The IEA Officers regularly receive questions about the use of the IEA funds, which seem large to some members. I would like to clarify this here.
There are two main activities of the IEA:
1. Organising regular in-person meetings of the IEA Council (once per year) and Executive (twice per year). The annual fees that your society pays generally covers these on-going running costs.
2. Organising the triennial IEA Congress. Because of the large financial risk involved in such congresses (they do not always make a profit) a substantial financial reserve needs to be kept. I am sure that few of the federated members would be able to take on such a risk otherwise.
However, when the congresses do make a profit, this money is most frequently used for International Development. This involves the sponsoring of attendance at the IEA Congress for people from low-income countries, running IEA workshops in countries/areas requiring development of HFE and the waiving of endorsement fees for Congresses in developing countries. If you think that your society may benefit from IEA support in this way, and your financial means are very limited, please contact me or José Orlando with your proposals.
The money that is acquired from sponsors is largely dedicated to the IEA awards, although some is used for the International Development activities as well.