terms of a written agreement between the officers of the parent section and the new section. 

The agreement will be developed in consultation with the regional director. Such agreement will be based on the number of members in the new section and shall be concluded prior to establishment of the new section.

Some societies/technical councils provide financial support to their chapters. The Member and Geographic Activities Board encourages section and chapter chairs to explore funding provided by societies/technical councils.