National Council of the United States
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc.
Board of Directors
Midyear Meeting
April 9, 2015
Official Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting
St. Louis, MO April 9, 2015
National President Sheila Gilbert opened the Board of Directors meeting with a prayer at 9:00 am CDT. Board members present included Ben Vaissade, Margarita Galindo, Althea Graham, Mike Nizankiewicz, Dave Barringer, Barbara Slaven, Bill Migley, Ron Guz, Brian O'Donnell, Dick Reimbold, Dominic Visco, Jeanne Harper, Patricia Sickinger, Linda Strasburg, Bill Henckler, Marge McGinley, Mike Pazzaglini, Ralph Hassel, Ray Sickinger, Tom Fahl and Richard Morin.
ITEM: The minutes from the January 17, 2015 Board Meeting were pulled from the Consent Agenda:
· Correction of two governance items. The detailed minutes will be revised to include only brief statements regarding Councils where ongoing developments are taking place and Stores that are not affiliated with the Society using our name.
· Deletion of motions that do not get a second.
Minutes as corrected were moved, seconded and approved.
Consent Agenda including Goal and Region Reports, was moved, seconded and approved.
ITEM: President’s Report Sheila Gilbert
· Our primary responsibility is to the future of the Society, as a Board we have an important responsibility to focus on tomorrow. We have a challenge and are approaching a crisis regarding Extension. Last year, we only added 11 Conferences net gain. The survey indicated that close to 1/3 need revitalization. We may only have 3000 active viable Conferences. We need to be sure that extension is our priority.
· Youth and Minority membership growth has stagnated. We have a disconnect - we say it is important, but youth membership doesn’t happen. Hispanic population is growing at a spectacular rate, yet the increase in minority membership has not kept pace. This meeting includes a Retreat on Diversity. We have a new chair for Young Adults, Brian Kirchoff, who understands the dynamics and problems.
· The Society’s structure was developed in the 60s, 70s, 80s. Poverty was not as bad. The way we structured the society was based on nonprofits and the church. Other nonprofits have moved on, we have not. We need to look at the structure and determine what changes need to be made. It is our responsibility to consider very seriously the structure we have.
· Change the Culture, Change the Game. Culture isn’t what you say, Culture is what you do. Culture comes out of experience. The culture we have now is built on the beliefs based on our experiences. We are committed to systemic change and ending poverty. How do we talk about ending poverty, extending the Society, changing our culture? That is the responsibility of the board. We know that we are looking at four key results. We need to see how all of that fits together. We can demonstrate the belief in One Society. How can we work with the President in order to move things forward? We don’t want to lose sight of the progress we have made. We have to be thinking forward. Where we are today was a vision back then. We are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us and we will be the shoulders of the people who come after us.
· Appointments to the Audit Committee included Anthony Caruso, and Andrew Wilson, CPA forensic auditor.
· The officers reviewed CEO Dave Barringer. He is doing a superior job, opening up new ideas, new pathways; we are pleased with his progress.
ITEM: National Vice President Ben Vaissade
The Board went into Executive Session for this portion of the meeting.
ITEM Vice President for Hispanic Involvement Margarita Galindo
· We understand the need for diversity. The Hispanic task force is there for them. We need a strong commitment to diversity in the Society. Family is of utmost importance in the Hispanic community. We need to include the family in our Conferences. We ask that you write a letter to your Bishop asking him to bring a cluster of priests for a presentation on the Hispanic SVdP. Members need the formation in their own language, explained in their own words. They feel more welcome. It is important that we become proactive in learning their culture. Good communication is important. The Task Force is there to help. Some Conferences are totally Spanish; some are bilingual.
ITEM: CEO Report Dave Barringer
· During his visit to Haiti, Dave got an Inside view of the VinFam Haiti Initiative. Gene Smith represents the Society in that group. He was not able to visit all four schools, but the two visited are doing amazing work. With our financial help they are educating 100s of children. The Tilapia farm is almost ready to put the fish in. We have lowered the scholarship amount to $200.
· Slides with a list of FOP Grants, Walk/Run, and NVDP revenue amounting to $3.8 million in support for the Councils and Conferences across the country will be running throughout the meeting. What you pay in solidarity is multiplied in the support that is returned to the Conferences.
· Mike Syslo’s retirement will be recognized tomorrow. We have hired a Poverty Programs Manager and a new person in Membership Services area will be added in May and we are preparing to bring on two new positions in October, one for RVP, Extension and Youth/Young Adult support, and another admin position.
· One of our former national staff, Paulina Satt, National Twinning Coordinator recently passed away.
· Our commitment from last year to CGI is fully satisfied. We have been raising money through the CIAD campaign; through February $32,000+ has been sent to International. CGI is adding another country, Malaysia, to the Concordat. We have a way to go in terms of revenues vs expenses for Disaster. We have a pilot program for the Disaster Services Division. We are not where we want to be.
· The Board requested that they receive whatever Dave submits for his annual review to the Executive Committee, along with a formal report to the board of the outcome of the review.
ITEM: Treasurer’s Report Mike Nizankiewicz/Richard Morin
· Update on the key activities with Finance Committee. Two issues: Size and volume of monthly statements is just too long. On one side this is an awful lot of information, but on the other side this is a great example of transparency. We decided to keep it the same.
· Reserve target at 50% - we acknowledge that this was established as a guideline, not a policy. It is more and more difficult to maintain a 50% reserve. There are two reasons to maintain a reserve, unplanned initiatives and unexpected disasters . A small task force of Richard, Dave, Mike and Laura will work on a position statement to name a suggested range for the reserve.
· Looking at the 2015-2015 Budget thus far, Solidarity is at 39% of the budget, running a little bit behind. Development is doing really well; Bequests are already at 98%. Donations are at 52%. Staff salaries are exactly as expected. Strategic Plan is running very low. The 2014-2015 budget does not require any changes.
· Tomorrow, Vladimir Masek of Buckingham Asset Management, the firm that handles our investments, will present an analysis of where we stand; how we have grown. Since May of 2010 we have a net gain of 5% per year.
· A Conference call with Mike, Richard and the RVPs was scheduled after the budget packet was sent out to answer questions in advance of Midyear.
· A question was raised concerning the interest on the escrow account of restricted funds established for certain Councils, no interest is being credited back to the account. This is determined at the creation of the fund. Before the June meeting, a Conference call will be scheduled to discuss the policy.
The February Financial Statements were moved, seconded and accepted.
ITEM: Diversity Committee Update Ray Sickinger
· We talk about Systemic Change, Advocacy and Diversity in Goal 4. If we cannot change ourselves systemically as a Society, we cannot change systemically outside the Society.
· The website, is much more visible, has more resources including material developed in the workshops. Materials are based on the Diversity handbook.
· We have begun to work with USCCB and Sr. Pat Bombard. The cultural competencies for parishes has a lot of information that is relevant to the Society. Family is important in the Hispanic community and we need to understand what “family” means?
· Fr. Clarence Williams will speak on Diversity and Systemic Change at the National Assembly.
ITEM: Database Redesign Mike Pazzaglini
· $200,000 was budgeted for the design and implementation of a new Membership database that will include modules for Annual Reporting, Twinning, 501 C 3, FOP Walk, and NVDP
· Four vendors responded to the RFP, only two completed the process. Goal 2 reviewed the responses and selected a vendor. We haven’t concluded the RFP process yet. but hope to have the decision by June. It will take anywhere from a year to a year and a half to get the database in operation.
· Annual Report, we are working on simplifying the reporting process. We are calling together a group to understand what key metrics are needed.
· The new pocket Rule was produced at light speed. It is easy to carry, easy to hand out for Extension work.
ITEM: Richard Morin distributed Matthew Kelly’s book “Rediscover Catholicism” We talk about culture change, it requires a change from within. The book challenges you to do a better job.
ITEM: Development Report Bill Henckler
· Leadership Appeal, 60% of the Board have made their Leadership donation for the year. We will remind Leadership through the E-Gazette to send in their contribution.
· NVDP has been doing great work raising money, since it began we have received over 7,000 cars, over $4 million raised.
· 38 grants were requested for the FOP grants; 16 were selected. $77,000 has been distributed year to date.
· Councils have been requesting materials from National for their own development programs.
· The FOP Walk has a new enhanced website and a new t-shirt design. The campaign begins in April. In 2014 we raised over $2.6 million. $3 million has been forecasted for this year. Since the first Walk, $11.5 Million has been raised.
· The Development Seminar will be in Phoenix in July 2015.
· Creating Partnerships process begins when the names go to Development Committee for review and comment. Bishop Quinn, Fr. Louis Arceneaux, Sr. Mary Walls then look at the partnerships for conflicts.
· We are working on a funding proposal for the Dispensary of Hope Charitable pharmacies to help the Society raise the startup funds, acquire facilities and operate the pharmacies for the first three years to demonstrate that they can keep it going.
· The Bishops’ CCHD $500,000 renewal grant is operational in five Councils, helping people who are coming out of incarceration.
· The Direct Mail campaign was begun with a 50,000 mailing in December; 43 Councils have opted in to this program. $26,000 netted so far. The Lenten appeal went out to 100,000; every month will go out to 250,000. In 2015/16, we will be sending half a million each month. Percent of return was good, higher than expected. The RVPs would like a list of the Councils that opted in.
· Nationally we are registered as a charity with every state.
ITEM: Presidential Election Sheila Gilbert/Ben Vaissade
· Ben Vaissade will be leading the 2016/2017 Presidential Election process. The National President will appoint the Nominating Committee members and announces the same to the National Council’s membership.
· The Committee will be responsible for drafting the election procedures for presentation and approval to the Board of Directors and the National Council Members; monitoring the election process to ensure that the approved procedures are adhered to. Conduct the balloting during the Reduction of Candidates process during the Midyear Meeting should there be more than two candidates. The National Election committee will also draft the procedures for the Regional Vice President’s election process. The committee will be responsible to affirm the eligibility and qualifications of each national and regional candidate that has been submitted as a nominee.
· The Election Committee will serve as host at a Meet theCandidates reception scheduled during an appropriately Scheduled midyear Meeting. The members of the Election Committee and the National President will cast their Tie Breaking Votes and place them in sealed envelopes at the Midyear Meeting.
· The Nominating Committee Chair and one member of the Committee along with the current National President and the National CEO are responsible for being available to open and count the ballots at the appropriate time and date at the National Office in St. Louis, Missouri. An independent observer with no relation to the Society will be present at the counting of the ballots and shall sign a notarized statement indicating the winner of the election. The Committee is guided by the Committee Chair appointed by the National President and is assisted and supported in carrying out its role by the National CEO.
· Councils who have not been instituted will not be eligible to cast a vote for the National President. It is important that we affirm the councils that have been instituted far ahead of the election process.