FOM Board Meeting Notes

Tuesday, June 14th

6:30PM-8:00PM

Attendees: Katie, Erika, Mandy, Pam, Michelle, Ursula, Julie, Nisha, Margot, Suzanne, Meera, Stacey K., Katherine, Mark, Ned, Chris, Denny, Jen, Millie, Stephanie, Erin, Roona, Lisa

Financial Update Chris Ball

  • Walkathon $57k net collected
  • Benefit - $126K income, $98K net
  • Sponsors - $18K cash donations net
  • New system cuts cc fees from 8% to 3.4%
  • Katie’s request for pledge email has brought in $4k in this week
  • All Fundraisers – $505K net to give to school towards 2016-2017 budget, just shy of goal of $531k
  1. Elections Pam Lookatch/Chris Ball
  • 2016-2017 Election of new Board Members approved, boards is as follows:
  • Pam Lookatch – President
  • Stephanie Linebaugh – Treasurer
  • Margot Kleinman – Asst Treasurer
  • Michelle Augustyn – Secretary
  • Roona Nath Shah – Communications VP
  • Erika Vogel – Fundraising VP
  • Julie Zwick – Community VP

Walkathon Stacey Hara/Nisha Hazra

  • Feedback:
  • Stacey Hara and Nisha Hazra to chair WAT in 2017
  • Pep Rally – Julie to arrange Jessie White Tumblers again
  • Day Of
  • Suggested staggered start times to limit the number of kids running and injuries
  • Course supervisors to have a dedicated spot to stand at, marked off with an x
  • A few parents have requested it’s not Memorial Day weekend, Katie is currently working on 2017 school calendar, date TBD
  • Do we really need tally’s?
  • On-Site Sponsors
  • Encourage parents to visit the sponsors on site
  • Because of safety and space reasons, keep sponsor tables on field
  • Fundraising strategy
  • Play up the one school coming together idea
  • Have a teacher on WAT committee
  • Raised ~$52K, vs last year $37K
  • Perhaps putting a lock box in the front office for cash and check donations
  • Create a form for people who want to write checks vs donating online via cc
  • Overall the pledges were up and we need to tweak a few things in the future, like starting the pledge driver earlier. This year we had a 2 week lead time before the WAT.
  • For hitting the 50% fundraising goal mark, the Student Council gets $1400 to spend on school improvements
  • Walkathon After Party Feedback:
  • Overall feeling on event was that those who attended really liked the move to Lakeshore. It was agreed that Lakeshore did an amazing job with the event
  • Perhaps auction off after party wristbands at the Benefit?
  • Create a wait list from the start
  • Should wristband distribution be based on volunteerism – still in discussion
  • If Lakeshore is willing, we would like to have the event there again

Mayer Supporter Update Pam Lookatch

  • Mayer Directory going out electronically to parents next week before school is out – contains all contact information for sponsors from Benefit & Walkathon.
  • Will work over summer to streamline program based on what we learned this year.
  • Sponsor Breakdown:
  • $2500 – 9 sponsors (2 cash & 7 in-kind including LSF, Aura who created website, South Water Signs who donated all banners throughout year)
  • $1000 – 22 sponsors (8 cash, 4 cash + in-kind, 4 cash + in-kind = $1000 and 6 in-kind only)
  • $500 – 26 sponsors (6 cash, 3 cash + in-kind, 1 cash + in-kind = $500 and 16 in-kind only)
  • $250 – 44 sponsors (6 cash, 38 in-kind only)

Community Update

  • Beyond the Classroom Erin Kerewich
  • Feedback needed to plan next year’s events:
  • Revisit some of the current events to make more inclusive, ie change the wording for Father-Daughter dance so that it includes grandpa’s, uncles, friends, etc.
  • More all-inclusive family events
  • Meera Jorgensen presented a committee separate from FOM but to work with Beyond the Classroom to plan several all school mixers that are not gender specific
  • Meera wants to have staggered events for EC/EL1/EL2, MYP
  • She wants 3 events, one fall, one winter, one spring
  • First one to coincide with the beginning of the school year
  • Ideas suggested include open mike night, karaoke , theme based events
  • Bulldog Heroes Erika Vogel
  • Erika proposed partnering with the Montessori school of Englewood and customizing our book drive perhaps for that school vs doing a generic book drive for Bernie’s Book Drive
  • Ways to add more hands-on volunteer projects, drives, etc.
  • Volunteers Jen Jones
  • We need an incentive to get people to volunteer at events
  • Suggested that we publish the school calendar with volunteer events at the beginning of the year. This can be sent home in backpacks
  • Make families accountable to volunteer at a specific amount of events per year
  • Tie WAT after party wristband sales to some sort of preferred list for those who have volunteered the most get first oppty to purchase the bands
  • Should we track volunteers thru volunteer spot? This would include FOM exclusive events and not in school volunteer

Miscellaneous Items for Summer Pam Lookatch

  • FOM website almost totally completed – up & running; need to tweak and add some items. Mainly need to add sponsor logos to scrolling slider on home page.
  • Neon CRM & Website Training:
  • Will hold over the summer to be up & running once school starts
  • As soon as we get some date/time options, I will send around an email to find a date that works with a majority of Board members
  • Summer Meetings:
  • July/August Board meeting – when needed to allocate a certain amount of money to Katie & LSC to use to supplement budget given to us by CPS.
  • Community Team calendaring meeting – Julie will schedule
  • Sponsorship Strategy meeting – Ryan will schedule
  • PLEDGE Drive Strategy meeting – Erika will schedule
  • Benefit site visits to choose venue – Stacey will plan
  • Treasurer transition – Chris/Nisha/Stephanie/Margot/Pam
  • Communication transition – Robin/Roona/Maureen/Pam
  • Secretary transition – Nicole/Michelle to schedule

8:00 p.m. Adjourn Pam Lookatch