Aims:

The ISSTDR organizes biennial conferences. These meetings are widely recognized as having been scientifically successful for over three decades, and to our knowledge most or all were financially successful as well, i.e. revenues collected generally exceeded expenses. The ISSTDR Board believes that the Society’s “brand” has been central to these successes.

Furthermore these meetings have been financially independent of one another and from the Society as a whole. Each president/local organizer has assumed independent responsibility for both financial liability and potential gain from running the meeting in the Society’s name, often in a contractual relationship with a local institution or another legal entity. Further, through most of its history the ISSTDR has not been a legally constituted entity that could receive or disburse funds, although the ISSTDR Board functions as a governing body.

Governing principles

At the meeting of the ISSTDR Board of 27th June 2009 this issue was discussed with the following governing principles as an outcome:

• The ISSTDR Board consists of thirteen individuals and is elected by peers with two or three newly elected positions every two years.
• Local organisers respond to a call sent out before every conference and then are chosen by the ISSTDR Board at the board meeting held during the conference.
• The ISSTDR Conference Support Foundation (legal entity) acts in partnership with ISSTDR Board (not a legal entity) and with the local organiser for any particular ISSTDR conference (should be a legal entity).
• The relation between the ISSTDR Congress Support Foundation and the ISSTDR Board has been formalized in the articles of the foundation.
• The ISSTDR Conference Support Foundation board itself is under Dutch law responsible for its good governance.
• Local organisers are free to choose their own way of working and also the type of legal entity they use as a vehicle to run the ISSTDR Conference.
• The ISSTDR Conference has to be considered as a brand with an economic value in its name, in its database of participants and its goodwill based on a longstanding tradition. Also there is a general interest beyond the once-only interest of the local organizers in the quality of the congress (logistics and content) as it affects the value of the brand ISSTDR Conference and therefore the continuity.
• Per 2013: the Chair of the Foundation should attend ISSTDR Board meetings as an observer.

Multiyear policy

Based on consideration above the ISSTDR Board meeting of the 27th of June 2009, it has been brought into conclusion that the ISSTDR Conference Support Foundation is the legal entity to fulfil the international support function to the ISSTDR conferences.

The remaining funds have to be transferred to the Foundation and to be used to help assure the financial security of the Society and of future ISSTDR meetings and, with anticipated growth, may permit expansion of the Society’s activities and mission in service to STD prevention.

Two ways of working:

• First, the minimum money in the ISSTDR Support Foundation is EUR 25,000.
• Second the Board agreed in 2013 to pledge bi-annual a minimum of EUR 10,000 and a maximum of EUR 20,000 to be used for scholarships as long as the Foundation bank balance was a minimum of EUR 50,000 (seed money for two conferences).