In March 2003, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Foundation launched a capital campaign to renew at least $4 million in support for the Foundation to maintain its mission through 2008. It was also mandated that at least 75 percent of all capital gifts made in support of the Foundation’s mission be spent directly on programs and initiatives that benefit the members of NBTA 
and the business travel industry as a whole.
The campaign, aptly entitled Business Travel Today and Tomorrow, is entering into its last year as a rousing success, according to Daphne Bryant, Foundation Director. Thanks to the generosity of more than 50 corporate sponsors, NBTA Chapters and hundreds of individual donors, the campaign surpassed its original goals by raising more than $5 million and spending nearly 87 percent of every capital dollar committed by its supporters on efforts that have had a direct and measurable effect on the entire business travel industry.
“When we launched the campaign, we knew we had a good chance at garnering enough support to achieve our goals,” said Bryant. “But, to surpass our goal by more than $1 million has been thrilling! We’ve been able to provide more resources to the corporate travel industry than ever before.”
In continuing its mission to provide excellent educational opportunities for the business travel professional, the Business Travel Today and Tomorrow campaign helped to bring the success of the Global Leadership Professional (GLP) program to new heights. Since the program’s launch, more than 400 NBTA members have taken one or more classes in the GLP course, which is the only course for the travel management professional offered at the master’s level. 107 members have also gone on to receive their GLP Certificates of Professional Development from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which partnered with the NBTA Foundation to create the GLP program.
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Participants listen and learn at a recent GLP session. |
Some NBTA members have even gone on to work toward the GLP Designation, which was created in 2006 to acknowledge those who had completed the GLP program, received their Certificate of Professional Development and then applied that knowledge to help further the industry through a related 12-month-long group project. Because of the Business Travel Today and Tomorrow campaign, the very first GLP Designations will be awarded during the NBTA International Convention & Exposition in July 2008 in Los Angeles, and those awarded will be able to carry the GLP designation following their names.
To provide the opportunity for many to attend these prestigious education courses, the Business Travel Today and Tomorrow campaign helped to raise $687,100 for the Foundation to award 180 scholarships for NBTA and NBTA Foundation courses and independent studies.
According to Bryant, one of the most breakthrough and beneficial measures to come out of the campaign monies is the NBTA Foundation’s Managed Travel Index® (MTI) & Benchmarking Tool. The tool, which helps travel managers to measure the effectiveness and ROI of their companies’ travel programs, was so well received that the Foundation released an updated second version, and most recently at the 2007 NBTA Convention in Boston, a third version. The MTI & Benchmarking Tool is currently helping more than 200 travel managers control costs, improve travel programs and demonstrate the value of a managed travel program to their employers.
Gary Polito, manager of corporate travel for the Bose Corporation, immediately turns to the MTI & Benchmarking tool when asked to contribute to cost savings and cost avoidance supply chain initiatives. “The most beneficial way for me to benchmark our travel program against the industry, as well as peer companies, is by utilizing the NBTA Benchmarking Tool and the MTI,” said Polito. “It has proven to be an extremely valuable resource. The tool provides the data, as well as charts and graphs that allow me to demonstrate how effective our travel program is to senior management.”
To help corporate travel managers benchmark their job responsibilities and compensation levels, as well, the Foundation has been able to release an annual Travel Management Compensation and Benefits Survey. The report, based on survey responses from NBTA members, provides compensation data relative to various criteria, such as job level, geography, company sales and experience. The study also compares retirement plans, stock options, incentives and bonuses, annual leave, professional training and more. The 2007 survey results have recently been released and are currently available to NBTA Members.
“The success of the Business Travel Today and Tomorrow campaign is exemplified in each scholarship awarded, every survey analyzed and distributed, and all business travel professionals who have and continue to benefit from our resources,” said Bryant. “The bar has now been raised, new goals are being set, and we’re looking forward to continued support and success.”
Important NBTA Foundation Links:
Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
Managed Travel Index® & Benchmarking Tool
Scholarship Opportunities
Return to Connecting News November 2007