NCSFA AND NCFMA ADMINSITRATIVE PARTNERSHIP
Tim Bradley, NCSFA Executive Director
Charles Darwin once said, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”.
Effective partnerships have become a staple in industry, often even between private and public agencies. Many times they align organizations that have a common cause with the ability to share resources to further their success. One such partnership that has developed is between the NC State Firefighters’ Association (NCSFA) and the NC Fire Marshals Association (NCFMA). In the Spring of 2024, the Boards of both organizations decided to partner by allowing the NCSFA with full time staff to handle some of the administrative burden being handled by Board members of the NCFMA in their spare time.
This partnership made sense, because the NCFMA’s missions mirrors that of the NCSFA, to protect firefighters and increase the ability for the fire service to protect our citizens. Issues such as benefits, education, and advocacy to their membership of Fire Marshals reflected the mission of the NCSFA, since Fire Marshals are our members too.
To be fair to NCSFA members, an agreement was reached to reimburse the NCSFA for staff time utilized to work on issues related to membership and marketing that would normally be done by volunteer Board members with the NCFMA. Although a very minimal amount, it ensured NCSFA resources were not burdened with NCFMA work.
Hopefully this trial arrangement will work out, and both organizations will benefit from the collaboration. At the very least, it is our hopes this will further the mission of both organizations.
