This year I turned 65. I have been an IEEE member for 42 years, so I met the criteria for becoming a life member of the IEEE (age after 65 + years as a member >100). As a consequence, my 2021 IEEE dues were a lot less than in prior years. That helped a bit financially this year since business has been down for me, mostly because of the Covid-19 travel and meeting restrictions. But I wanted to support IEEE and in particular IEEE-USA and its mission of government advocacy and career and member services for IEEE members in the United States.
So, I made a tax deductible donation to the IEEE-USA Fund in an amount equal to what I would have previously paid as my annual IEEE-USA Assessment ($47). The IEEE-USA Fund is one of three funds managed for IEEE-USA by the IEEE Foundation and is used to support the broad range of IEEE-USA programs and services designed to enhance member careers and the engineering profession. The IEEE Foundation also accepts restricted donations in support of the IEEE-USA Awards Program and the IEEE-USA MOVE Community Outreach. Here is what the IEEE-USA donation page looks like. You can select which of the three funds to donate to by scrolling down the “designation” choice bar.
The IEEE-USA Fund (the general fund) supports special projects conducted by IEEE-USA to enhance the careers of U.S. IEEE members, improve K-12 science, technology, engineering and math education, and promote public awareness of the profession. Examples of how donated funds have been used include:
- Celebrating the engineering profession and its contributions to society through support for National Engineers Week programs and activities like the Future City Competition and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
- Special opportunities to place IEEE Members in Fellowships as Technology Advisors at Key Government Agencies
- Supporting K-12 STEM Literacy Programs and outreach
- Supporting the development of member products and services like the IEEE-USA Salary Service and online Consultants Directory
The IEEE-USA Awards Fund supports the annual IEEE-USA Awards and Recognition, which recognize professional leadership, public service, technical achievement and literary/journalistic contributions to the advancement of engineering. IEEE-USA also welcomes inquiries related to targeted funding support for specific IEEE-USA Awards and Recognition.
The IEEE-USA MOVE Community Outreach Fund helps support the MOVE Community Outreach project, and in particular the MOVE emergency deployments and K-12 STEM public outreach, including the costs of operating and maintaining the MOVE vehicle and upgrading its capabilities.
So if you are a life member, or even if you aren’t, consider donating to support IEEE and IEEE-USA activities. IEEE members do make a difference!
You can find out more about the IEEE-USA Fund at https://ieeeusa.org/giving-opportunities/