The past year has seen unprecedented growth in the ability of the American Philatelic Society to reach and impact the philatelic world. As the pandemic slowly recedes in both influence and cases, the world finds itself emerging cautiously. During the past year, the APS used the time wisely. Even as the society became fully operational once again in April 2021, we continued to expand our ability to meet your needs online. As a result, the global reach of the hobby was broadened, benefitting all members.
The Mighty Buck Club generously funded efforts to go global in 2021. Laptops and equipment needed to grow the C3a online learning platform were provided by Mighty Buck dollars, and digitization of the American Philatelic Research Library holdings moved forward as well. In November 2021, Phase I of the digitization project of the Digital Library was launched, beginning efforts to digitize 50 full journal runs, 13 books, and 350 exhibits. Both the Digital Library and C3a enable the APS to create community in previously underserved populations, strengthen our worldwide presence, and provide extensive, sophisticated educational and research opportunities.
In October 2021, the APS began the redesign of its website, www.stamps.org, which will be launched in June 2022. The new website will be designed with our members in mind, making it far easier for you to access member benefits and services, and for us to serve you and continue to innovate. Other improvements will include secure and easy-to-use online payment methods and online shopping. Mighty Buck funding has been essential for the redesign effort.
Individual donors continued to be generous with their giving in 2021. Almost $1.4 million in cash donations were received and well over 700 individuals made substantial in-kind donations from their own collections. The APS in turn became more alert to opportunities for efficiency. We increased our use of donated mint postage for society mailings by over $10,000. These savings on postage are allocated to services that matter to you.
Membership figures are perhaps our biggest success benchmark of the year 2021. Through your help recruiting new members and intense outreach from the membership department, we welcomed 1,756 new members. The year 2021 was our best year of recruitment since 2008.
For the second year, the annual Summer Seminar was held virtually. Whereas the in-person Summer Seminar has a limited attendance capacity and is held over one week, Summer Seminar Online 2021 was held over multiple weeks in June and welcomed more than 1,000 unique participants. All virtual sessions were recorded and are available “on-demand” on the C3a learning platform. Your support and interest helped us build these virtual events and increase our outreach significantly. The education department also hosted many live virtual courses throughout 2021 taught by philatelic experts that are now available as on-demand videos.
APS staff and volunteers install the Holocaust Stamps Project collection into the permanent exhibit at the American Philatelic Center.
Stamp Chats are another success story. In 2021, APS welcomed more than 35 collectors, researchers, and experts to tell their stories in virtual Stamp Chats, continuing the momentum of a virtual event format created as a solution to pandemic-related restrictions.
In 2021, APS staff redoubled efforts to complete the exhibit “A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust” at the American Philatelic Center. The exhibit’s creation is headed by a team of APS staff, and owes a debt of gratitude to several APS members who have volunteered material and time to make the exhibit a success: Keith Stupell, Justin Gordon, and Ken Lawrence. It builds upon the incredible efforts of the Foxborough Regional Charter School students, who collected 11 million stamps, one for each victim of the Holocaust. The stamps are housed within the confines of a simulated prison. The students also completed stamp collages, in which stamps are used as mosaics to commemorate an aspect of the Holocaust. The APS was the recipient of these remarkable works, and over a period of two years added historical context and philatelic displays. The exhibit will be completed by summer 2022.
We received 81 thoughtful gifts in memory of members who passed away, 12 gifts in honor of members and APS staff, and several gifts that were matched by employers. In addition, the society and APRL received a robust number of in-kind gifts that enhanced the library, improved the reference collection, and provided material for educational programs.
In addition to generous donations from members, the APS was the recipient of more than 5,000 hours of volunteer support. This represents an increase of almost 1,500 hours over the previous year. Volunteers worked at the American Philatelic Center with safety protocols in place, as well as remotely. The next annual Volunteer Work Week will be hosted at the American Philatelic Center in July 2022. We welcome all interested members to consider attending this weeklong event to connect with other collectors and provide the APS and APRL with much-needed support.
The following pages highlight philatelic leaders who gave back to the APS in the year 2021. We appreciate the confidence of the many members who provide unrestricted gifts that allow maximum flexibility to put the money to the best use. At the same time we thank those members who chose to support specific activities such as youth programs, the APRL, the expertizing service, and the endowment funds. These donor-directed contributions help us to expand the services members have come to expect from the APS and APRL.
Charlie Belair volunteers in the library.
We owe a special thanks to the Campaign for Philately committee, which collaborates with the society’s fundraising efforts. The committee, chaired by Alex Haimann, includes Michael Bloom, Ken Grant, Trish Kaufmann, Patricia Stilwell-Walker, and Robert Zeigler.
We welcome your suggestions and questions. Please contact Executive Director Scott English, scott@stamps.org or 814-933-3814, with your inquiries. Thank you for your continued support.