The meeting of the Douglas County Historical Society Board
was called to order at
The minutes of the
FINANCIAL REPORT
Piller: Incorporated past performance with the 2005 report. The Highlights page was included. 2004 ended with a $9114.00 deficit. The $32,918 figure referred to in the Highlights was the projected figure for 2004. Pointed out that the operating loss in the gift shop is a “book loss,” not an actual loss. He has problems with the way the books are kept for the gift shop. According to Phipps, part of the inventory is “recycled” income, and that is the problem area. Leanne will be called in order to determine if there is a better accounting method to track gift shop income and expenses. Dailey thinks that we should keep the gift shop if it is making money. Phipps stated that the gift shop is self supporting.
Corporate memberships are significantly higher. Personal membership income ($28,850) was close to the goal. The gift shop had a net operating loss of $11,730.74. The gift shop is first rate but needs to be managed profitably. Total income for the year was budgeted at $216,850, and the actual total income was $260,899.55. Total expenses were $20,245.68 over budget. When the accountant completes a tax return, there may be a few variances but they should not be significant. (See financial report for more details.)
BUDGET FOR 2005
Piller: The
proposed total budget income for 2005 is $262,984.00. The proposed total
operating expense is $205,473.28. The proposed net gain from operations is
$460.72. We must continue the same level of fundraising that was attained in
2004, in order for the 2005 budget to break even. Godwin made the motion to approve the proposed 2005 budget, with the increased
amount allocated for the development director position of $25,000. Martin seconded
the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous voice vote.
FUNDRAISING
Simmons: The
staff brought in 27% of the operation budget and that is commendable, but the
corporate membership drive needs to do more. We must again reach $45,000
in corporate donations. The question is whether the amount is reasonable to
expect for this year because it took a lot of effort to raise it in 2004. Simmons: The goal is big but
attainable. Myers: All of the money
has not come in that was pledged in 2004, and some of the donations were
multi-year. Von Achen: The
fundraising person needed to replace Lew Phillips does not have to be a board
member. Hill: The board needs a
membership list before the next meeting if that is possible. Piller: will ask Lew if he will be able
to assist us further. Godwin: It is
error not to budget the fundraising position as a priority. We need to properly fund the fundraising
position. Development council was hired to set up the fundraising framework. A
development director makes 50-60 thousand dollars per year. Martin: The board must be actively
involved in the fundraising effort, whoever we hire as the development
director. Fundraising must be continuous—ongoing from year to year. We need to
ask some donor to make a large enough gift to support our development director
hiring efforts. Simmons: Jim Martin
and Phil Godwin will formulate a model for asking a benefactor or benefactors
to sufficiently fund the development director position. As an advertising
format, the newspaper did not work so well, but Chamber of Commerce mailing may
be good. Simmons: The membership committee
needs to come up with a plan of action to continue and seek memberships. Godwin made the motion to increase the
amount allocated for the development director position to $25,000, from the
$12,500 allocated in 2004. Martin seconded the motion. The motion passed by a
unanimous voice vote.
CURATOR OF
COLLECTIONS-REGISTRAR POSITION
Kerry Lippincott was introduced as the recently hired curator of collections-registrar. She is happy to be working at the museum.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Phipps: Started a
project with various history based groups in
COMMITTEES REPORTS
The first reports will be due at the March meeting.
EVENTS AND EVENT ATTENDANCE
We would like to have the board participate in more upcoming events. (see calendar for event listing) The Wamego bus trip has been postponed because the theater performance for the original date was cancelled. was The Wamego bus trip will take place on July 10th, and will include a performance Hello Dolly. A board workday will be scheduled later this spring, probably some weekend in April.
OPEN POSITION ON THE
BOARD
Charles Derby had to resign from the board. The time
commitment proved too great for family baby sitting arrangements. His letter of
resignation was read to board and tendered. Simmons replied to the letter and
asked
OTHER BUSINESS
a. Treasurer-in-training position
This position does not have to be filled by a board member – need big donor – it’s a chance to get a person with fundraising potential.
b. February Board meeting
Simmons: will be out of town, so von Achen will handle the meeting. You can still get meeting information to him, and he will make the information available to von Achen.
c. March Board meeting date
March meeting dates are changed to the 15th for the administrative committee and March 29th for the board. A conflict with Spring Break is the reason for the change. The changes were accepted by board consensus and chairman prerogative.
d. Board development workshop
Will be held the 9th of March. More information will be forthcoming as soon as it is received.
e. Douglas County Heritage Summit meeting
We need to have as many board members present at this meeting as possible. The board retreat was cancelled because it conflicted with the summit. Please RSVP to Judy Billings
f. Other business.
The museum is collecting HyVee receipts.
Simmons: Passed out article entitled “A Success/Failure Matrix for Museums. Please read the article, particularly the highlighted section on the second page.
The next Board Of
Director’s meeting is
The meeting was adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Napoleon Crews
Secretary