Chapter Management Support Services

As an affiliated chapter of the AAFD, your franchisees chapter will benefit from (and contribute to) the AAFD’s growing effectiveness in influencing reforms within the franchising community.  Your Chapter will also benefit from the opportunity to network and share experiences with other franchisee associations and leaders to develop solutions to common problems.

Perhaps most important, forming an independent franchisee association will open the door for your fellow franchisees to support each other through direct communication, shared experiences, help lines and other mutual support services.  The AAFD offers dynamic programs and services to manage and support your association to achieve your specific mission and goals:

Services to Organize Franchisee Associations

  • The AAFD Chapter Development Department will help your association to define your mission and goals
  • help build and/or revise your bylaws
  • help build your leadership team

Services Directed to Issue Development and Solution.  The AAFD has developed strategies to build win-win franchise relationships, based upon negotiated agreements. 

  • The AAFD offers training, strategic planning, and consulting services designed to both identify and articulate issues, and strategies toward solutions, and plans for the implementation of solutions.
  • The AAFD encourages a strategy designed to attract cooperative behavior within franchise systems, and respect for the AAFD’s Fair Franchising Standards.

Association Management and Support.  The AAFD offers three basic management support strategies:

  1. Traditional Association Management. The AAFD offers traditional association management support on a fixed monthly fee basis. Monthly service fees are negotiated based upon the support services your association requires, with management support for as little as $600 per month. Typically, monthly charges range between $3000 and $6000 per month, and above, depending on the services your association would require.  This should be compared to the cost of hiring a full-time executive director and maintaining an office and support staff, which can easily exceed $250,000 a year.  Attachment A provides a menu of typical support services requested by most associations.
  2. AAFD Chapter Management. For smaller groups (less than 250 members) that are amenable to being managed as an internal chapter of the AAFD under our common rules and procedures, we can offer dramatic efficiencies in the cost of managing and supporting your Association. Rather than charge your association a fixed monthly fee, the AAFD charges each of your members annual dues at a rate calculated to achieve at least your minimum annual dues commitment to attain active chapter status.  Each member’s dues include a $70-chapter credit to provide discretionary funds for your chapter’s use.  Additionally, multi-unit operators pay an extra $55 per year for their additional units, subject to a negotiated cap.  The AAFD’s total fees and support services automatically adjust with your membership totals.
  3. Formation of Legal Fund Trust. The AAFD also supports chapters and affiliated associations by designing and managing legal defense trust funds for our member groups. The AAFD will assist in the design and drafting of your Chapter trust for a fixed fee of $1,500.  For Active chapters, the AAFD’s trust fund maintenance and accounting is included in the Chapter’s minimum dues commitment.  For small groups, or non-managed chapters, the AAFD assesses a management fee of $250 per month to AAFD managed trusts.

For a complete list of AAFD Support services, click here to download our Chapter Management Policy.