If you prefer to have the membership application emailed to you or sent to you hard copy, please contact Jared Ordway at: 202-545-8866 or email: jordway@nafcm.org.
As Director for Program Development at the Fulcrum Institute Dispute Resolution Clinic and relatively new to the field of mediation, NAFCM has been an invaluable support to me and our clinic. I have been in the communication field for 25 years and I am amazed all that NAFCM offers its members. As a source of an incredible amount of informational and educational material, and you can't beat the training ideas, NAFCM provides connection to a vast cooperative and supportive network of members who share and support each other. Thanks to the dedication and responsiveness of the NAFCM staff, NAFCM members can access resources, feedback and development ideas not available any where else. Thanks,NAFCM!
Judith Sloane. Director for Program Development
Fulcrum Institute Dispute Resolution Clinic, Spokane, WA
Join the National Association for Community Mediation and take advantage of some great benefits!
The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) is a membership organization focused on serving community mediation centers, their staff, and volunteer mediators. NAFCM also invites supporters of the community mediation field to join as Affiliate Members.
Benefits
We would like to invite you to join our organization. Many recent exciting changes at NAFCM will directly benefit your center with funding possibilities, networking, research, publications, a membership directory, and more.
Benefits and Initiatives
NAFCM membership conveys a number of benefits to centers and allows for participation in several long-term, nation-wide initiatives designed to promote and develop community mediation across the country. Listed below are some of the major advantages of being a NAFCM member.
Clearinghouse
NAFCM’s Clearinghouse of community mediation-related materials contains 2500 items, ranging from sample forms to videotapes to training curricula from community mediation centers and other organizations throughout the country. Materials are available at no cost to members.
Insurance
Working with Marshall and Sterling, NAFCM offers professional liability and directors/officers insurance for community mediation centers. Professional liability insurance covers all mediations conducted by center staff AND volunteers, with premiums based on the center’s budget rather than the number of mediators covered. NAFCM Insurance Overview and Applications.pdf
Listserv
NAFCM’s 300 community mediation center members are connected electronically through a listserv where centers exchange ideas, opinions, experiences, and materials almost instantaneously. Using the list, centers have conducted informal research, taught each other how to establish new programs, and built a true virtual community.
Quality Assurance
The result of two years’ research and writing, NAFCM’s Community Mediation Center Quality Assurance Self-Assessment Manual was released and mailed to member centers in 2002. The guide, written by a committee of current and former community mediation center directors provides a non-prescriptive guide to assessing and improving centers’ services.
State Funding
NAFCM has developed a report for policy makers, community mediation centers, and state mediation associations to describe the value and potential of community mediation programs and to assist in the development of funding and support mechanisms for community mediation at the state level. The report will be used for information and education, advocacy, and technical assistance to states that are developing state funding mechanisms for community mediation. This report, State Funding for Community Mediation, is available in the PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS section of this website.
Regional Training Institutes
NAFCM’s regional training institutes are two-day symposia for community mediation center directors, staff, and board members, featuring training in center administration, volunteer management, case management, fundraising, program and project evaluation, new program development, public relations/marketing, and government relations/partnerships. These training sessions, conducted by expert trainers from mediation programs around the country, provide both new and established centers with advanced tools for growth.
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~ Opportunities to participate in nation-wide mediation and conflict resolution training projects
~ Subscription to The Community Mediator, NAFCM’s newsletter spotlighting developments in the field
~ A web page template and guide to establishing a presence on the web (including a programming tutorial), specifically designed for community mediation centers
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National Association for Community Mediation:
· Serves as a national voice and an advocate of community mediation in legislative, policy-making, professional, and other arenas.
· Promotes the values, understanding, public awareness, and practice of community mediation and collaborative problem solving.
· Educates private and public funding sources about the experience, breadth, benefits and applications of community mediation and develops financial resources for community mediation.
· Serves as a national clearinghouse of information on the development and practice of community mediation.
· Fosters communication and mutual assistance among members in such areas as training, funding, technology, and program and policy development.
· Creates and maintains a national directory and database for community mediation.
· Encourages and promotes regional and national collaborative projects among community mediation programs.
· Promotes and encourages collaboration between community mediation programs and non-dispute resolution organizations at both the local and national level.
· Develops and maintains ties with national, regional, state, and other dispute resolution and related organizations to enhance the growth of community mediation.
· Supports research, program evaluation, mediation theory development, innovation, and quality in community mediation.
· Recognizes and celebrates volunteers in community mediation.
· Develops local and national community mediation leadership.
Membership Categories and Online Applications
On this page, you will find applications for membership available in two formats. The first is an on-line form that you may complete and submit to NAFCM via email. We ask that you send membership dues payment (check or money order U.S. dollars only please) via snail mail as soon as possible. The dues amount is on the application. At this time we do not accept payment by credit card. NAFCM will also send you an invoice for dues payment. You may also open the membership application in Adobe® Acrobat® Reader in .pdf format. This allows you to print the form and complete it by hand. Please submit this form with dues payment.
*Some of the links below are in PDF format. Adobe® Acrobat® Reader software is required to view these documents. If you do not have this free software, click here. With free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® software, you can view and print Adobe PDF files across a broad range of hardware and operating systems.*
1. Program Membership for community-based mediation programs. Is this the right membership category for you? Click here for characteristics/commitments of a Community Mediation Center (these can also be aspirations of your program)
Go to on-line application: Program Member Application
Print out the application and submit it with payment via snailmail: 
2006-2007 Program Application.pdf
2. Individual Affiliate Member Application for staff and volunteers of mediation programs including volunteer mediators
Go to on-line application: Individual Affiliate Application
3. State Mediation Association Membership for state-wide groups linking community mediation centers.
Go to on-line application: State Mediation Association Application
4. University/Higher Education Program Membership Application for mediation programs run on-campus by students, faculty and/or incorporated in the school governmental system.
Go to on-line application: University/College Program Application
5. Friend and Supporter Member Application for those who wish to support and are interested in the field of community mediation but are not directly involved at a mediation center.
Go to on-line application: Supporter application
If you prefer to have the membership application emailed to you or sent to you hard copy, please contact Jared Ordway at: 202-545-8866 or email: jordway@nafcm.org.
