President and CEO Report

Tara A. Ellis

My report will be very brief as I hope you will invest your time in reviewing the organization’s vision and direction for the calendar year.

The new strategic plan is getting a strong start as a guidepost to the team’s 2016 goals and priorities. As you will see in the metrics included in this board report, the goals set by and for the team in 2015 were generally met or surpassed with very few exceptions and those areas of opportunity will be addressed this year.

As you will see in the following pages detailing each team’s 2016 goals and priorities, everyone at MOW has a lot of work to do in 2016 and we plan to continue to implement improvements to strengthen the organization’s financial and human resources. Please reach out to me or one of my direct reports if you have any questions or concerns about any of the goals laid out below and in the following pages.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tara A. Ellis

Foundation and Facilities Report

Lisa Woodring, Chief Development Officer

Fundraising

  • Fundraising 2015:

Division / 2014 / 2014 Actual / 2015 / 2015 Actual
Goal / As of 12/31/14 / Goal / As of 12/31/15
Corporate / $75,000 / $93,603 / $87,500 / $88,901
Individuals / $330,000 / $334,975 / $303,500 / $352,328
Leadership / $282,500 / $349,693 / $300,000 / $221,594
Special Events/Projects / $350,000 / $263,344* / $370,000 / $614,104**
Prospects / $60,000 / $60,447 / $63,000 / $48,895
Gift In Kind / $43,500 / $55,713 / $49,000 / $71,007
Subtotal Foundation / $980,000 / $911,295 / $983,000 / $1,057,434
Subtotal Agency Direct / $161,000 / $246,480 / $190,000 / $339,400
Total / $1,141,000 / $1,157,775 / $1,173,000 / $1,396,834

* Please note this actual was negatively impacted in 2014 by the delay in the HUD funding for the generator.

** This included a bequest gift given to the agency of $220,099.

  • Plate Expectations 2015 – The committee has been actively working on Plate Expectations 2016. We have energized the committee with a few new members (we still could use some new faces). We will be holding the event at Riverworks on September 21, 2016 from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Sponsorships are being secured. Please make sure you let Lauren Hibit know if you can help sign letters. The sponsorship is where most of our money is raised for the event.
  • Hunger and Hope Tours:The 2016 Hunger and Hope schedule is set. The Breakfast of Hope is set for May 18, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. We will be asking for table captains for the event to help us by inviting additional guests to the event. As always, we still need help filling Hunger and Hope tours, please reach out to friends, co-workers and family and invite them in for a tour.
  • Industrial Mixer – We still need $20,000 for the new industrial mixer for the commissary. Any leads on potential funders please let me know.
  • Auto Show – We will once again be receiving a portion of the pre-sale tickets from the 2016 Auto Show thanks to the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association.
  • 2015 Review and 2016 Goals – A comprehensive review of 2015 and goals for 2016 will be complete and available on the Board Member section of the website by the February Board Meeting.
  • Direct Mail Program 2016 – Our first direct mail for 2016 will be dropping on the week of February 15th.
  • Step Up to the Plate – Once again Dash Markets supported us through the Step Up to the Plate Campaign. The campaign ran in all Dash’s locations from November 15 to December 12. During these campaigns, customers are asked to donate $1, $3 or $5 to Meals on Wheels at the checkout. The campaign was successful in raising $7,380.
  • Junior League Grant – Meals on Wheels was invited to apply for the proceeds from the Decorators’ Show House. The team submitted a three part grant for a mobile delivery site, ovens and covers and an Adopt-A-Route. We asked for $275,000 which was the maximum we could ask for. They will be notifying us by February 25th if we have moved onto the next round. Special thanks to Lauren Hibit and Kelly Campbell for pulling the grant together on the very tight timeframe of the Junior League of two weeks and getting it submitted.

Facilities

  • New Office Space – The Facilities Team has split an existing office into two offices and is in the process of creating a new office off our Broadway site. These new offices spaces were needed due to new staff in the Foundation.
  • Pot and Pan Room – The new vertical exhaust fan has been installed to complete the project.
  • Main Boiler – Our main boiler needed a new pump, motor and bearings. An inspection has been completed and we rated excellent. This was done with the help of Allied Mechanical.
  • Commissary - All Combi-Ovens, warming ovens and blast chillers have been inspected and are fully functional. Preventative maintenance has been performed on the cold prep rooms, walk in coolers and storage areas.

Communications Report (covering 12/1/15 – 1/26/16)

Rachel Leidenfrost, Chief Communications Officer

Media–

  • Media coverage for the period included: the BOA mixer donation, the wreath sale, the need for volunteers, Share the Love, gift wrap, a feature in the Springville Journal (program overview, need for volunteers), meal delivery, how we make the holidays special, the Seneca Mortgage Servicing donation, and “resolve to volunteer.”
  • We were also included in Channel 4’s holiday commercial and received extensive coverage from Channel 4 on Dec. 23 – 25 regarding how we help make the holidays bright for clients.

Speaking engagements – We’ve had three speaking engagements since our last board meeting. For our first year tracking speaking engagements, we had 30 (compared to a goal of 24).

Government affairs

  • 2015 totals – We did receive all expected donations by year-end. For 2015, we received a total of $161,670. This is an increase of $12,870 over 2014 numbers as we continue to build local relationships.
  • Municipal asks – We have set up our schedule of data and asks for 2016 and have sent our first round of request letters.
  • Advocacy efforts – Rachel attended the BNP’s Regional Advocacy Rollout and had a chance to speak with several of our elected officials, including the Mayor. She will also be going to Buffalo night in Albany at the end of February and doing advocacy visits while in town. She’ll once again participate in n4a’s DC advocacy agenda meeting in April and do Capitol Hill visits while there.

Advertising campaign – We’ve begun our 2016 planning with the ad agency. We will continue to focus on the 100 reasons and will once again aim to launch alongside the Breakfast of Hope in May.

Newsletters – The winter newsletter was delivered in mid-December.

Miscellaneous

  • HTML Email Launch – We had a successful pilot of our new HTML email system Get Response (with a Happy Holidays message and New Year’s resolution message) and did a full launch in mid-January. Our first HTML email was for the Buffalo Auto Show. Next up we will have American Heart Month. We will continue to build the contact list. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Please let Rachel know if you’ve experienced any problems or have questions.
  • Volunteer handbooks – We edited the current Volunteer Handbook (meal delivery) and created a new one with appropriate content for office volunteers.
  • Health & Nutrition blog – We have formalized our plan for the Health and Nutrition blog, have engaged three of our registered dietitians in writing for it and will be putting high-quality posts up at least twice a month going forward. (Website > hover over News & Resources > click on Health & Nutrition Resources.)
  • MOWA brand badge – We have signed up for co-branding with Meals on Wheels America. We’ve indicated on our website that we are a MOWA member (as well as a NANASP member) with badges on the bottom of the home page. As we re-print items (e.g., our client brochures right now) we will add the logos to these pieces as well.
  • Vaccines campaign – We did a communication campaign related to vaccines in December and January; as a result we were able to get a $2,500 grant from NANASP.
  • Meal delivery with Bishop Malone – We once again had an opportunity to deliver meals and communion with Bishop Malone in late December. He was very enthusiastic about his support of MOW. An article will be forthcoming in WNY Catholic.
  • Auto show communications – We did communications regarding the auto show in mid-January to staff, board, committee members, the sites (volunteers), the general public and via our website, Facebook and Twitter.
  • Breakfast of Hope theme – The Breakfast of Hope (5/18) theme has been chosen for this year – “Taking out Hunger.” (Thank you, Dana Romeo) A Save the Date card is now available.
  • Plate Expectations theme – Four possible themes for P.E. (9/21) have been presented to the committee. A Save the Date card will be forthcoming.
  • Champions for Meals – Champions for Meals this year will be March 21 – 25. Invitations will be going out to government officials and other VIPs soon. If you’d like to escort one or more VIPs please let Rachel know about your availability.

[Volunteer Relations] –

  • Critical Need – We continue to have a critical need for volunteers in the city (East Buffalo, North Buffalo, Broadway, DCN). Please share any leads!
  • Milestone Volunteer Reception – We will honor 27 individuals and 1 Adopt-A-Route who have reached 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40 years of service this year. The event will be Tuesday, April 12 from 4 – 6 pm here at MOW. You should all have your invitation. Please talk to Lauren (or Rachel) with questions or to RSVP.

[Support Services] –

  • Client Birthday Gift – We have ordered and received the client birthday gift for 2016. Clients will receive a small heart shaped packet with squishy beads in it – this can be put in the freezer or the microwave and then used as a compress to help with aches and pains.

Operations Report

Chris Procknal, Chief Operations Officer

Nutrition, Site Services, Social Work

Nutrition

  • We rolled out the new Thermohauser containers on 1/5/2016 thanks to 25 high school volunteers applying the labels during the holiday break. The majority of the old coolers were recycled. We kept a small number of coolers that are reusable.
  • We will launch our made without gluten pilot on 2/15/2016, which is funded by a $2,000 grant. We have identified 3 clients to participate. The pilot is expected to last 4 – 5 months. We will survey the clients each month to obtain their feedback and answer any questions. We also will be continually seeking new participants and adding them over the course of the pilot.
  • We completed the testing of the 2 modified prototype ovens during the first week of January. There were no issues. They weigh 18 pounds and are 6 pounds lighter than the first prototype and 5 pounds lighter than the existing ovens. Lisa and team are beginning the process to submit grant applications.
  • We are also testing a new oven cover provided by the Olmsted Center for Sight. It is made of a much more durable polyester canvas than our current cover. Oven covers will be included in the grant applications for the ovens.

Site Services

  • Janeen Griffith and Julie Klass accepted the job offers to be the site managers of the West Side and Orchard Park sites respectively in January. They were both day chairs. Linda Voss, former Orchard Park site manager, had to resign due to health problems.
  • We still are searching for a new Springville site manager. Myndi Block, Director of Site Services, is remotely managing the site with the support of the volunteers. There have been no issues.

Social Work

  • The Social Work team recently held several collaborative meetings with Fallon Health Weinberg, a managed long term care provider, and community agencies who service the elderly population. They include Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of WNY, Neighborhood Legal Services and Independent Consumer Advocacy Network. These meetings provided valuable information about services available for our clients.

ServTracker Update

  • We now are auditing meal counts on a weekly basis and finding minimal discrepancies between ServTracker and Bateman reporting. We will continue the practice through 1Q2016. We will also begin the implementation of the EDI functionality in ServTracker in 1Q2016. It will enable us to electronically process our billing to managed long term care providers.