The Director’s View - Kathleen Moriarty’s Column

From the November/December Issue of the Fraternal Dispatch. Written by Kathleen Moriarty.

Delegates to the CAA Convention last August had the opportunity to view CAA’s newest video, “What’s in a Name?” The video includes interviews with a variety of people close to CAA and is now available on DVD to councils through the Fraternal Department or your Field Representative.

It is encouraged for members to discuss the updating of the CAA name with your councils. Catholic Aid's goal is to present a proposed name for approval by two-thirds majority of delegates at Annual Convention in August 2010.

Here are some key points and a time line for the process ahead as our Board of Directors, management and members move forward with name selection in 2010.

**An updated name places us in a position of strength against stiff competition from commercial and mutual companies.

**We need to eliminate the name confusion with similar organizations. In a recent survey of non-member Catholics, exactly 70 percent thought CAA was a charitable organization or a disaster relief group.

**Our name must describe who we are and what we do. It must have “Catholic” in the name, and must reflect that we are a financial services organization.

What are our next steps? Catholic Aid is gathering name suggestions from members and non-members through Jan. 1, 2010. Send your ideas to President Mike McGovern or to Kathleen Moriarty. Name options will be discussed at the Board and Constitution Committee meetings during the first quarter of 2010. We will continue to publish updates on this process via video, CAA Journey magazine, Fraternal Dispatch newsletter and at council events.

Kathleen welcomes your thoughts on this important issue. Feel free to call or send an email. Our member's support is essential to this process.