Attendees:
Kaarin Knudson (President), Kitty Piercy (Past President), Ingrid Kessler (Secretary), Richmond Coburn (Treasurer), Sandy Smalley, Marilyn Milne, Ralph Pledger, Sally Bell.
Absent: Andrew Kalloch (President-Elect), Miles Pendleton, Marti Ravits.
VIA ZOOM
1. Welcome at 5:33 pm. Thanks so much from President Kaarin to members of the Board for all the extra summertime work we’re doing!
A. Agenda Review was presented.
B. Minutes Approval – July Meeting Minutes – Moved, seconded, passed.
2. President’s Report
A. Continuing Operations (Admin, Development, Media/PR, Communications).
i. Employee and job description changes: There is a lot in progress! Any public conversation about these topics, including email conversations, should not contain personal interpretations. Please call Kaarin with any questions about this.
ii. Interim Organization Work: Ingrid, Skip, and Kaarin have been keeping tabs on communication including checking our PO box and email inquiries. Ralph has refurbishing our electronic devices. Marilyn has been helping with press releases and advertising.
B. Treasurer Appointment in September: This is Skip’s last meeting and we will miss him very much. Ingrid will succeed him by election in September either in at an in-person workshop or via email. Skip has created a flash drive for Ingrid with many files and lots of history to be accessed. He will be available via email after his official departure 9/14.
C. Secretary Appointment in September: We are in the midst of a conversation about the Secretary position. Please stay tuned!
D. Update on 2022-2023 Program Year / Program Committee Invitations: A full table of the slate of upcoming programs was provided in the board packet. Suggestions for programming are always welcome! Sally, Kitty and Andrew are engaging in finding new members to join the program committee. Kaarin will start reaching out to some named individuals in early September hoping that they will join by mid-fall. Joel is putting together a fairly detailed document about how to design a program. It’s important for those new members to be engaged – we need their help! Everyone should be there because they are needed to do something – which makes them very important indeed. Also, members of the program Committee sometimes become Board members.
E. Venue Update: A concern with First United Methodist Church: There are some upcoming conflicts with our programs where other events might be held at the same time. Also, while the rate for that space has been very favorable to us, it will be increasing in 2023. That might represent significantly increased rent expenses. Do we need to plan for a venue change? Other ideas: What about the public library meeting space? Can we have food there? We don’t know. Also, the City has many locations for meetings. The Atrium may be available. At FUMC, the secure closet for equipment has been a big plus and is an important consideration. Venue is central to bringing new members to the Club as well. Should we consider not doing live meetings?
3. Committee Reports
A. Finance / Development / Annual Campaign Update –
i. Financial documents were provided to the Board. Review: the cash on our balance sheet is unrestricted. Skip has reached out to the donor who previously donated funds to sponsor lunches for students attending our fora. If he has finished with those contributions, the board has already approved to eliminate that from the balance sheet as a separate line item. There have been some additional donations since the end of July. We have 7 ½ months of operating expenses so we’re in good shape. Some donations we received for the annual fundraising campaign was mis-charted into sponsorships. That is being corrected. We’re under budget for the year for expenses for a variety of reasons. Skip thinks we will break even by the end of the year even though we’re at a bit of a deficit now.
ii. Annual Campaign: Fundraising has not been as robust as in previous years. We are only about halfway to our goal and are underperforming, so we need to focus on this. People are giving, but not as much as previous years. Should we let donors know that they are donating to specific projects? Should we advertise a specific item that the funds will help purchase? We can do one last outreach between now and 9/1.
iii. Development: Development needs stewardship. We need new members to the Development Committee to help invigorate us. We are still waiting for Lane County with other sponsorships now coming in. We need to keep and increase sponsors. We should ideally touch each sponsor twice a year. We need a calendar so that, for example, in January and July we know to reach sponsors. We need to express our appreciation! Our phone is getting reactivated soon. Same number? We certainly expect so. KLCC will not allow us to do a fundraising appeal when we air our fora but we should think of other venues where we can ask. Sandy has volunteered to write Thanksgiving cards of appreciation to our supporters. Thank you Sandy! Bloomerang is optimized for fundraising and has tools to help us.
B. Media – a written report was provided to the board before the meeting. It was a complete report with not much to add!
i. Action requested for funding: we get a nonprofit rate from Eugene Weekly. Will the Board approve spending $281 dollars for an ad in September that lists our September programs? It was so moved, seconded and approved. October expenses for advertising will arise in our new fiscal year and did not need to be addressed.
ii. Tech update: Marilyn met with the tech team today. Everyone including new participants came to the table with lots of skill and engagement. We are excited to welcome our new Program Audio Editor. What is the monthly expense of that service? $100 a week is to be budgeted – about $4000 a year. This expense will start in September at the end of this fiscal year and is not budgeted for this year but was previously approved by consensus.
C. Membership – There was no meeting of the Committee this month.
i. Student Membership: The website has been updated to show the board-approved change for student membership: half time students now qualify and the membership is free.
ii. Membership Numbers: In reviewing membership numbers, we had quite a few expirations and are down from last month – we’re under 100. We need to appeal to our supporters to continue their relationship with us as members. Sometimes, to effectively remind people, we need to make multiple requests for support. It was noted that asking a question used to be a privilege of membership. Should we return to that paradigm? Perhaps, but many national organizations offer “membership” that is supportive in nature with no specific additional privileges. Can we move to a financial structure where we drop membership all together? That is difficult to do right now in the face of other ongoing organizational changes. Instead, we can appeal to membership and other donors to support a new staffing approach.
D. Program – Joel provided a written report prior to our meeting. We have confirmation for programs from 9/9 through 12/2, so there are only two December program spaces available. Please engage friends and colleagues in upcoming programs. Also please remember advocacy groups and other entities that come to mind as we review topics. The occasion of re-opening a new season is an opportunity to increase attendance, welcome back our members and welcome for the first time new members. Kitty has volunteered to meet people at the door to provide a welcoming reception to our new year. Thank you Kitty!
4. Executive Session – A motion was made, seconded, and approved to enter executive session where matters of a proprietary nature were discussed.
Adjournment at 7:10 pm
Faithfully submitted, J. Ingrid Kessler, DVM, Board Secretary
