The Amputee Coalition launched its 25th anniversary celebration with a new logo, proactive brand principles and a new open community model that replaces the former dues membership model.
“The Amputee Coalition is 25 years young this year and we are excited to be able to start this milestone year with these transformational changes,” Kendra Calhoun, Amputee Coalition president and chief executive officer ,stated in a press release. “We are anticipating a great 2011 and look forward to continuing to roll out new, energizing activities and programs all year.”
The Amputee Coalition is planning three key initiatives to celebrate its 25th anniversary and the introduction of several new programs this year, according to Calhoun.
“We are confident our friends, constituents and partners will be pleased with our more proactive measures to reach more amputees sooner and to undertake greater outreach for limb loss prevention,” Calhoun stated.
The Amputee Coalition of America is now doing business as the Amputee Coalition. The organization will not use the initials “ACA” or “AC.” The reasoning is to increase name recognition by the use of the full name and to decrease confusion that acronyms often cause.
According to Calhoun, the new logo has graphic elements specifically designed to represent the organization. For instance, the sun image reflects the organization’s goals to reach out to people who are at risk for or affected by limb loss. The dots represent the many people served and the swirl represents forward momentum. This was the organization’s first comprehensive brand analysis in its 25-year history.
“The decisions about our revitalized brand principles, logo and name were all based on input from a broad array of our constituency,” Calhoun stated.
The decision to eliminate the fee-based membership for individuals and support groups was also made after an in-depth exploration of the membership program that was in effect over the past 25 years. After this careful evaluation, according to Calhoun, the Amputee Coalition board of directors made the open community decision because this model offers greater outreach to more amputees.
“This is a landmark decision for our organization,” she stated. “I commend our board of directors for their vision and leadership.”
