Watchdog Education Foundation
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, December 19, 2012—4:30 p.m.
South Campus Conference Room
“Our mission is to enhance educational opportunities for the Beresford School District.”
Agenda:
1. Call meeting to order: roll call and establish quorum.
The meeting was called to order by Helen Grace, president of the Watchdog Education Foundation and a quorum was established with the following members present: Sue Christensen, Gerald Dahlin, Brian Field, and Nathan Jensen.
2. Adopt agenda. (m)
A motion was made by Gerald and seconded by Nathan to adopt the agenda. All present voted aye.
3. Review and approve the minutes from the September 12, 2012 meeting. (m)
A motion was made by Gerald and seconded by Nathan to approve the minutes from the September 12, 2012 quarterly meeting. All present voted aye.
4. Review and approve Watchdog Education Foundation and Shanna Rae Christensen Memorial Scholarship Fund Financial Reports. (m)
Brian provided a summary of the financial reports. As of November 14, 2012 the Watchdog Education Foundation had total net assets of $39,832.42 with $612.98 available for distribution. As of November 14, 2012 the Shanna Rae Christensen Memorial Scholarship Fund had total net assets of $9029.38 with $3.86 available for distribution.
Brian reported that after January 1, 2013 both the Foundation and Scholarship Fund will have additional dollars available for distribution.
It was also reported by Helen that her donation of $2500 to the WEF was matched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in the amount of $5000. That would make an additional $7500 that will be added to the Watchdog Education Foundation on its next financial report getting our Foundation even closer to the $50,000 mark.
5. Review and discuss services available from American Schools Foundation Alliance (ASFA) through a conference call with Nancy M. Dye, executive director of ASFA.
A conference call was held at 4:45 p.m. with Nancy M. Dye, executive director of the American Schools Foundation Alliance (ASFA). Watchdog Education Foundation board members and Nancy began the conference call by introducing themselves.
ASFA has been in existence for three years, since October, 2009. Nancy reported that ASFA has three primary focuses: 1) Give Foundations additional resources for alternative revenue streams, with many helpful templates; 2) Provide a network of Foundations—currently there are 280 Foundation members in 45 states, also host national and region conferences; and 3) Help make more dollars for Foundations with alternative resources, such as corporate grants.
Nancy reported that $15 billion was donated through corporate grants to 501 (c) 3 non-profits this past year. Helen also asked Nancy a question about private grantor foundations.
Nancy reported that Broker’s Risk can offer school foundations insurance to cover the boards and their Foundation activities. Brian will check with Mark Jensen from Jensen Insurance Agency to see if our WEF and Board would have coverage under the school district’s umbrella insurance plan with EMC.
Nancy reviewed our member benefits on the ASFA website at www.asfalliance.org. Brian provided the user name and password to the WEF board members. The following topics were reviewed by Nancy: 1) grant opportunities; 2) document exchange; 3) fundraising initiatives; 4) member discounts; 5) member directory; 6) best practices guide; 7) ASFA logos; 8) newsletter archive; 9) pro-bono attorneys; and 10) state school board association directories.
Nancy also discussed the National Conference and upcoming state/regional conferences, such as the one in Utah in March, 2013. She stated ASFA is on Facebook and Linked.
The Board thanked Nancy for her time and explanation of member benefits and the Board agreed it was definitely worth the yearly $75 membership fee. Nancy informed the WEF Board if we would get another Foundation to join ASFA, they would waive our fee for next year.
6. Review and discuss ASFA bi-monthly newsletter for November, 2012—“Four Steps to Smooth Fundraising Feathers.”
The Board reviewed the ASFA November, 2012 newsletter, titled “Four Steps to Smooth Fundraising Feathers,” including Step 1—Deal Directly with the Dark Side of Fundraising, Step 2—Tell Them Fundraising Is Not about Money, Step 3—Seek Friends, Not Donors, and Step 4—Tell Them They Don’t Have to Solicit.
Helen reported that the Beresford Area Foundation (BAF) is checking with the Beresford Public Library to see if they would be interested in moving forward on obtaining a subscription to grant-making organizations across the United States. This subscription may be funded by the BAF in the amount of $1000.
7. Review and discuss progress on a brochure to be used by the WEF for marketing and promotion purposes in securing future donations.
Nathan reviewed the WEF brochure that he received back from his marketing department. They revised the brochure and made some improvements in the overall appearance to help make information standout better. Brian provided his revisions to Nathan and he will send brochure pictures to Nathan in their original format so they can be copied into the final brochure.
All board members are asked to provide additional feedback on the brochure to Nathan by Wednesday, January 16. Nathan will be working to revise the brochure based on our current mission, vision and purposes that were set at our strategic planning meetings in October and November. Nathan will also look to condense some of the excessive text.
The WEF would like to get a final copy of the brochure back at the end of January so we can go to print in February and have the brochures ready for spring distribution.
8. Review and discuss planning efforts and sponsorship levels for a June 1, 2013 golf tourney as a fundraiser for the WEF.
Nathan and the Board discussed a golf tourney as a possible fundraiser for June 1, 2013. Concern was expressed by the WEF Board regarding the amount of activities scheduled in June, such as Wheels and Squeals and the Tri-County Bike Tour and that we may be asking too much of local businesses to donate and sponsor too many June events. It was decided to put the golf tourney on hold at the present time.
It was decided that each individual board member needs to dig into and explore other successful fundraiser options on the ASFA website. Each board member is to pick out two ideas that intrigued their interest to share with the entire Board by way of email by Thursday, January 31, 2013. These fundraising initiatives can be accessed on the ASFA website at www.asfalliance.org by using the user name and password that Brian provided to all of the WEF board members. The WEF Board will then consider the various options as targets in fundraising in the future.
A few that were discussed included the $1 a day/$365 in a year WEF Yard Sign campaign; Piggy Bank campaign; and Bushels campaign bumper stickers/post cards—“Got Bushels” or “Have you donated Bushels to the WEF?”
We also discussed developing a strategy for securing private and corporate grants and possibly securing a grant writer to assist in this process.
9. Review and discuss planning efforts for a September, 2013 community barbecue on BHS Homecoming Friday to promote the WEF.
Once the Beresford High School football schedule is set for 2013 and 2014 at the end of January, 2013, Brian will reserve the Homecoming football game for the Watchdog Education Foundation community barbeque. This will be offered as a tailgate prior to the Watchdogs’ Homecoming Football game and will be set up as a free will donation to help promote the Foundation mission and vision for the future to help raise our brand awareness.
10. Review and discuss planning efforts on utilizing custom grain haulers as a way to promote the “Bushels for Education” campaign.
Gerald discussed the custom grain haulers and possibly creating bumper stickers to place on their trucks to help promote the “Bushels” campaign. The Board discussed creating “Bushels” postcards that could be distributed to custom grain haulers as they haul grain for area farmers.
Brian will send Nathan a copy of the Q & A handout regarding the WEF “Bushels” campaign so it can be made into a postcard for distribution to area farmers.
11. Discuss year three of the “Bushels for Education” Campaign from February 1-August 30, 2013 and area farmer contacts as a way to secure additional donations for the WEF.
The WEF Board discussed year three of the “Bushels” campaign. The Board discussed promoting the “Bushels” campaign in the high school gym and elementary gym lobbies, as well as the football/track stadium. The Board plans to use the “Bushels for Education” banners that were created for the parade. The Board discussed creating large poster boards of the grain tracker bin that could be displayed at public events and filled in as we strive to reach our “Bushels” goal. These poster boards could be displayed at FCE, the stadium, and in each of our gym lobbies.
The Board discussed throwing out small footballs at the Homecoming football game to promote the WEF and/or “Bushels” campaign and/or possibly doing a field goal kick to raise dollars for the WEF. The Board discussed placing inserts in game programs as well to promote the WEF and “Bushels” campaign.
Brian will also send Nathan a copy of the grain tracker bin that we can use to make large poster boards for display purposes as we strive to reach our “Bushels” goal and fill in the bin. Brian will also send Nathan an original copy of the “Bushels for Education” banner for the WEF brochure.
12. Review and discuss the date for the Tri-County Bike Tour and securing of sponsorships to support the Shanna Rae Christensen Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Sue discussed the Tri-County Bike Tour and the tentative date of Saturday, June 8 pending the date that is set for the Tour deKota which may be Saturday, June 15. Sue would like to have the Tri-County Tour a week prior to the Tour deKota as a warm-up ride for the tour. Wheels and Squeals is typically the same weekend as the Tour deKota so our Tri-County Bike Tour cannot be held in conjunction with Wheels and Squeals as it would be difficult to secure enough riders. Sue once again plans to secure sponsorships from Sanford, Wells Blue Bunny, and Coke.
13. Review and discuss the budget challenges facing the Beresford School District and potential for academic-oriented initiatives and creation of revenue streams supported by the WEF.
Brian and Sue highlighted the budget challenges that have been confronting the Beresford School District since the cuts were made by the state two years ago. Currently, there is no plan by the Governor or state legislature to restore the dollars that were lost in our District and entire state for K-12 public education.
Following on the next 8 or 9 pages are some talking points regarding our budget history and outlook for the future. Due to the lack of general fund dollars, the following cuts have been made in the Beresford School District since 2005:
We have been very conservative in our District spending as evidenced by the following chart on our Total Education Expenditures for FY ’12 (11-12) school year:
Only 10 school districts in South Dakota spend less per student than Beresford.
Without any new general fund revenue sources, other than the 3% increase in the per-student allocation the Governor is recommending for FY ’14 (13-14), our District will need the sunset on capital outlay usage ($282,000) for certain general fund expenditures to be extended beyond the 2013-14 school year.
If the sunset on capital outlay is not extended beyond June 30, 2014 we will be in serious financial trouble by the end of the 14-15 school year. The fund balance will be down to $396,474 which will make it difficult to cash flow, as a result of the $282,000 in expenditures being shifted back to our general fund.
The following chart shows the impact of a successful opt out vote in the spring/summer 2014 to help make up for the $282,000 that is no longer available to us through the capital outlay fund. This chart also assumes a 2% increase in the per-student allocation and a 2% increase in expenditures into the future.
Following are our General Fund Balance Projections if the sunset on Capital Outlay usage is not extended beyond June 30, 2014 and our District would pass a successful opt out in the spring 2014.
Fund Balance / Jun-13 / Jun-14 / Jun-15 / Jun-16 / Jun-176/30/2012 = $981,923 / $ 919,820.21 / $ 812,739.38 / $ 396,474.41 / $ (40,323.12) / $ (497,510.54)
Spring ‘14
Opt Out Passed / Fund Balance with opt outs
$ 150,000 / $ 471,474.41 / $ 184,676.88 / $ (122,510.54)
$ 200,000 / $ 496,474.41 / $ 259,676.88 / $ 2,489.46
$ 250,000 / $ 521,474.41 / $ 334,676.88 / $ 127,489.46
$ 300,000 / $ 546,474.41 / $ 409,676.88 / $ 252,489.46
$ 350,000 / $ 596,474.41 / $ 459,676.88 / $ 302,489.46
$ 400,000 / $ 646,474.41 / $ 509,676.88 / $ 352,489.46
If the sunset on capital outlay is extended several years beyond June 30, 2014, that will help our general fund budget greatly. This would allow our District to continue budgeting $282,000 in capital outlay to pay for traditional general fund expenditures such as motor fuel, utilities, and property and casualty insurance.
We may then be able to delay an opt out vote until the spring/summer 2015 and this opt out vote should time out when the bond redemption levy is off our District resident tax statements, hopefully creating a tax neutral situation for local property tax payers.