NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY
MEETING MINUTES
January 15, 2013
CALL TO ORDER:
The January 15th Board Meeting of the Northwest Choral Society was held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1095 Dempster/Thacker, Des Plaines, IL. The meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM by NWCS board president Penny Perles. The following board members were present:
David Hitch Penny Perles
Noreen LaValle John Schindler
David Martin Diane Szuberla
Mary Jane Matecki Ruta Veitmanis
Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director
Penny thanked the board members for their work in helping make our December concert a success. She also announced that Alan has entered the Doctorate program at Concordia College for a degree in ‘Organizational Leadership’.
MEETING MINUTES:
The meeting minutes of the November 13, 2012 board meeting were reviewed and no corrections were needed. Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded by Noreen LaValle. The motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Noreen presented the treasurer’s report for November. Cash disbursements totaled $3,969.50. Cash receipts totaled $3,624.00. Our regular account balance was $15,819.75. Including the J. Melcher Memorial Fund and petty cash, our final total was $18,891.75. Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. John Schindler seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Noreen presented the treasurer’s report for December. Cash disbursements totaled $4,640.00. Cash receipts totaled $5,903.75. Our regular account balance was $17,083.50. Including the J. Melcher Memorial Fund and petty cash, our final total was $20,155.50. Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. Ruta Veitmanis seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Noreen also presented the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual for the period from July through December 2012. We have realized 94.8% of our expected annual income of $22,950.00. We have spent 55% of the expected annual expenditure of $28.280.00.
If unforeseen expenses arise that cannot wait for approval by the board at the next board meeting, the treasurer may approve expenditures of $250.00 or less, up to a total of $1000.00 until the next board meeting. Expenditures that exceed these amounts may be approved by a majority of board members by e-mail.
The Moorings paid us $200.00 for our participation in their Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Mary Jane proposed we give this money to Alan and Lori Lyn Mackie, $100.00 each, as compensation for their help with our three outreach programs this fall. David Hitch seconded the motion. The motion passed.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY’S REPORT:
Noreen, Mary Jane and Penny wrote thank you notes to members for their contributions to the Annual Giving Fund.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:
Penny approved the $199.00 registration fee for Alan to attend the American Choral Directors’ Association conference in Dallas this March.
Alan stated that everything is set for our April concert – music, soloist, orchestra, etc. We will probably not be recording the concert.
PROMOTIONS:
Diane Szuberla presented the December concert ticket results. 264 people attended. Our income from ticket sales was $5,390.00. The Early Bird and Season Ticket sales included 15 orders of 22 tickets. 18 gift tickets were used. 46 members sold 206 tickets with 80 tickets being sold by the top 9 sellers. 49 tickets sold at the door. Goldstar, the website we used for the first time, sold 36 tickets, although at the discounted price of $10.00. We also received $35.00 in donations.
We will need to print more posters, large and small size, for the next concert.
Our website has been updated.
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
Alan sent board members a link to an article: “9 Ways to Thank Your Donors”.
David Hitch, Mary Jane, Alan and any other interested members will get together to brainstorm about how to find more potential donors. Perhaps offering to sing at one of their functions could get a potential donor interested in us.
Penny showed an example of the envelope we will use for future donations. The flap of the envelope is rectangular and the same size as the envelope. This will provide room for all the information needed for the donation.
Diane stated that we have received $425.00 in donations since the December concert.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:
David Martin announced that two new singers had attended last week’s rehearsal. Several more may come in the next few weeks. Of the people who show an interest in our group, about 20% actually come to a rehearsal.
PUBLICITY:
Penny has sent in a request for an advertisement of our April concert on the marquee in downtown Arlington Heights.
She also has received the dates for two sets of our concert gift tickets to be offered on WFMT’s morning quiz.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:
Flowers were sent to Diane upon her recent surgery.
OLD BUSINESS:
Participation in the 2014 World Choir Games in Latvia may cost about $2000.00. Airfare could be about $1,300.00, plus the registration fee.
David Martin pointed out that all of our YouTube performances are several years old. He volunteered to replace some of the old performances with recent ones. Board members agreed.
At the April concert, the women will only wear the pearl necklaces with their new black dresses.
NEW BUSINESS:
Penny proposed several changes to our Handbook in the section Member Support for Chorus Activities.
◦ The section Ads/Contributions should be divided into two separate sections: Program Ads and Contributions.
– Under Program Ads, in the sentence “Each member is encouraged to sell at least one ad”, the use of the word ‘encouraged’ was questioned. Also, the original text stated that members were “encouraged to sell at least one ad or solicit at least one contribution per year”. Often members who couldn’t sell an ad or solicit a contribution made a donation themselves.
Under Contributions, in the sentence “Each member is expected to make a contribution to the Annual Giving Fund”, the use of the word ‘expected’ was questioned.
A discussion followed. Penny and Noreen will reword the above-proposed changes and they will be presented again at the next board meeting.
◦ In the section Ticket Sales, Alan proposed adding the sentence: “Each member is responsible for selling one ticket for each of the three concerts during the season”. This proposal was accepted by the board.
We will have a bake sale during intermission at the April concert.
NEXT MEETING:
Our next Board Meeting will be February 12, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s.
ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from David Hitch. The motion passed.
Ruta Veitmanis
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society