Chapter Awards Announced During Global Fraud Conference

Each year at the ACFE Global Fraud Conference, the ACFE recognizes local chapters that have gone above and beyond their missions with two awards: Chapter of the Year and Chapter Website of the Year. This year’s awards were presented to the Central Ohio Chapter and Rhode Island Chapter, respectively.

2020 Chapter of the Year

The 2020 Chapter of the Year award was accepted by James Rumph, President of the Central Ohio Chapter. The Central Ohio Chapter has continued to raise the bar and innovate in many ways, resulting in their substantial growth in membership over the past two years. They have had a strong impact not only in their market, but across the region and the globe as well.

Central Ohio Chapter Leaders. Bottom Row: Melissa Smart, CFE, Melissa Butsko, CFE, David Dennis, CFE, and Yufei Mao, CFE. Top Row: Nate Radabaugh, CFE, James Rumph, CFE, Danny Case, CFE, Chuck Peirano, CFE and Daniel Herb, CFE

In 2019, the Central Ohio Chapter displayed why it is so valuable to be a member of their chapter, beginning with subsidizing training costs for their members while bringing them best-in-class training opportunities. Members were charged less than the cost for all chapter events in 2019. The chapter began an annual member recognition program where they are now providing chapter membership anniversary lapel pins in five-year increments and offering lifetime membership to those who have been members for 20 or more years.

For the fourth straight year, the Central Ohio Chapter has been a top-tier ACFE Foundation contributor. They donated $11,750 to the ACFE Foundation, whose mission is to increase the body of knowledge of the next generation of fraud fighters and help ensure the continued advancement of the profession. In addition to the financial support they provide, they offer discounted membership to students, making participation in their chapter very affordable. They also gave a presentation at a local university on fraud examination careers and the CFE credential.

The Central Ohio Chapter was heavily involved in International Fraud Awareness Week. They ran an 8-week Cost of Fraud public awareness campaign, which involved posting 12 billboards throughout the Columbus area. Not only were these billboards designed to promote the chapter, the ACFE, and Fraud Week, but they were also designed to have a direct impact on the average person’s perceived opportunities and ability to rationalize committing fraud.

These are only a few of the accomplishments made by the Central Ohio Chapter in 2019. If you would like to know more about their achievements or use some of their ideas for your chapter, please check out their complete nomination form.

Chapter Website of the Year

Evan Lemoine, President of the Rhode Island Chapter, accepted the 2020 Chapter Website of the Year award. The Rhode Island Chapter has significantly revamped its website over the past year in favor of a more user-friendly layout with a modern design. They sought out ways to incorporate as much content as possible from the ACFE’s website without replicating it.

The Rhode Island Chapter started by adopting the ACFE Brand Standards for their chapter logo and used the same color scheme elements throughout their site. They chose WordPress as their content management system, and used free themes that are available and customized the site to their needs. On their site, they also have links to the CFE credential, ACFE’s Report to the Nations, Fraud Magazine , and the Fraud Talk podcast. They also have resources for their local community, including links to the FCC on telephone frauds, the DOJ for elder financial scams, and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office for internet safety.

The site is updated regularly with chapter news and upcoming events. The chapter also adds blog posts about activities pertaining to the chapter. When they send out eblasts to members and the public, they direct the articles back to the site which has more information.

The chapter has also made it easy for members to join or renew their chapter membership and register for events online through an online registration tool. Both winners of the Chapter of the Year and the Chapter Website of the Year were selected by the Chapter Leaders Committee and chosen from nominations submitted between January and March of this year. Congratulations to both winners!