At the California Alarm Association meeting, held in San Francisco last December, a callout by Kirk MacDowell of MacGuard netted $9,100 in SIAC contributions. MacDowell’s idea was to put forward a personal pledge of $1,500, as a 10 percent match up to the $15,000 goal in contributions from others. While his goal from other security industry contributions wasn’t met, it was a tremendous success, according to SIAC, which thanked MacDowell for the unique idea, his contribution, and his effort in invigorating others to think about how donations can be raised.

The event created a high degree of awareness and energy around SIAC’s cause. SIAC, a non-profit, exists to educate on alarm management issues, and improve alarm management practices across the U.S. and Canada.

SIAC said in a press release, “Every year we have to look at our sources, explain what we’ve done in the last year and what we plan to do in the upcoming year to warrant their continued commitment to our (and the security industry’s) cause. Anyone considering contributing to SIAC asks the fundamental question, ‘What do they do for my bottom line? What do they do for the industry?’ Those are important questions and ones we believe we answer regularly, honestly and with many good reasons to demonstrate why a donation is important. We work avidly to retain law enforcement as first responders to alarms, which is central to the expectation of consumers who choose a security system. Every year, we fight multiple battles, consistently winning, to maintain response and ensure that security companies are not charged for fines.”

To contribute to SIAC’s cause, email Stan at stan@siacinc.org.