Minutes of the FOL Board Meeting

May 18, 2008

 

Present by teleconference: Faye Farmer, Kevin Freer, John Hollister, Ella Kwisnek, Martha Munson, and Richard Rowan.

 

Richard Rowan Chaired the meeting.  In his opening remarks Richard noted that Bill contacted certain Board members concerning officer succession; anyone who has not responded to Bill’s e-mail is asked to do so.  Most positions are covered, but the Treasurer position is still an issue.  One option is a proposal to amend the by-laws to allow an exception for John to continue in the position for another term.  More information concerning officer succession will be presented at the July Board meeting.

 

Following roll call, the agenda and the minutes of the March 16, 2008, regular Board meeting were approved without revision. 

 

I.                   Treasurer’s Report

 

John reported that FOL currently has $32,963.90 in checking and $6,484.55 in savings.  John noted that the large increase in the balance is due to a $17,000 contribution from the Taipei American School and contributions to Village Hope.  Thirty-three memberships have been paid, year to date.  Currently, $30,089.50 remains to be sent to Lesotho and there is a cash reserve of $3,458.43. 

 

Faye asked that John send her updated financial reports for the Newsletter.

 

John reported that he completed the tax filings and received approval from the State of Maryland.  All materials are posted on the FOL website.

 

A motion to affirm the Treasurer’s Report carried.

 

II.                Committee Reports

 

a.       Donations and Distributions

Richard reported that GeorgeAnn Gall had revitalized Village of Hope.  With a $2,500 contribution that FOL facilitated, she purchased supplies for orphans including school fees, clothing, uniforms, etc.  Thus we will continue the MOU with her.

 

Richard noted that a PCV’s friends and family have raised funds to build a classroom at his school and went through the NGO with the funds; so the NGO is working.  We need to reaffirm that Martha and MaryBeth are FOL’s contacts for the NGO, because currently all e-mails are being sent to Bill and Richard.

 

Sandy Puckett (Taipei American School) asked to find a way to help him identify concrete projects he can use as a fundraising vehicle and asked for pictures and new materials.

 

Faye suggested putting an ad in the newsletter concerning projects.  It was also suggested that Village of Hope be suggested as a project, because GeorgeAnn Gall wants to build a shelter for orphans.

 

b.      Finance Committee

John reported that the Committee did not meet because he was focusing on the tax filings.

 

c.       Membership Committee: 

 

Kevin reported that he mailed copies of the brochure to Ted Mooney, the new Country Director, but he has received no acknowledgement of receipt.  He further noted that he e-mails Elizabeth Perry on a regular basis to keep her in the loop.  He sent out the Member Survey for review.  An article about the survey will appear in the next newsletter and it will be available by Zoomerang link.  This year the survey will have an incentive in an attempt to increase participation.

 

d.      Fundraising

Kevin reported that the teleflorist link proposal has not worked out and will not be pursued further.

 

Janissa and Patricia have been working on the 2009 Calendar and have high quality pictures.

 

e.       Newsletter

 

Faye reported that the June newsletter deadline is June 1, 2008.

 

Faye noted that it has been great working with Janissa.  A template has now been set up in Publisher.  For the June newsletter Faye has some articles and has scanned TAP letters and photos.  If anyone has photos but no scanner, they can send the photos to Faye and she will scan them and mail them back.

 

The number of members electing to receive the newsletter by e-mail has increased, so now only 200 hardcopies are mailed, making it much more manageable.

 

f.        Annual Meeting

 

Martha reported that she is starting to consider speakers.  After the last meeting, there were suggestions to focus on one speaker.  She also noted that we need to consider the date.  It was agreed that Saturday, October 4^th, be the tentative date.

 

III.             Old Business

 

Ella read the action items from the prior meeting. All had either been completed or were in the process of being completed.

 

IV.              New Business

 

There was no new business.

 

V.                 Action Items

 

1.  Richard will let John know how to divide the Taipei American School funds.

2.  John will update the financial reports and send them to Faye for the next newsletter.

3.  Board members should contact Richard if their committee needs letters or photos.

4.  John will send funds to Village of Hope.

5.  Anyone with feedback on the Member Survey should send it to Kevin.

6.  Faye will send Kevin a question for the member Survey about the new newsletter format.

7.  Faye will let Kevin know when the newsletter will go out and Kevin will adjust the survey dates accordingly.

8.      Kevin will send Faye the new Membership Form.

9.      Martha will contact the Embassy and see if October 4, 2008, the tentative Annual Meeting date, conflicts with any Independence Day events.

10.  Anyone with suggested speakers for the Annual Meeting should e-mail the names to Martha.

11.  Kevin will ask Elizabeth if she will be active on the Yahoo groups.

12.  Richard will contact Bill to convene the Bylaws Committee in anticipation of the change concerning officer succession.

13.  The Nominations Committee will convene to recruit new Board members.

14.  Faye will contact MaryBeth and Richard will call Scott to update them on the meeting and keep them engaged.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. EST.  The next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July 20, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. E.S.T. 

Minutes of the FOL Board Meeting

March 16, 2008

 

Present by teleconference: Bill Dunn, Kevin Freer, John Hollister, Mary Beth Kwenda, Ella Kwisnek, and Richard Rowan.

 

In his opening remarks Bill noted that Janissa Balcomb has been working with Faye and Kevin.  He welcomed her to FOL and wanted to note FOL’s appreciation for her help.

 

Following roll call, the agenda and the minutes of the January 20, 2008, regular Board meeting were approved without revision. 

 

I.                   Treasurer’s Report

 

John reported that the online account has been set up.  FOL currently has $25,310.70 in checking and $6,449.76 in savings.  Fourteen memberships have been paid, year to date.  Bill noted that there are more than 300 memberships in the current database.  Currently, $22,768.28 remains to be sent to Lesotho and there is a cash reserve of $2,858.64. 

 

John noted that FOL has been reaffiliated with NPCA and the tax filings for Maryland completed.  He is working on the federal taxes.

 

A motion to affirm the Treasurer’s Report carried.

 

The Secretary reported that the Board voted by e-mail to approve the budget.

 

II.                Committee Reports

 

a.       Donations and Distributions

 

The Committee recommends sending $9,000 for TAP (TAP designated funds) and $2,360 to the VAC ($1,003.50 from undesignated funds, $600 from HIV Aids, and $756.50 from orphanages).  The Committee will verify that the designated funds can be used appropriately, if not, they will be replaced with undesignated funds.  The Board voted to approve the recommendations to send the funds and also approved $1,000 recommended for the African Library Project.  Richard will get John all of the account information for the fund transfers.

 

Concerning the FOL-Lesotho NGO, an account is set up, and ‘M’e Thembi writes checks from it.  The MOA with the NGO has not been finalized.  However, now, ‘M’e Thembi writes the checks rather than FOL sending them directly to the committees.  A very positive report about the NGO is anticipated from Scott when he returns from Lesotho.

 

The Committee further recommended $300 for Peggy Tabor’s well project.  There is a U.S. account where these funds can be deposited.  A motion to approve the recommendation carried.

 

Richard further reported the GeorgeAnn Gall is back in Lesotho and Village Hope is operating again, so he anticipates there may be future requests for orphanage funds from her.

 

Cameron Barr has been contacted about updating the LCCU web page, which is linked from the FOL site.  He will review it.

                       

b.      Finance Committee

 

John reported that the Committee had its first meeting.  Matt Diver has a lot of good experience.  He will conduct a peer review of the documents and then the Committee will decide if an accounting service is needed.  The Committee will meet every two months.

 

Bill will add Matt under the Committee memberships on the website and Richard will add his information to the Board Manual.

 

c.       Membership Committee: 

 

Kevin thanked Bill for covering the mailings for February and for creating an automatic mail merge that generates the letters to be sent monthly.

 

The brochure has been updated and sent to Peace Corps Lesotho for COS packets.  Kevin received no acknowledgement of their receipt, and Richard suggested that Kevin e-mail the country director to verify their receipt.

 

The brochure and membership form have been updated to indicate the ability  to renew and donate via JustGive.  Bill invited the Board to review the information about renewing via credit card and to give any suggestions for a clearer way to convey the information.

 

Bill noted that inactive member deactivations have been processed and finalized.

 

d.      Fundraising

 

Kevin reported that he updated the organizational information for JustGive.org on Guidestar.

 

Kevin asked everyone to consider our major accomplishments so that they can be included in the Annual Report to encourage donations.

 

FOL is now registered as an association on Amazon.com.  There is a link on the donations page.  6% of purchases made via the website link will go to FOL.  Funds will be sent in increments of $100.00

 

Janissa and Patricia have been reviewing alternatives to CafePress to see if they can find better quality items and lower cost.

 

Patricia is working on a teleflorist proposal.

 

e.       Newsletter

 

Ella read Faye’s report.  Faye reported that the March newsletter will be mailed on March 17.  217 will be sent via post and 100+ via e-mail.

 

Faye thanked Scott Rosenberg for submitting an article and Kevin for his feedback on the drafts.

 

Faye thanked Janissa for doing the layout and design.  Janissa, Dorothy, and Nicole are now working with Faye on the newsletter, and the system is working well.

 

Faye reported that the next newsletter will be coordinated earlier concerning structure and standardizing organization, font, article length, and continuation between pages, membership form, and market place.  Anyone with additional suggestions should e-mail Faye.

 

The next newsletter deadline is June 1, 2008.  Faye has a retrospective on 10 years back at home from Julie Faulkner, but will ask everyone for articles again.

 

III.             Old Business

 

There was no Old Business.

 

IV.              New Business

 

a.       Privacy Policy concerning the Membership Form.  Bill reported that the current policy was a result of an event in 1992 when a private company published a Peace Corps Directory.  Since that time, information has been included on the membership form to have members consent to release of information. It takes up a lot of space on the form.  A discussion ensued about having a policy of not releasing the information except to other FOL members and new volunteers.  Bill will draft a policy and circulate it for consideration and approval.

 

V.                 Action Items

 

1.      Richard will send John information for deposits to the new NGO.

2.      John will send Richard the TAP bank statement.

3.      Richard will ask GeorgeAnn Gall to write a letter for the June Newsletter on Project Hope.

4.      Donations will write an article for the June Newsletter about disbursements and Scott’s report on the NGO.

5.      Richard will send John contact information for Peggy Tabor’s well project.

6.      Richard will add Matt Diver to the Committee List in the Board Manual.

7.      Bill will add Matt Diver to the Committee List on the website.

8.      Mary Beth will send her photo to Bill for the website.

9.      The next newsletter deadline is June 1, 2008.

10.  Bill and Richard will meet to discuss officer succession.

11.  Kevin will email Elizabeth to see if she is active on the Yahoo groups.

12.  Richard will add the new Privacy Policy to the relevant section of the Board Manual, after it is distributed by Bill and approved by the Board.

13.  Bill will draft the new Privacy Policy and circulate it to the Board for consideration and approval.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m. EST.  The next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 18, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. E.S.T.