Capital Campaign Committee meeting 11-17-10

	Capital Campaign Committee Meeting, Nov. 17, 2010 Location: the Annex, studio #8 (JTEL office) Agenda: Review of notes from Nov. 3, 2010 meeting Reports on assignments: Roy Earnest: office sponsorships Susan Willsrud: campaign timeline Deirdre Helfferich: fundraiser timelines, building cost estimate Greta Burkart: endowment research, grants.gov registration Monique Musick: marketing plan Survey questions, discussion Branding and logo discussion and ideas Grantwriting workshop date Schedule next meeting (December 1, 2010) Meeting Notes Call to order 6:10 p.m. Attendance: Roy Earnest, Deirdre Helfferich, Monique Musick, Susan Willsrud Guest: Trey Simmons REPORTS Roy: Office donations Todd Hoener and Carey Brink- are out of town Phil Rulon- pledged $75 annual donation Trey- pledged $20 month Nancy- on the list for ??$ Musicks- will be contacted when they return Carla Helfferich- will be contacted Sine Anhita, Kayte Sunwood- will invest in library- ask her Susan Willsrud- paid $60 Everything Automotive—are very supportive of the library Susan: Campaign timeline A lot of questions still Two plans: capital and annual operating revenue Line item budgets are helpful Goal to get the money first- before building, Let the funding dictate the building timeline. Good to have goals- but keep in mind what can be accomplished with money available Goal dollar amount should include everything and extra- even when cheaper alternatives have been identified Capital- Phases and timeline Budget- five years of expense projections Some of the same sources will support both Need to be planned for separately Broad funding categories: Grants Special events Individual donors Major donors Business donors Earned income Endowment/Planned giving Make goals for each area Our timeline for our capital budget requires grants How many people do we have to write grants? How much time do they have? No one source is guaranteed- we need to solicit multiple grantors It takes a lot of time A lot of people want to develop grant writing skill: Put effort into outreach for the grant training workshop Also build in major donors and business donors Community engagement is important Database management issues Mailings Donor identification Establish a volunteer base for fundraising Bookkeeping and accounting- how much will Nancy take on? Nancy would prefer that we retain an accountant Need a fundraising budget- professional fees, computer programs. etc. Built-in programs- such as the shelf sponsorship is good- it engages the community Artist involvement- seek out artists to be involved The more cross-discipline reach the better Need to manage grants and projects Grants are NOT good for operating support Operating expenses Need a solid budget. It may be scary- but must be done and planned for Volunteers are important- budget for a volunteer coordinator position Management needs to be more stable GiftWorks- software Calypso uses, Intuitive to use, Builds in giving history, Everybody is a donor, Charts and graphs. Easy to search by campaign, Measure the ROI of initiatives. Also has volunteer tracking capabilities. Meant for grassroots organizations with lots of volunteers, Meant for multiple users. Add notes- build in institutional memory, Giving history, Cross-referencing capabilities, Associate businesses, families etc (combine mailings). Program costs $499. Tracking was important with the school gardens program. All could be potential donors- good to track and enter. Also have conflicts- good to know and follow up on. Entered all of the student’s information too. Went smooth Draw in more volunteers? Figure out how to proceed A lot of grantors look for matching grants- that’s where individual and major donors are important- also gets community buy-in Need to follow up on all requests- takes time Rasmuson- likely to start with smaller ($25,000 or less) than something major It takes time to contact and follow up with donors Invite Scott Taylor to discuss Fairbanks donor environment Your average user is not your major donor Need to start researching capital grants Have not begun the bidding process yet Need to have that in place before contacting grantors Find out what their deadlines are- doesn’t hurt to name drop either Establish a calendar- make it less daunting Doing the dirt work next summer will make a nice visual for the public Very smart to get the money before beginning to build. Need a five-year projected budget. Need a solid fundraising plan to present to donors as well Hard to catch the attention of major corporations- we are “far away” Murdock is specialized in five states- Alaska is one of them Gather every name on their Web site and find out if anyone knows them. The people reviewing grants want to know its going to something that’s going to work. Personal references are important- help with context and reducing doubt. Can’t hurt to know someone! Case for support- major part of grant writing workshop. Already been useful One strong proposal will work, with minor tweaking, for most grants Strong supporting documents- Monique is working on finishing our business plan Provide canned answers needed for so many of our grants Susan can pull up the ones we’ve already identified on Grant Station, Also pull up the lists of people- see who we know who knows them. Roy can swing over and check out Grant Station at Calypso NEEDS: In order to establish the timelines we need- Budgets Description of volunteers and resources Plans Timeframe on business plan, branding, etc We will resubmit the request for State appropriations- Monique’s letter is a great start. Tighten up the budget and timeline and submit this year. Ask about operating fund resources. Different relationship than distant organizations Guttenberg wants the library Contacts- Guttenberg, Carey Brink, Jeff Stepp Find out what the top limit is, Visit the office and see what our limits are. He understands how much things cost Make sure no one is against you Big numbers don’t raise an eye. Say the limit is $400,000- do not have a one-year timeline! Make sure there is plenty of time Percentage can go to administrative costs: Allowable administration costs- audits, professional services, salaries and benefits How close are we to hiring an accountant? What we really need is a bookkeeper Need to streamline our bookkeeping processes Calypso prepares their taxes- but pay an outside accountant to review and sign off on it Possibilities: Buena Buchanan, Jean Davies Having a paid bookkeeper makes you look serious-- accountable We must have an annual operating budget for this coming year We need to know how many people we have who will actually work before we decide what work needs to be done- may determine what kinds of outreach we do. Categories of volunteers- envelope stuffers, callers, grant writers, etc. Be careful not to overload the board, Don’t assume the board can carry this. Make it realistic. Send the list of volunteers to Roy. Identify meaningful ways to plug in volunteers that doesn't cause more work, eg. pizza and envelope stuffing. There might be an artist really excited about creating a donor memorial project: If you find them- let them run with it! Once you’re on the list it’s harder to take it back Ask him what we could try to go for Deirdre and Trey will work on fundraiser timelines Greta found that a DUNS number exists, but it is wrong- Ester Republic. Address is ours but has Republic name- won’t let her apply online. Trying to followup on it. Government grants are a whole different ball game- especially for oddballs Monique: Marketing Plan- Creative brief- Overall great- Relationship to the Republic- the editor has done most of the writing Played with logo concepts, Need to create a whole suite Need to focus on what is important to Ester Need to keep an eye on our threats: Operating expenses is a big threat- can we afford to keep the building down the line. Construction considerations must focus on efficiency, Passive-house construction, Heating and electric costs need to be planned for What colors reflect our brand? How can we plan for growth and expansion? How will we expand our operating budget to match? Monique will finish the marketing plan and business plan documents; Should provide great base for grants too! To complete this project- bring in examples of designs and web sites that seem to match our mission, look and feel Budget- webmaster Need a single website- confusing website navigation. Perhaps rethink the Friends of the Library in our overall scheme, Forward thinking rather than backwards. Put the call to action up front, Reduce the history Web site structure: Think about what we want to present, Heirarchy What we offer is less important than who we are: More than just a library Appeal more to emotions Put the community values to the forefront The heart of the community Growing our own History of Ester- Many people came to the gazebo dedication because of Ida and Anscar Brainstorm our motto Deirdre & Monique: Surveys Deirdre researched surveys online, Most allow for some input Monique’s looks for rankings- pure analytics Leave it open for input Deirdre broke it into categories: Libraries in general, Uses, Then Ester specific How do we frame the questions to be specific to our needs Community outreach is a huge benefit Having feedback is important Get cool quotes and figures for our applications and grants Negative feedback is important too The presentation of the survey is really important No new taxes! MORE THAN JUST A LIBRARY DOT numbers show that this is where growth will happen Deirdre & Susan: Grant writing workshop in March Real outreach to interested people Intensive grant writing workshop December 1 meeting Come up with some suggestions for building committee Build the basic components of grant proposals, Supporting documents Roy will meet with Susan on Grant Station, contacts, etc! 1023 will be complete for the next JTEL Board Meeting- just need feedback May possibly be in the mail by our December meeting Agencies are generally helpful and honest Adjourn at 8:30


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