River Valley Charter School
Minutes
Development Meeting
Date and Time
Monday September 9, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Location
River Valley Charter School Middle School Great Room
River Valley Charter School welcomes your participation at Board meetings. The purpose of a public meeting of the Board of Trustees (“Board”) is to conduct the affairs of the organization in public. Your participation assures us of continuing community interest in our school and assists the Board in making the best decisions for our school. To assist you in the ease of speaking/participating in our meetings, guidelines are provided at the bottom of this agenda. All materials for all board and committee meetings, are available on our Board on track public portal found at rivervalleycharter.org.
Committee Members Present
C. Getz, E. Bradley, E. Rankin, K. Kuse, T. Murdy
Committee Members Absent
A. Hromadka, M. Connerton
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
B.
Record Attendance
C.
Approve Minutes
D.
Development Committee Introduction
II. Review Plan for FY24-25
A.
Annual Appeal
A traditional model of personal outreach and connection is tried and true.
Based on an earlier conversation with KK, ER recommended an annual fund approach that is practical, achievable and has the potential to generate goodwill as well as be a successful fundraising effort and might increase interest and involvement in development cmte by including more parent volunteers.
Annual fund is a yearlong campaign - starts with a fall mailing includes a follow up at year end and other communication throughout the year and representatives (captains) from each class to personalize the effort.
Theme was designated for 2024-2025
"Charting Our course…the next 25 years"
Jane will assist with suggesting class captains. Need to plan a training night and connect with graphic designer. TM offered to connect with a parent/designer.
B.
Read-A-Thon
Discussed timeline for spring read-a-thon and connecting with local businesses to sponsor this event. Noted ways to increase participation from 2024 which include connecting with the middle school and teachers in advance.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
- MCPSA_Fact-Sheet_2024
- Understanding Mass Charter Schools
Overview:
Why do we fundraiser?
We need to optimize our "elevator pitch".
Needs to become short and audience specific for best delivery.
Traditional public schools are given their buildings and the maintenance of facilities is provided, whereas RVCS needs to pay a lease and maintain its own building.
Potential update for vision--
The mission of River Valley Charter School is to provide a rigorous public academic program based on Montessori philosophy and rooted in the history, culture, and ecology of the Merrimack River Valley.
We need to polish our image in order to be our best at delivery and ask.
Erin will reach out to KJ and AT re: previous 8th grade COL-- recorded or willing to present.
Messaging to volunteer needs to come from leadership.
Discussed Mission statement and how it could streamline communication.