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The NJ SIM Foundation, Inc. is a New Jersey Not for Profit 501(c)(3) corporation set up by the SIM NJ (Society for Information Management – New Jersey Chapter) to assist worthy charities and individuals as described below. The New Jersey SIM Chapter has grown substantially in recent years and finds itself in a position where it can and wishes to “give back” to the IT profession and the community at large in the form of financial and/or information technology related assistance. The Foundation, in concept, has evolved over the past decade from simply providing two small scholarships each year to having providing several hundred thousand dollars in grants to needy organizations throughout New Jersey.

NJ SIM Foundation Mission Statement
The NJ SIM Foundation seeks to assist organizations and individuals in need, especially in the areas of information technology use and adoption, and in the pursuit of IT education. By providing financial assistance and advisory services, the NJ SIM Foundation helps organizations use IT capabilities to advance their causes, as well as providing assistance to students in higher level IT education programs.

History
What started out as an idea to provide another venue for the chapter members to network (a golf outing), turned into a money making event, evolved into the idea of giving proceeds back (scholarships), further evolved into creating a real IRS-recognized charitable foundation. Below is a summary of the key milestones in the Foundation's history:


 * September 1999:

Starting in 1999, the NJ SIM chapter began holding annual golf outings. The initial intent behind these outings was to provide another networking venue for its membership. The outings were sponsored by IT vendors and this also provided an opportunity for networking with vendor organizations as well as a technology exchange. The outings quickly became a day-long event beginning in the morning with technology presentations and a vendor exhibition. Following golf each year since the beginning, is a reception at which time the NJ SIM chapter awarded scholarships to two students attending NJ-based colleges/universities. The scholarships were funded by the outing’s revenues.


 * May 2005:

Discussions began amongst the Chapter’s Board of Trustees around the idea of creating an endowment to help fund future scholarships and other giveback ideas. Though there was some support for this idea, there was not enough, and the discussion around some type of permanent funding mechanism for giveback came to an end. The rejection of this idea actually turned out to be a critical step in the evolution of the NJ SIM Foundation. At this time, with the continued success of the annual golf outings, success with several other revenue-providing NJ SIM ventures, and momentum building for doing something more than just providing scholarships, the Executive Committee voted in support of establishing a formal community giveback program. Jim Webber, a long-time NJ SIM member and then-current Trustee, as well as Rick Carney, a former chapter President and then-current Trustee were asked to evaluate the feasibility and possible approaches to accomplishing this objective.


 * August 2005:

In probably the biggest turning point for the future of the NJ SIM Foundation, Jim Webber – a long-time NJ SIM member and then-current Trustee, and a big proponent and driving force behind establishing a giveback program, delivered a document he had written to Rick Carney about a new giveback idea for the chapter leadership to consider: a foundation. Jim outlined the various ways in which a foundation would be able to deliver value not only to beneficiaries but also to NJ SIM members as well. Tapping into the membership, the corporations for which many of our members work, as well as the IT vendor community would provide an excellent source of funding potential, volunteers, and technological expertise. Jim also recognized that our members would feel a great sense of pride in the Chapter’s giveback efforts and that would help retain members and possibly attract more. Jim proposed that Rick Carney, the designated chairperson for establishing a community-wide giveback program, “investigate the potential applicability and value of this kind of “Foundation” approach to our Chapter’s needs and desires”.


 * May 2006:

Rick Carney presented to the NJ SIM Executive Committee: “Considerations for Implementing a Community Giveback Program for NJ SIM”. The presentation included: various types of giveback the Chapter can deliver on; why NJ SIM should take this on; an implementation approach; governance guidelines; a funding approach; and benefits to the Chapter. The conclusion of the presentation was to request approval from the Executive Committee, at the time led by President Greg Shand. The Executive Committee unanimously approved the concept and thus, in concept and working form, the NJ SIM Foundation was born.


 * September 2006:

The “NJ SIM CIO Technology Exchange & Charity Golf Outing” was held in September 2006 and while it was very similar to many of the golf outings in years past, this year’s outing had a heavy focus on the newly approved NJ SIM Foundation. A presentation was provided to all of the attendees about the foundation, its mission, how it would operate, and the next steps that would be required to ensure the success of the Foundation.


 * December 2006:

The first meeting is held with the Foundation’s volunteer committee.


 * April 2008:

The official By-Laws of the NJ SIM Foundation are completed, in an effort led by Trustee Cliff Hallberg and unanimously approved by the NJ SIM Executive Committee led at that time by President Leif Maiorini.


 * June 2008:

The last critical step in the creation of the foundation. Greg Shand, then NJ SIM Executive Committee member and Chapter Treasurer, who had completed all of the necessary paperwork and filings, was notified by the IRS in June 2008 that 501c(3) status had been approved for the entity “NJ SIM Foundation”.

Foundation Governance
Leadership of the Foundation is provided by the President of the Foundation. The President, along with four other officers (Executive Vice President, Vice President at Large, Vice President/Secretary, and Vice President/Treasurer) are appointed by the SIM NJ Executive Committee. A sixth officer position of the Foundation is the Immediate Past President. Each member of the Executive Committee of the SIM NJ Chapter serves as a member on the Board of Directors for the NJ SIM Foundation. In the formative years of the Foundation, leadership was provided initially by an Executive Director position, and then subsequently by two individuals sharing the function as Co-Executive Directors.

In addition to the formal leadership positions, the NJ SIM Foundation has several operating committees with volunteers from the SIM NJ Chapter that are focused on events, communications, awareness, fundraising, and grants.

Beneficiaries
Discuss the various benefiaries here.

To qualify for membership in SIM New Jersey, you must belong to one of the following membership categories:


 * Practitioners:
 * IT MANAGEMENT- Senior information technology executives in private or public sector organizations who are Corporate or Divisional heads of Information Technology organizations responsible for information systems and technology. A senior information technology executive's direct report(s) with significant responsibility may also be admitted for membership.


 * BUSINESS EXECUTIVES - Senior business executives from public or private organizations whose primary responsibility is not information management, but who play a key role in the use of information technology in their own organization (i.e., CEOs, CFOs).


 * OTHER LEADERS - Leaders in shaping and influencing law and government policy in areas of professional concern to information mangers.


 * Vendors:
 * (Note: SIM NJ limits the number of vendor members to 20% of Practitioners)


 * CONSULTANT - Leading individuals and other experts from consulting firms who are able to demonstrate that their consulting activities are primarily performed at the senior level of the organizations they service and are not primarily in a sales role.


 * VENDORS - Leading individuals and other experts from vendor firms (software, hardware, IT Recruiting, other IT) who are able to demonstrate that their activities are primarily performed at the senior level of the organizations they service.


 * Academics:
 * (Note: SIM NJ limits the number of academic members to 10% of Practitioners)


 * ACADEMIC - Full-time university or college faculty members making a significant contribution to the field. An academic institutional chapter membership may be approved by the Executive Committee for the purpose of permitting participation of multiple members of academic institutions, however, one member of the academic institution must be designated as the SIM International member and will by the sole institutional member with voting rights.


 * Others:
 * REGIONAL LEADERSHIP FORUM (RLF) GRADUATES - Individuals who have graduated from the SIM International's Regional Leadership Forum (RLF) program.

Membership Categories

To meet the needs of our diverse membership, SIM has four membership categories:


 * Individual
 * Academic
 * Corporate (Enterprise Membership)
 * SIM Partner

SIM NJ adheres to a strict policy against marketing to its members or using SIM NJ events to promote business products and/or services.

Organization Leadership
The SIMNJ Chapter is governed by a membership-elected Executive Committee (EC). The EC is composed of the President, the Executive Vice President, and Vice President(s) for each major area of Chapter operations including Membership, Membership Retention, Programs, Marketing, Communications, Representative to Society for Information Management, Administration, and Treasury. Also part of the EC is the Board of Trustees which has five members, all Past Chapter Presidents, and who provide guidance and counsel to the President of the Chapter, perform the annual financial audit, and serve as the nominating committee. All EC positions are for one-year terms with the exception of the Treasurer, the Representative to Society for Information Management, and the Board of Trustees, which serve two-year terms. SIM NJ runs a program and fiscal year that begins in September of each year and ends in August of the following the year. Election of the following year's EC leadership is held in March of each year. In addition to the Vice President(s) who are responsible for their specific areas, there may also be Committees formed to assist with planning, coordination, and implementation of activities within that office. In addition to the Vice President who serves as the Representative to Society for Information Management, each Vice President as well as the President are typically involved with peers from other SIM Chapters in broader Society for Information Management initiatives and collaboration.

Programs
SIM NJ offers its members a variety of meetings, programs, and conferences to enhance knowledge sharing and networking. The regular monthly meetings are held in each month from September through June with December and June meetings being held as member socials. The monthly meetings are held in the evenings. Attendance at these meetings is restricted to SIM NJ Members, Guests of SIM NJ Members, or members from other SIM Chapters. Examples or prior meetings includes topics such as:
 * The Bionic CIO: Rebuilt to be better, stronger, faster.
 * Technology Roundtable Discussions: Cloud Computing, Revenue Generating IT Innovations, and Demonstrating the Business Value of IT
 * Why IT Needs Marketing Now More Than Ever
 * Mentoring – Building People Capability and Creating a Learning Environment
 * FBI Domain Program and the Foreign Threat to US Technology

In addition to regular monthly meetings, SIM NJ also runs, hosts, or co-sponsors other CIO-level events such as The NJ CIO Execuive Summit. These events have been run for several years and have come to be some of the regions best IT leadership conferences. In October 2010, NJ SIM and the Stevens Institute of Technology hosted an IT Academic Session which featured interactive presentations and discussions with top professors from Stevens and CIOs from local organizations.

Advanced Practices Council
Advanced Practices Council (APC) is a forum for senior IT executives who commission exclusive research and share cross-industry perspectives in an intimate, candid atmosphere. APC was founded in 1991 by Warren McFarlan of the Harvard Business School. This program is run by the Society for Information Management and is available to SIM NJ Chapter members.

SIMposium
SIMposium is SIM's annual practitioner-driven conference designed for and by CIOs. Working nationally with key senior IT executives, CIOs and recognized thought leaders, SIMposium addresses the topics, issues, best practices and trends that will give our audience the technology-related insight necessary to make the right decisions to impact their business strategies and future IT direction. From 1995 to 2002, SIMposium was called SIM Interchange Annual Conference.

SIM NJ Chapter Socials
The SIM NJ Chapter also holds two social events each year. One is the Holiday Social held in December and the other is the Spring Social held in June. These socials are restricted to SIM NJ members and their significant others only. These events are typically held at some of the area's finest venues such as the Pleasantdale Chateau, The Manor, and the Grand Cafe. The socials provide a great opportunity for networking amongst members and their guests and have come to be very popular within the Chapter.

NJ SIM Foundation
Several years ago, the SIM NJ Chapter formed a charitable 501(c)(3) organization called the NJ SIM Foundation. The NJ SIM Foundation aims to provide charitable assistance in the way of funding, resources, and materials for those individuals or organizations in need, or in need of technology capability but cannot afford it. The NJ SIM Foundation raises funds through donations and special events run throughout the year. One of the largest contributors to the SIM NJ Foundation is the annual Charity Golf Event and Technology Exchange. The event is the one event each year where vendors and sponsors can directly market their products and services to SIM NJ members and the event's attendees. The event has a morning component that is the Technology Exchange and features keynote presentations as well as the chance for attendees to visit with the event's sponsors. The afternoon golf tournament is followed by a banquet dinner, silent auction, awards, as well as a presentation by the event's benefactor. The NJ SIM Foundation also provides annual scholarship awards for students in the IT field of study. The NJ SIM Foundation has provided grants and scholarships totaling close to $300,000 in just the last few years.