The Federations, NAA's Board Marketing Committee and the Association Board of Directors share the job of selecting marketing projects, setting priorities and allocating funds. Priority-setting begins early every spring, says Georgia Smith, director of Federation services. Smith and three Federation managers solicit recommendations for projects from Federation members, organize the information and submit it to the seven Federation boards, whose directors develop priority lists. Those priorities go to the Marketing Committee, where members debate the merits of each. NAA's Board of Directors makes the final cut and sets budgets.
Projects begin the following fiscal year.
Staffers from the marketing and Federations departments work with Federation members on implementation. All seven Federations share the goals of increasing newspaper creativity, improving customer service, spurring economic growth and fostering efficiency. In addition, each has a mission statement reflecting a different facet of the newspaper business. Circulation , the largest Federation with 1,233 members, monitors the swing away from traditional circulation departments toward consumer marketing. Calif. Measuring and reporting readership lead the priority list of the Federation.