With the Executive Board's approval of the AVMA's first Guidelines for Corporate Partnerships, the Association now has written criteria for judging strategic partnership opportunities.

Increasingly, corporate entities are seeking more tightly integrated partnerships and measurable returns on resources they invest in the AVMA. Last November, the board directed staff to draft corporate partnership guidelines.

Up to now, the AVMA was limited in the relationships it could enter with corporate entities because of restrictions on use of the AVMA name and logo alongside those of most brands. The new guidelines provide a mechanism that allows recognition of partner contributions to include the names and logos of corporate entities as well as their products, services, or brand names, with appropriate disclaimers.

Corresponding changes were approved to the existing Policy on Use of AVMA Marks, to ensure consistency with the new guidelines.