Meals on Wheels Foundation of Western New York
Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, December 17, 2015
PRESENT:
PRESENT: Tara A. Ellis, Stephen Mayo, David Smith, Joyce Dolce, Clark Trow, Jennifer Nassivera, Nancy Berger, Joe Bielecki, Bob Romeo (phone), Chuck Hardy (phone), Richard Grimm (phone), Ed Negron (phone), Michelle Mehaffy (phone)
STAFF: Lisa Woodring, Chris Procknal, Lucian Wiza, Rachel Leidenfrost, Lauren Hibit
ABSENT: None
EXCUSED: Elizabeth Marks
Chairman’s Report – D. Smith
· Welcome Joyce Dolce to the Board. She will be picking up the reigns with Plate Expectations, and working closely with Jennifer Nassivera to make the 2016 event successful.
· MOW staff holiday party was held yesterday. The team has made a huge leap this year, turning into very efficient upbeat organization. Thank you to Board members and staff for all you do.
· A motion was made by J. Nassivera to approve the board minutes from October 15, 2015, C. Trow seconds. All in favor, none oppose.
Foundation and Facilities Report – L. Woodring
· Plate Expectations – planning is already underway. S. Mayo has passed reigns to J. Nassivera and J. Dolce. Looking at Riverworks as the location. Meeting with them next week to pin down date. Then sponsorships can be obtained.
· Hunger & Hope. Kudos to D. Smith, S. Mayo, M. Scarozza, M. McAfee for bringing guests. Please continue to invite people to these tours as part of Board member obligations.
· New employees – Lauren Hibit, Foundation Specialist, and Kelly Campbell, Planned & Major Gifts Officer. Kelly is in the process of orchestrating a reception in early February at the Buffalo Club for upper end donors.
· Wreaths – thank you. Netted $3,500+ this year.
· Pot & Pan room – new floor is in and it looks great. Exhaust fan will be installed within the next week.
· Step Up to the Plate – ran at Dash’s from mid-November through Mid December. Closed out at $7,400.
· Justin – still in Boston but was released from hospital. Waiting for his body to accept the bone marrow. There will be a benefit February 5th at Ironworkers Hall in West Seneca. Tickets will be available this week. R. Leidenfrost will send link when available.
President and CEO Report – T. Ellis
· Great year at MOW. Continuing to improve and stabilize. Questions about written report? None.
· CEO Golden Hour program - invite in small groups of key donors (3-6 individuals). T. Ellis and L. Woodring discuss challenges, opportunities, brainstorm with them with hope of increasing engagement and coming up with new ideas. Recommended through Hunger & Hope program.
· Strategic Plan – Thank you to all who came to meeting, and to all who provided comments. Thank you to S. Mayo and Walsh for allowing us to use their terrific space. Motion to pass strategic plan and begin implementation in January. S. Mayo motions to adopt Strategic Plan. N. Berger seconds. All in favor, none oppose.
· Contract negations are going very smooth with both the County and Bateman. Three parts with County -congregate, home delivery, and Title XX. Goal to get them fully executed by end of year. Bateman and County contracts are very intertwined, so the timing will be simultaneous.
· S. Mayo – Suggested possibility to partner with Community Services for the Disabled in 2016 to better serve Title XX clients.
Finance Report – L. Wiza
· Joint Finance Committee meeting was held 12/1, reviewed statements through end of September. Both Agency and Foundation stable. Reviewed Agency meal count data, looking at 912,000 meals, up 3.7% over last year. Congregate sites are looking at 247,000. That’s down from budget, but up 3.5% over last year. Agency was closed for 4 days last November, which accounted for a large loss of meals.
· Reviewed 2016 budget for Agency, Foundation, and consolidated. Agency – projected for a $19,000 decrease in net assets. Foundation – projected for a $273,000 increase in net assets. Consolidated – net increase of about $254,000. Questions about budget? None.
· J. Bielecki – Overall feeling that we are financially stable. Next year we project an increase in net assets. However, do need to be aware of some potential future roadblocks – refinancing our debt, significant capital needs for replacing/repairing facility and other items. Definite headwinds to think about as we make strides forward.
· L. Wiza – We also met as a subcommittee to review debt status. Balloon payment will be due in 2019. Need to determine how to fund. Possibility of refinancing between now and 2019.
- T. Ellis – Details of debt structure are on last page of package.
- S. Mayo – Should we refinance now while the rates are low?
- J. Bielecki – The NYSERDA and Bank of America loans are tied together. Need to take that into account as we decide what and how early to do it. Note that the Fed increased rates yesterday, will be 3 months before rates rise again.
- D. Smith – Also important to note the prepayment penalty of $117k. Need to juxtapose that against likelihood of rate increases. Penalty goes down significantly every year. A lot of organizations are looking at this and trying to figure out what’s best. Banks wholesale to investors; they want a return, so it’s hard to negotiate out.
- J. Bielecki – Suggest that we bring in 5 or 6 banks, if they want they want the loan they will make that part of their pitch. We have also been looking into Micro-funding – small businesses paying higher rate. Charitable micro-funding at very low rates. For example, presenting a 10 year MOW bond at 1% rate of return. Maybe pitch that and link with donor activities. Like a return on savings account.
- C. Trow – If there isn’t already a system in place, cost of implementation may exceed benefit.
- J. Bielecki- There are vendors specializing in micro-funding who would be able to help us so that we aren’t starting from scratch.
· D. Smith – Questions? None.
· F. Turner – Move to approve MOW and related entities budget – to be approved as presented on page 14. B. Romeo motions. M. Mehaffy seconds. All approve, none oppose.
Communications Report - R. Leidenfrost
· Working to build relationships with media.
o Ride-along with Springville Journal editor went well, they ran a full page story in paper and have agreed to put us in Around Town section on regular basis.
o Channel 4’s Jordan Williams has been volunteering with MOW for 6 months, had great ride-along with him. They are running a holiday commercial throughout the month which includes a 5 second snippet of Jordan delivering meals.
· Government affairs – All but two municipal donations are in (waiting on Lackawanna and Holland). Two of the most recent donations are increases, the rest are what we were expecting. 18 total municipal donations.
· New email system for 2016. Working with company called Get Response – very affordable. We will have the ability to customize lists; users can self-select which categories to receive – donors, volunteers, caregivers, etc. Will be careful not to overwhelm inboxes. Note – we have the opportunity to do one month pilot before paying. Need you all to sign up so that we can work out kinks before going public. Let me know if anything seems off or other feedback.
· Hunger & Hope tours – New initiative strongly encouraging new volunteers to do them. Important for them to hear the mission-oriented piece of story. Six volunteers have signed up so far. Also beginning some behind-the-scenes tours of the commissary with existing volunteers, this has been popular so we will continue this in 2016.
· Volunteer background checks – instituting for all new volunteers.
o Written policy with certain exemptions (1 day only volunteers, under 16, adopt-a-routes whose companies conduct their own background checks, etc.).
o The cost burden is around $14 per person. We will be looking for grant funding to support this, because it is considered a “best practice” across country and reduces liability risk.
o Timing - when they go for their first day and do paperwork, they’ll fill out this form. The new volunteer will go out with seasoned volunteer until check complete – around 72 hours.
· Speaking engagements – D. Smith recently spoke at Seneca Mortgage in East Aurora which resulted in a donation. Can be effective to bring in new money. Keep eyes and ears for speaking opportunities. Materials are available to support speaking engagements. If you don’t personally want to speak, R. Leidenfrost or L. Gousy will be happy to do so.
Operations Report – C. Procknal
· County Assessment last week. Camilla Greene came in very last minute. Everything went well, we were prepared, completed assessment by 12:30 Friday. Expect confirmation of audit results next September/October.
o T. Ellis – The first year we were not prepared, took entire team to gather materials. This year we’ve been keeping everything up to date, ready to go at the last minute. 3 day turnaround. She is very appreciative of our preparedness and organization.
· Meals prepared without gluten – will begin trial program with 2 clients in late January/early February. We placed our order for ¼ pallet of frozen meals prepared without gluten. They should arrive in mid-January, believe there is a desire for these in the community, potential to serve more clients.
· New Coolers – Volunteers from Sacred Heart will come in 12/29 to label coolers and assemble racks. Hoping to roll out new coolers first week of January.
· MOW was also presented with Spirit Award from Sacred Heart. Established connection between SHA and MOW, we will invite them to Hunger Hope.
· ServTracker – EDI implementation for billing MLTC’s directly. Lucian is reviewing the Emdeon contract (EDI clearing house). Targeting EDI launch for January/February timeframe. Huge productivity gain.
· Bateman customer satisfaction survey looks great. 79% overall satisfaction. 87% of congregate clients and 94% of home delivery clients would recommend to friends. Up significantly from last year (39% and 54% respectively).
Committee Reports –
· Nominating – 2 new members are being vetted.
· J. Nassivera – Plate Expectations - Continue enthusiasm for great event for 2016. Excited to partner with Riverworks. Need members for subcommittees. Sign-up sheet was passed around. All kinds of levels of volunteering.
· F. Turner – Planned & Major Gifts – New donor event in February. Also looking at criteria to get more background information on major donors. K. Campbell already has a very thorough 90 day plan. Key goal – make sure she gets to know each of you on Board.
Unfinished Business – None.
New Business – None.
Adjournment – A motion was made to adjourn by Fred Turner, seconded by Clark Trow, all in favor none opposed. Happy Holidays to all.
Next Board Meeting: February 18, 2016 – 8:00 a.m.
CONFERENCE CALL NUMBER
1-866-866-2244, code 7168817#