Reason Number 1 – It’s Easy!
You are already a member of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation when you become licensed by the Oklahoma Bar Association. You are not a Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation until you subscribe to be a Fellow, a Sustaining member, a Benefactor member or one of the new Community Fellows.
You can easily become a Fellow of the OBF by submitting simple enrollment information online at www.okbarfoundation.org or by completing the form located in your Bar Journal. We will be happy to assist you!
Reason Number 2 – Be a part of History!
The OBF is the official charitable arm of the Oklahoma Bar Association. The OBF was founded in 1946 by Oklahoma lawyers for all Oklahoma lawyers. The OBF is the third oldest state bar foundation in the nation, which is something all can be proud of.
The OBF has an IRS Code 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.
By being a Fellow of the OBF, you become an integral part of a mission which transforms lives for the better. Some 100,000 Oklahomans benefited from OBF Grant funding during 2013.
Reason Number 3 – Good Deeds!
Annual OBF Grant Awards are divided into 2 distinct categories:
- Statewide OBF Court Grants
- Statewide OBF Grants for Law-Related Nonprofit Charities
This means that your particular geographic area of the State has benefitted from OBF Court Grants and other Statewide OBF Grants. More than $11,000,000 has been awarded!
Reason Number 4 – It’s a Great Bargain!
The OBF is your best place for one-stop charitable giving. OBF is the primary grant making organization in Oklahoma funding law-related services and education.
Your OBF Board of Trustees represents all corners of the State and oversees funded programs.
Your OBF Board consists of 26 attorney members who serve 3-year staggered terms with a maximum of two terms, including the OBF past president, and the ex officio OBA president, OBA president elect and OBA executive director and an OBA Young Lawyers Division representative.
When you give to the OBF you are funding an umbrella of diverse law-related services. When you give to the OBF, your donation is tax deductible. The OBF gives to causes that lawyers and law firms care about.
OBF one-stop giving helped 17 law-related programs and 13 court projects and law student scholarships at all three law colleges last year.
Reason Number 5 – It Feels Good!
I have appointed a special committee to develop a video depicting the story of the OBF and how lawyers came to be helping Oklahomans in need. Plans are underway to show the OBF Story video statewide at CLE presentations, OBA Solo and Small Firm Conference, the OBA Annual Meeting and other bar related events.
Plans are to convey the OBF Story to the public whenever and wherever possible. The purpose of the OBF Story is to educate not only our membership but also the public about the OBF and the good work being accomplished through the OBF.
The OBF recently launched the Community Fellows program where community minded businesses, law firms and other affiliate groups can unite with OBF so that more Oklahomans in need can be served.
Bank of Oklahoma has recently become a Community Fellow offering premium services and IOLTA rates to attorneys across Oklahoma. Other honored Community Fellows are The Garrett Law Center of Tulsa, Bass Law of Oklahoma City and El Reno, and the OBA Family Law Section.
I understood that you are probably not going to become a Fellow unless you have been asked. Please consider this to be my personal invitation to You to become a Fellow today!
Dietmar K. Caudle
Your 2014 OBF President