NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT COALITION TO: New Markets Tax Credit Coalition Board FROM: Bob Rapoza
RE: Law Firm Membership Development DATE: August 1, 2013
As we discussed during the last Board of Director’s call, the Coalition is working to increase its membership base. Law firms are among the groups we are targeting for membership, as they are important participants in NMTC. Thus far only a few belong to the Coalition or are active other ways. Our goal is to not only increase and broaden the revenue base of the Coalition, but also further expand the constituency for the NMTC. Debbie La Franchi approached us in June with a memo she had prepared that outlines some ideas to solicit membership from law/accounting firms, which was previously circulated to the Board of Directors. During Executive Committee discussions on the topic of membership development, four members of the committee volunteered to work with Debbie on a subcommittee to implement and refine our strategy for the solicitation of law firms. Debbie’s memo is attached for reference. The subcommittee, which includes Debbie, José Villalobos, Ed Seksay, Dave Gibson, and Jonathon Goldstein, participated in a call today facilitated by Rapoza Associates. During the call, members discussed various strategies and ask us to survey the board to ascertain the firms that are most active in NMTC. To do this, we are asking for all Board Members to share the firms and name of their engagement partners with us in order to identify the best approach to solicit their membership. Once we have established priority, based on their level of involvement with Coalition members’ NMTC-related transactions, the subcommittee will work with fellow members to contact and request their involvement and membership in the Coalition. It was decided that the most effective requests must come from their clients. We ask that all Board Members participate in this, as it is important that we have a solid list of firms with a stake in the NMTC and a comprehensive list of clients with which they work on the issue in order to provide a compelling case for their membership. Please send the list of firms, including the engagement partner’s name, to Ayrianne Parks, who will collect the information for the subcommittee. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this request, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
