Did you know that assigning earned honoraria to the REF counts as making your annual gift for the fiscal year?
If you find yourself speaking at professional events—both ACR and non-ACR events—in 2010, consider donating your earned honoraria to the ACR REF. It’s an easy way to help the REF make a difference in the lives of people living with rheumatic disease, and it can make a difference to you. Donating honoraria may qualify you for certain donor benefits and could save you money at tax time.
“My division has been the recipient of REF awards for various educational activities over the last several years. In addition, investigators at my institution have received research awards from the REF,” explains Richard A. Furie, MD, a REF donor and a rheumatologist at the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System in Lake Success, N.Y., about his decision to donate honoraria to the REF.
While serving as the rheumatology program training director at North Shore, Dr. Furie successfully led his institution’s bid to receive funding through the ACR REF/Amgen/Pfizer Rheumatology Fellowship Training Award. This award funds one year of rheumatology fellowship training expenses for one trainee at a selected recipient institution and is a key component of the REF’s efforts to ensure a robust rheumatology workforce. Receiving the award in 2007 and again in 2009 translated into $50,000 of support for North Shore’s program.
Appreciative of the work the REF is doing and the specific support his institution received, Dr. Furie finds that donating his earned honoraria is a logical expression of that appreciation. “Supporting the REF—especially in this era of dwindling resources—is quite important,” he says. “What could be easier than donating honoraria received for speaking at an ACR event? I would love to see every member assign all or part of the honoraria they earn from speaking at ACR-sponsored educational events.”
Eric L. Matteson, MD, a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and chair of the ACR Committee on Communications and Marketing, shares Dr. Furie’s beliefs about donating to the REF, saying that it is an easy way to give to the REF.
Honoraria contributions are not limited to internal events and speaking engagements. Many ACR and ARHP members share their expertise in the field by speaking at non-ACR events all over the world, in addition to contributing content to respected publications and serving in volunteer leadership positions at a variety of organizations and institutions. Any time you are compensated with a stipend or honorarium, you have the opportunity to transform that reward into your annual gift to the REF.
“It is an honor to be asked to speak at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology,” says Ellen M. Ginzler, MD, MPH a rheumatologist at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and another regular honoraria donor. “[Showing] pride in our organization and our own role in supporting the goals of the ACR and REF can be accomplished easily by assigning our honoraria from ACR and non-ACR events back to the REF.”
Gifting honoraria is a simple statement that speaks volumes. It couldn’t be simpler to facilitate. Your ACR speaker agreement will include an option to assign all or part of your honoraria; just remember to mark this option as you complete yours.
For more information on how you can make your honoraria become your annual gift, visit www.rheumatology.org/REF.
