NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY
MEETING MINUTES
November 13, 2012
CALL TO ORDER:
The November 2012 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 6:35 PM by NWCS board president Penny Perles. The following board members were present:
David Hitch John Schindler
Noreen LaValle Diane Szuberla
Mary Jane Matecki Ruta Veitmanis
Penny Perles
Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director
MEETING MINUTES:
The meeting minutes of the October 9, 2012 board meeting were reviewed and one correction was needed. Under New Business, the third bullet should read: “Martha Conlon has volunteered to manage our Twitter and Facebook pages.” Noreen LaValle made a motion to accept the corrected minutes. The motion was seconded by Diane Szuberla. The motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Noreen presented the treasurer’s report for October. Cash disbursements totaled $1,717.25. Cash receipts totaled $4,128.00. Our regular account balance was $16,165.25. Including the J. Melcher Memorial Fund and petty cash, our final total was $19,237.25. Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. John Schindler seconded the motion. The motion passed.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:
Alan Wellman has received permission from our soloists and orchestra members to record and sell CDs of our December concert. He has prepared a form for members to preorder and prepay for the CDs. We will also include an order form for the audience in our program books.
As we move out more into the community, e.g. soliciting private and corporate donations, participating in outreach programs, we need to be certain that we are all speaking a “common language”. All written information must first be reviewed by Alan. Then, if he hasn’t responded in 24 hours, contact Penny. Also, all letters should have the same format and logo. We have prepared a letterhead, including logo, for all letters and envelopes.
PROMOTIONS:
Diane Szuberla reported that tickets have already been distributed to members for selling.
The December program book is being prepared.
At the December concert, our ushers and bake sale and ticket desk helpers will wear our logo button.
ADVERTISING COMMITTEE:
Noreen LaValle stated that we have received $1175.00 in paid ads for the program book. After all payments are received, we should have about $1800.00.
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
Mary Jane Matecki stated that we sent out 577 letters to potential donors. The postage cost was $93.90, with a total expense of $213.99.
We received $3,664.00 in donations from chorus members.
We have also received about $1,700.00 in corporate donations so far.
David Hitch made a table listing the benefits we will give to our donors at the different levels. The four levels are: Platinum – $2,500.00 and above, Gold – $1,500.00 to $2,499.00, Silver – $500.00 to $1,499.00 and Bronze – up to $499.00.
A discussion followed about how best to acknowledge our donors in our program books and at each concert.
We are looking into getting a new style envelope for donations. The flap on the envelope would be rectangular and the same size as the envelope. The donation information would be underneath the flap. The envelopes could be inserted in our programs.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:
Chris Stukel has prepared a flyer for members with information about our Holiday party December 4th, Little Villa Restaurant, 6:30 PM.
FACILITIES COMMITTEE:
John Schindler stated that he will need help cleaning up after the concert.
PUBLICITY:
Publicity has been sent out.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:
Flowers were sent to David Martin upon the death of his father.
OLD BUSINESS:
At our two upcoming outreach performances, we will wear black shirts/black tops, black pants, black socks and red ties or scarves. The Lutheran General Hospital program is the evening of November 26 and the Moorings Center program is November 30, 3:00 PM.
NEW BUSINESS:
We are working on new business cards for our organization. Suggestions are welcome.
Alan presented the following schedule for our Saturday rehearsal on the 17th:
▫ 9:00 to 11:45 AM – rehearsal of music for the December concert.
▫ 11:45 to 12:30 PM – lunch, which we will provide with money from our treasury.
▫ 12:30 to 1:30 PM – composer Daniel Salotti will lead a rehearsal of his Requiem pro universitas de trop Liberi.
▫ 1:30 to 2:00 PM – rehearsal of the music for the LGH outreach concert.
Upon reviewing our Mission Statement, Alan suggested that our chorus needs a ‘brand’ – exactly what are we presenting/putting out? He would like to modify the Mission Statement to say that we are presenting ‘excellent’ performances.
NEXT MEETING:
Our next Board Meeting will be January 15, 2013, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s.
ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:21 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from David Hitch. The motion passed.
Ruta Veitmanis
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society