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The Relief Fund: Modus Operandi
154/624 • T H E J O U R N A L O F THE A M E R IC A N D EN T A L A S S O C IA T IO N
The scientific exhibits were well re ceived and well attended. The dental ap titude testing demonstration presented by the Council on Dental Education was ex ceptionally popular. More than 3,200 individuals participated in the testing program but, judging by the printed ma terial distributed, more than 5,000 indi viduals visited this exhibit. The Council on Dental Education plans to expand the extent of the tests and material to be presented at the 1964 annual session. The Council on Scientific Session has for a number of years noted with alarm an increase in the number of meetings and conferences held in the week before the annual session with constantly in creasing attendance at these but with diminishing interest in and support of the scientific session of the Association. Several of the respondents commented to the effect that they had attended meet
ings before the opening of the annual ses sion, had registered for the annual session on Sunday, viewed some exhibits and then departed from the convention city. It has been the experience of the Council to have essayists and clinicians demand that unless they could be placed on the program of Monday of the annual ses sion, they would not participate. It should be emphasized to the members of these organizations that they have an obliga tion to the parent Association to which these organizations owe their existence. The Council on Scientific Session wishes to thank those members who sup plied the information on which this re port is based. The Council gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Bu reau of Economic Research and Statistics in preparing the questionnaire used in the Opinion Survey and in tabulating the replies.
The Relief Fund: Modus Operandi
C O U N C IL O N R E L IE F
The Council has been receiving, with increasing frequency, inquiries regarding the method of operation of the American Dental Association Relief Fund and the basis on which eligibility for financial assistance from the Relief Fund is established. At its February 17, 1964 meeting, the Council discussed the import of these inquiries and determined that a comprehensive explanation of its program should be provided the members of the Association through t h e j o u r n a l . This judgment was reinforced by the lag in contributions to the 1963-64 Relief Seal campaign, which, at the time of examination, disclosed a drop of approximately $15,000 in contributions from the corresponding date in 1963.
REPORTS O F C O U N C IL S A N D BU R EA U S . . .V O L U M E 68, A P R IL 1964 • 155/625
The American Dental Association Re lief Fund originated more than 50 years ago and was established with surplus monies from a fund that had been raised to assist the dentist-survivors of the San Francisco earthquake and fire and their families. In September, 1948, it was for malized under an Indenture of Trust by which the members of the Council on Relief became the Trustees of the Fund. The Indenture specifically characterizes the Relief Fund as a true charitable or ganization by reciting that: T h e purpose o f the Am erican D ental Asso ciation R elief Fund is to render financial aid to members o f the dental profession and their dependents (including form er dependents of deceased members o f the dental profession) who, because o f misfortune, age or physical or other disabling conditions, are not wholly self-sustaining, and to receive, accumulate, in vest and expend monies and property for the attainment o f such object. T h e Trust Property shall not be used fo r any purpose other than the charitable purpose hereinabove defined. N o Trustee, no officer or employee of the Asso ciation, and no person connected in any way with the administration of the Trust Property shall receive any pecuniary benefit therefrom except such compensation, if any, as m ay be allowed b y the Trustees for services actually rendered. . . .
Analysis of the foregoing quotation from the Indenture discloses that the Relief Program is not simply a benefit of membership in organized dentistry. Any dentist, irrespective of his relationship with organized dentistry, is eligible to apply for assistance. Without this broad, charitable purpose, the Relief Fund would not enjoy its favorable tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code. In the absence of this status, contribu tions to the Relief Fund would not be tax deductible to the donors, which is a circumstance clearly to be avoided. The Relief Fund also operates under a set of Rules adopted by the Trustees of the Relief Fund and approved by the Association’s Board of Trustees. The Rules, among other things, set forth the basic operational procedures for the man agement of applications for relief grants.
Each application must originate with the component society when the applicant practices within the jurisdiction of such society, and with the constituent society when no component societies have been organized in the state. An application arising in a component or constituent society must be acted on by such societies before transmittal to the Relief Fund. Approval commits the constituent and component societies involved to joint payment of one half of the total grant which is approved by the Council on Relief. Initial grants are made for a period of six months and no grant is made for a period longer than one calen dar year. The duration of an individual grant is determined by the Council. Grants are paid in monthly installments, except that emergency grants may be dis bursed in a single payment. Only one emergency grant may be made to an indi vidual recipient. Regular grants, on the other hand, may be renewed, on a yearly basis, indefinitely, so long as the societies concerned and the members of the Coun cil believe that such renewal is justified. The Council, in determining the amount of a grant, takes into considera tion the particular circumstances of each applicant, including his financial need, his length of ethical dental practice, his contributions to the dental profession, his age and physical condition, his opportu nity for assistance from immediate mem bers of his family, his financial assets and all other relevant factors. The general policy is to award relief grants for meet ing emergency needs rather than for pensions and annuities. Within these guidelines, and the recommendations of the component and constituent societies, the Council attempts to determine the fair amount of assistance that should be granted. Shown in the accompanying table are the facts on ten cases, selected at random, which typify the Council’s responsibility regarding grants and dem onstrate the merit of the Relief Program. The Council acted favorably on 112 applications during the fiscal year that
156/626 • THE J O U R N A L O F THE A M E R IC A N D EN T A L A S S O C IA T IO N
Case
Age
Disability
Dependents
Assets
Annual income
Monthly grant
1
85
Diabetes, Arthritis, Blindness
0
0
$1,400
$57
2
88
Partial loss, mobility and memory
0
0
0
$150
3
70*
Osteoarthritis, cir culatory disease
0
$150
0
$100
4
67
C erebral thrombosis, producing hemiplegia
1
$170
0
$100
5
51
Paralysis, left arm
4
Home + $400
$1,750
$100
6
88*
Total deafness
0
Home
0
$80
7
61
Multiple sclerosis
1
$1,700
W ife = $7,000
$150
8
65
Blindness
1
H om e+ $2,600
$2,400
$100
9
76
Adjudged legally incompetent
1
Home-f~ $3,500
$1,900
$100
10
81
Partial paralysis, extremities
1
Home-j$200
0
$100
* W id o w .
ended June 30, 1963. The examples listed in the table are less dramatic than some that might have been selected but it was not the Council’s intention to slant the illustration in favor of the most com pelling cases. These examples tell a story that requires no embellishment. The 1963-64 Relief campaign goal is $125,000. The money received in the campaign cannot be used for relief grants. The portion retained by the Relief Fund, after refund to the constituent so
,«da .«de
amencan dental association
amencan dental association
cieties of one half of the total contributed by members in each such society, must be invested, and grants can be paid only out of the income earned on the invest ments. Since the Association has more than 80,000 active and life members, it is obvious that a contribution of $1.75 from each member would assure that the goal of $125,000 would be exceeded. The Council cannot believe that this is too much to ask of the members of a respon sible profession.
ad© «da
amencan dental association
american dental association
The scientific exhibits were well re ceived and well attended. The dental ap titude testing demonstration presented by the Council on Dental Education was ex ceptionally popular. More than 3,200 individuals participated in the testing program but, judging by the printed ma terial distributed, more than 5,000 indi viduals visited this exhibit. The Council on Dental Education plans to expand the extent of the tests and material to be presented at the 1964 annual session. The Council on Scientific Session has for a number of years noted with alarm an increase in the number of meetings and conferences held in the week before the annual session with constantly in creasing attendance at these but with diminishing interest in and support of the scientific session of the Association. Several of the respondents commented to the effect that they had attended meet
ings before the opening of the annual ses sion, had registered for the annual session on Sunday, viewed some exhibits and then departed from the convention city. It has been the experience of the Council to have essayists and clinicians demand that unless they could be placed on the program of Monday of the annual ses sion, they would not participate. It should be emphasized to the members of these organizations that they have an obliga tion to the parent Association to which these organizations owe their existence. The Council on Scientific Session wishes to thank those members who sup plied the information on which this re port is based. The Council gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Bu reau of Economic Research and Statistics in preparing the questionnaire used in the Opinion Survey and in tabulating the replies.
The Relief Fund: Modus Operandi
C O U N C IL O N R E L IE F
The Council has been receiving, with increasing frequency, inquiries regarding the method of operation of the American Dental Association Relief Fund and the basis on which eligibility for financial assistance from the Relief Fund is established. At its February 17, 1964 meeting, the Council discussed the import of these inquiries and determined that a comprehensive explanation of its program should be provided the members of the Association through t h e j o u r n a l . This judgment was reinforced by the lag in contributions to the 1963-64 Relief Seal campaign, which, at the time of examination, disclosed a drop of approximately $15,000 in contributions from the corresponding date in 1963.
REPORTS O F C O U N C IL S A N D BU R EA U S . . .V O L U M E 68, A P R IL 1964 • 155/625
The American Dental Association Re lief Fund originated more than 50 years ago and was established with surplus monies from a fund that had been raised to assist the dentist-survivors of the San Francisco earthquake and fire and their families. In September, 1948, it was for malized under an Indenture of Trust by which the members of the Council on Relief became the Trustees of the Fund. The Indenture specifically characterizes the Relief Fund as a true charitable or ganization by reciting that: T h e purpose o f the Am erican D ental Asso ciation R elief Fund is to render financial aid to members o f the dental profession and their dependents (including form er dependents of deceased members o f the dental profession) who, because o f misfortune, age or physical or other disabling conditions, are not wholly self-sustaining, and to receive, accumulate, in vest and expend monies and property for the attainment o f such object. T h e Trust Property shall not be used fo r any purpose other than the charitable purpose hereinabove defined. N o Trustee, no officer or employee of the Asso ciation, and no person connected in any way with the administration of the Trust Property shall receive any pecuniary benefit therefrom except such compensation, if any, as m ay be allowed b y the Trustees for services actually rendered. . . .
Analysis of the foregoing quotation from the Indenture discloses that the Relief Program is not simply a benefit of membership in organized dentistry. Any dentist, irrespective of his relationship with organized dentistry, is eligible to apply for assistance. Without this broad, charitable purpose, the Relief Fund would not enjoy its favorable tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code. In the absence of this status, contribu tions to the Relief Fund would not be tax deductible to the donors, which is a circumstance clearly to be avoided. The Relief Fund also operates under a set of Rules adopted by the Trustees of the Relief Fund and approved by the Association’s Board of Trustees. The Rules, among other things, set forth the basic operational procedures for the man agement of applications for relief grants.
Each application must originate with the component society when the applicant practices within the jurisdiction of such society, and with the constituent society when no component societies have been organized in the state. An application arising in a component or constituent society must be acted on by such societies before transmittal to the Relief Fund. Approval commits the constituent and component societies involved to joint payment of one half of the total grant which is approved by the Council on Relief. Initial grants are made for a period of six months and no grant is made for a period longer than one calen dar year. The duration of an individual grant is determined by the Council. Grants are paid in monthly installments, except that emergency grants may be dis bursed in a single payment. Only one emergency grant may be made to an indi vidual recipient. Regular grants, on the other hand, may be renewed, on a yearly basis, indefinitely, so long as the societies concerned and the members of the Coun cil believe that such renewal is justified. The Council, in determining the amount of a grant, takes into considera tion the particular circumstances of each applicant, including his financial need, his length of ethical dental practice, his contributions to the dental profession, his age and physical condition, his opportu nity for assistance from immediate mem bers of his family, his financial assets and all other relevant factors. The general policy is to award relief grants for meet ing emergency needs rather than for pensions and annuities. Within these guidelines, and the recommendations of the component and constituent societies, the Council attempts to determine the fair amount of assistance that should be granted. Shown in the accompanying table are the facts on ten cases, selected at random, which typify the Council’s responsibility regarding grants and dem onstrate the merit of the Relief Program. The Council acted favorably on 112 applications during the fiscal year that
156/626 • THE J O U R N A L O F THE A M E R IC A N D EN T A L A S S O C IA T IO N
Case
Age
Disability
Dependents
Assets
Annual income
Monthly grant
1
85
Diabetes, Arthritis, Blindness
0
0
$1,400
$57
2
88
Partial loss, mobility and memory
0
0
0
$150
3
70*
Osteoarthritis, cir culatory disease
0
$150
0
$100
4
67
C erebral thrombosis, producing hemiplegia
1
$170
0
$100
5
51
Paralysis, left arm
4
Home + $400
$1,750
$100
6
88*
Total deafness
0
Home
0
$80
7
61
Multiple sclerosis
1
$1,700
W ife = $7,000
$150
8
65
Blindness
1
H om e+ $2,600
$2,400
$100
9
76
Adjudged legally incompetent
1
Home-f~ $3,500
$1,900
$100
10
81
Partial paralysis, extremities
1
Home-j$200
0
$100
* W id o w .
ended June 30, 1963. The examples listed in the table are less dramatic than some that might have been selected but it was not the Council’s intention to slant the illustration in favor of the most com pelling cases. These examples tell a story that requires no embellishment. The 1963-64 Relief campaign goal is $125,000. The money received in the campaign cannot be used for relief grants. The portion retained by the Relief Fund, after refund to the constituent so
,«da .«de
amencan dental association
amencan dental association
cieties of one half of the total contributed by members in each such society, must be invested, and grants can be paid only out of the income earned on the invest ments. Since the Association has more than 80,000 active and life members, it is obvious that a contribution of $1.75 from each member would assure that the goal of $125,000 would be exceeded. The Council cannot believe that this is too much to ask of the members of a respon sible profession.
ad© «da
amencan dental association
american dental association