Libertas Academy Charter School
Minutes
Development Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday September 3, 2019 at 5:00 PM
Location
146 Chestnut St, Springfield MA 01103
Committee Members Present
D. Barrows, K. Diamond Kayiatos, L. Davis, M. Montero
Committee Members Absent
None
Guests Present
Katie Frett
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
D. Barrows called a meeting of the Development Committee of Libertas Academy Charter School to order on Tuesday Sep 3, 2019 at 5:09 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
II. New Business
A.
Chair Remarks
Vermont was wonderful.
B.
Board on Track Orientation
Modesto provided an overview of Board on Track.
C.
Review Dashboard
We exceed our goal and ended FY19 with $321,999.00. We received additional funding from the Davis Foundation and two additional donors.
KOF followed up with those individuals to thank them for their contribution.
In FY20, in order to reach our goal of $350,000, we will need significant gifts from the Jennison and the Davis Foundations. Our work must also focus this year on finding an institutional and private company partnership that results in a multi-year pledge.
In order to successfully meet our FY20 goals, our committee is committed to create, and execute on a Development system to solicit, track, cultivate, and thank supporters. This will greatly improve our fundraising efforts and it's this type of infrastructure that funders like the Jennison foundation want to see.
KOF followed up with those individuals to thank them for their contribution.
In FY20, in order to reach our goal of $350,000, we will need significant gifts from the Jennison and the Davis Foundations. Our work must also focus this year on finding an institutional and private company partnership that results in a multi-year pledge.
In order to successfully meet our FY20 goals, our committee is committed to create, and execute on a Development system to solicit, track, cultivate, and thank supporters. This will greatly improve our fundraising efforts and it's this type of infrastructure that funders like the Jennison foundation want to see.
D.
FY20 Development Plan
Development Plan
Our goal for FY20 is $350,000.00 for the fiscal year ended 6/30/2020.
Friend-raising- we should add a sentence in the solicitation letter for donors who have not been to the school. It should be the PS since it is the most read part of a letter. Kari D is willing to help with this as needed.
Should we ask for multi-year commitments? We need a company and an institution for a multi-year commitment.
Our goal for FY20 is $350,000.00 for the fiscal year ended 6/30/2020.
Friend-raising- we should add a sentence in the solicitation letter for donors who have not been to the school. It should be the PS since it is the most read part of a letter. Kari D is willing to help with this as needed.
Should we ask for multi-year commitments? We need a company and an institution for a multi-year commitment.
E.
Discuss our Communication and Engagement Plan
We should try for an end of the calendar year push?
KD- we should do a solicitation prior to the end of the year. It could be a mailing campaign or personal solicitation. With the solicitation, who should we target? Should it be customized for audiences? It should celebrate the success of the previous year with a clear call to action. It should also include a goal for the number of new donors we are looking for.
Part of our friend-raising is guided tours. Discussion around what communication is sent out, by when and why. We should send a letter that goes out to everyone who donated in October. The letter should acknowledge when and how much was given. The more specific and relevant data, the better. It should include the amount and it should suggest how much to give. There are individuals that we should be mindful of when asking for donations.
The first group we should always solicit from is our Board Members. The second group should be last year donors, and then folks that have given but not last year. The letter should be customized for these groups.
Can we confirm that every person that has donated has received an acknowledgment? KOF confirmed we are all set.
A newsletter will go out later this year as a way to keep our supporters informed and to celebrate the our fund and friend raising successes. This will tee up the October solicitation. The Spring newsletter will similarly tee up the fiscal year-end solicitation.
KD- we should do a solicitation prior to the end of the year. It could be a mailing campaign or personal solicitation. With the solicitation, who should we target? Should it be customized for audiences? It should celebrate the success of the previous year with a clear call to action. It should also include a goal for the number of new donors we are looking for.
Part of our friend-raising is guided tours. Discussion around what communication is sent out, by when and why. We should send a letter that goes out to everyone who donated in October. The letter should acknowledge when and how much was given. The more specific and relevant data, the better. It should include the amount and it should suggest how much to give. There are individuals that we should be mindful of when asking for donations.
The first group we should always solicit from is our Board Members. The second group should be last year donors, and then folks that have given but not last year. The letter should be customized for these groups.
Can we confirm that every person that has donated has received an acknowledgment? KOF confirmed we are all set.
A newsletter will go out later this year as a way to keep our supporters informed and to celebrate the our fund and friend raising successes. This will tee up the October solicitation. The Spring newsletter will similarly tee up the fiscal year-end solicitation.
F.
New Committee Members
Do we want to look for additional members? Or are we ok? We don't currently have a desperate need for it but should keep it in mind.
III. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:14 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
D. Barrows
D. Barrows made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
L. Davis seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.