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FOSA BOARD MEETING - DECEMBER 9, 2006
NOTES BY BILL

Saturday a.m. Laurel on Inviting Generosity

  1. Agenda and Outcomes Review
  2. 2006 Generosity Development Plan review & Update
  3. Capital Campaign Outline Review
  4. Action Plan Development
  5. Session Summary & Review

Session Outcomes:

  • Shared understanding and agreement on specific recommendations for conducting the groundwork for implementing a capital campaign
  • An action plan outlining specific next steps for capital campaign development
  • How to cultivate the support/volunteers to do the campaign—and what we are not doing
  • Outline for retaining relationships
  • Tips as we grow how can people here now adjust to changes of growth; not verextend ourselves
  • Prevention of failure; doing too much with too little
  • Gap between aspiration and reality

Review of Progress to date/ keyed to Laurel’s handout

  1. Develop and implement system for gathering contact information and distributing how to contribute materials
    1. Inserts for being involved (most on website)
    2. Ven. takes brochures when she travels & hands them out
      1. Ask local volunteers to do a mailing list
      2. Also, when Ven. teaches, many times the local people do not have computer, LCD projectors for her per the request
      3. Communication piece/ volunteers—need to have some project management
      4. Need logistic support for Ven. trips
    3. The remit envelopes are completed
    4. Do we have a combined list in e-tap of donor list and email list ?—yes
      1. Have some email names without addresses
      2. Still need to check some old email addresses
        1. check EarthLink on spam filter
        2. don’t delete names bounced by folks being out of office
        3. need to get more information from those for whom we only have email addresses
    5. need guidelines for how to communicate with people
    6. Point person for donor management—in process
    7. Thank you letters being changed quarterly
    8. Monthly contributors, some give each month some sporadically—so some don’t want a monthly thank you letter, but at end of year. Send them a letter that we will not acknowledge each month, but will summarize at the end of the year.
    9. Leah—maybe thank folks electronically who contribute electronically
  2. Volunteer Coordinator (the new hire Lori may do this) For Lori
    1. Kevin—need some liaison person from the Board—part of Nanc’s weekly updates on what Lori is doing re volunteers
  3. How to recruit new contributors
    1. Had open house for neighbors
    2. Contacts with community
    3. Maybe have someone who loves to organize events, a party planner (and some way to help people contribute to Abbey)
    4. Need methods for someone to contribute to Abbey—need to make sure that it happens someway
      1. some events make announcement
      2. some events make it available
      3. some events do a follow-up letter is more appropriate
    5. Events
      1. Ask coordinators to share mailing list
      2. Reinforce it when at the event
      3. Write them later to remind them to share the list
      4. And use eTap for this.
    6. For Lori—to update the lists of people who attend events
  4. Special Appeals
    1. Spring and fall—didn’t generate much
      1. Need to know the return from all mailing
      2. When Ven. teaches people pull out envelopes they have received.
      3. Need to have people attend the Abbey
    2. Retention—keeping people involved
      1. Need to have 4-6 communications and opportunities to give each year
    3. Retention Template
      1. Message points
        1. thank you for being a support of
        2. this is what happens as a direct result of your support
        3. renewal notices
        4. who sends this out?
    4. Create and distribute anniversary letter
    5. Website and online donations. Need to discuss financial part of this.
    6. Evaluate volunteers vs. mailhouse—mailhouse is only way to do it to date
    7. Continue email updates
  5. Activity Updates
    1. Annual report and regular updates
    2. Evaluate Paypal and ecommerce
      1. Getting people who gives, say $100 a year on automatic withdrawal/ Paypal/ to join our monthly circle.
    3. Conduct events 1-3 times a year re Master Plan? Haven’t done that yet
    4. The website is being effective—young adults
    5. Website updates happen at least once a month (Yea Tanya)
  6. Our great progress to date—eTap, website, getting volunteers, success at inviting generosity to date.

Capital Campaign Outline

  1. questions
  2. conclusions
  3. recommendations

  1. Questions
    1. What is the total amount?
      1. VTC—maybe 3.5 m to 5 million.
      2. $100,000 architect
      3. $50,000 engineers
      4. Well cost
      5. Roads
      6. Electricity
      7. Cistern
  2. Conclusions—
    1. If started tomorrow (with resources) doing rough guess with minimum amounts could maybe generate $600,000 in the next 6 months
    2. We need Improvement with retention
    3. Need some large contributors to get to $5 million
    4. Need our own resources (dedicated staff and/or volunteers)
    5. Look at other people to get involved in addition to us
    6. Come up with interim ideas about the facility (it won’t happen in next year or so)
      1. More bathrooms/ showers/ kitchen are most pressing needs and more sleeping space behind that
    7. Need a dedicated development person—someone to organize the entire system; someone to hold the big picture and make the pieces not collide. Maybe start with .5 time, volunteer/staff person
  3. Recommendations:
    1. How to maximize eTap and our other resources we already have.
    2. Is it time for more publicity for the Abbey, which we have not done to date because of small size.
    3. Identity stakeholders who are not involved and get them involved
    4. Laurel’s recommendation—Here is the vision, go to the major donors, interview them and see what level they want to contribute. Do a conversation with them about a ‘feasibility study’ for the capital campaign.
      1. Say, take 6 months
      2. Need money to pay someone, $100,000 within the next year for capacity building (from major donors).

After Lunch on Saturday

To Complete Chenresig Hall

Generate 3.5 to 5 million

*Hire a development director

Hire an architect

Create the campaign materials

Architect coordinates engineering requirements

Schematics

Actual construction plan

Complete the site plan

Feasibility study

Major Donors for capacity building

Three Functions to perform

Leadership and major gifts team—doing “asks”

Logistics, communication & other support

Coordination/consultation/(expertise)

Identify; recruit those functions

Finance Plan/ cash flow predictions

General contractor

Phases (I & II) (14,000 sq ft and 2000 sq ft) for example

*Growing the community/ to assess the need

*Strategic plan (review and update)

Furnishings & Equipping the building

Project manager & project team

*Operating budget—annual business plan and budget

*Volunteer recruitment

*administrative assistant hired & Jillian

*=within the next 3 to 6 months

Tasks People will take on


Programs Support Systems
Growing community Communication (external/ internal)
Staffing
Inviting Generosity
Technology
Facility
Board Support

  1. Budgeting—Leah will head up. She needs the following information
    1. Objectives—what want to do in 2007
    2. Do we have the capacity to do that?
    3. Do we all have the capacity to market that so we can do those things?
    4. Then Leah works on numbers
      Leah, Barbara, Nance, Venerable, Allison, Tarpa
  2. Hire development director - Allison & Barb will draft this
  3. Strategic Plan—Kevin & Bill & maybe Kathleen
  4. Volunteers—new administrative assistant .

Need Board person to stay connected & support Lori

Barb will come up often; Kevin assist with eTap

Dianne will help with Lori

Leah and donations

Bill will come over and meet with Lori, the Venerables and Barb when they come out of retreat in the time frame immediately following the retreat.

Back to session outcomes:

*Outline for retaining relationships for inviting generosity (template for giving opportunities) Laurel will pull this together

*Lori—who will coordinate with Lori, show her eTap, and the volunteers,

Kevin will talk with Lori on eTap

Should do the letters through eTap

Need to look through outlook system and see how to coordinate with eTap

 
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