ROTARY DISTRICT 5400 LEADERSHIP MEETING
SHILOH INN – TWIN FALLS
August 10, 2007
The next meeting of the District Leadership Council
will be October 30, 2007 by videoconference. Each attendee is to be connected by videoconference at the Small Business Development Center sites in major cities (Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls).
In attendance:
Gene Day / District GovernorGene Hoge / District Governor Elect
Kevin Learned / District Governor Nominee
Ken Reglin / Immediate Past District Governor
Richard Sagness / Past District Governor
Richard Cook / District Treasurer
Jim Riley / Membership Chair
Theresa Gabica / Assistant Governor
Scott Hansen / Assistant Governor
Terry Gilbert / District Secretary
Substituting for Casey Clements, District Co-Trainer, was Steve Quale
Also in Attendance:
Richard Fields, PDG
Absent and Excused
Rusty Broughton / Past District GovernorJerry Timm / Past District Governor & Foundation Chair
Janet Worthington / District Co-Trainer
Casey Clements District Co-Trainer
CALL TO ORDER
DG Gene Day called the meeting to order. He asked attendees to introduce themselves.
Corporate Organizational Meeting
DG Gene Day noted that the Council was sitting as the Board of Directors of Rotary International District 5400, Inc., and that the first item of business would be the formal organizational meeting of that new corporation, pursuant to notice duly given. He then called on PDG Fields, who, at the direction of PDG Reglin and the 2006-07 Leadership Council, had been asked to incorporate the District effective on or about July1, 2007.
Articles of Incorporation: PDG Fields explained for the new members of the Council the history of the decision to incorporate and reported that the Articles of Incorporation had been duly filed with the Secretary of State. The secretary was then directed to cause a copy of the Articles of Incorporation to be inserted in the minute book of this corporation.
Adoption of Bylaws: PDG Fields then presented a proposed set of bylaws for the regulation and management of the affairs of the corporation, which had been distributed to the Council members in advance. Following a brief discussion, the bylaws were unanimously adopted and ordered to be made a part of the permanent records, to follow the Articles of Incorporation in the minute book.
Officers: Noting that the district governor as chairman, the district governor-elect as vice chairman, and the district governor-nominee had been duly elected as provided by the Constitution, bylaws, and policies of Rotary International and that they, as well as the secretary, treasurer, and other members of the Leadership Council as members of the Board of Directors, had been duly designated by the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of this corporation to serve until July1, 2008, it would be unnecessary to elect officers of the corporation at this time. It was unanimously affirmed that those officers and directors assume their duties and responsibilities as set forth in the Bylaws.
Authority to Execute: On motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously carried, it was:
RESOLVED that the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer of this corporation, or any of them, are hereby authorized to execute all deeds, contracts, leases, promissory notes, and other written instruments of every nature whatsoever for the corporation.
Bank Account: On motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously carried, it was determined that the bank account heretofore maintained by Rotary District 5400 at the Twin Falls branch of Wells Fargo Bank, NA, be continued as the depository for the funds of the corporation, with the appropriate change of name and with the officers of the corporation to be authorized to make, collect, discount, negotiate, endorse, assign, and deposit in the corporate name in the same manner as authorized for Rotary District 5400.
Adjournment: There being no further organizational business to come before the board, the organizational portion of the meeting was deemed closed, with the ordinary business of the Leadership Council to proceed in accordance with the agenda previously distributed.
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – MAY 18, 2007
It was moved by Hoge and seconded by Hansen to adopt the minutes as corrected. Motion passed. (Note: the May 18 minutes will reflect this title introducing the discussion and motion regarding “Non-Profit 501.c (3): Rotary Corporation District 5400 Charitable Programs, Inc.
FINANCIAL REPORT – RICHARD COOK
District Treasurer Richard Cook presented the financial report. The highlights of the report are as follows:
· Total equity as of August 9, ’07 was $60,310.46, an increase of $3,093.23 over the August 9, ’06 report.
· The income from the District Conference was $63,506.50, an increase $13,506.50 over the ’07 Conference anticipated income of $50,000.
· The total income from July ’06 to June ’07 was $164,871.77, an increase of $7,221.77 over the budget of $157,650.00.
· The total expenses from June ’06 to June ‘07 was $150,452, $796.95 less than the budgeted amount of $151,250.00.
· The final net income to the district was $14,418.72, an increase of $8,018.72 above the budgeted net income of $6,400.
Cook stated that in order to ensure Rotary International Financial assistance, vouchers are to be submitted to his office at least quarterly.
Gene Day praised Sunrise Rotary for hosting a successful conference which resulted in $13,506.50 above the budgeted amount of $50,000.
It was moved Sagness and seconded by Reglin to approve the financial report. Motion passed.
CLUB HEALTH REPORT BY TERRY GILBERT
Terry Gilbert presented the club attendance report and information gleaned from Memo of Club visits submitted by the Assistant Governor’s for the ’06-07 year. The Council reviewed the data, including the summation presented below.
SUMMATION
TRACKING THE HEALTH OF THE DISTRICT 5400 ROTARY CLUBS – ’06-07
Overall Rating / Membership GrowthDid club achieve net growth in membership / Membership
Did the club achieve its membership goals this year?
Excellent / 15
Good / 16
Adequate / 4
Poor / 2
Not marked/no report / 2
39
/ No / 23
Yes / 15
Not marked/No report / 1
39
/ No / 23
Yes / 15
Not marked/No report / 1
39
Service Projects
Did the club achieve its service goals for the year? / Foundation
Did the club achieve its goals for the Rotary Foundation contributions? / Future Leaders
Did the club president-elect attend PETS?
No / 1
Yes / 38
Not marked/No report / 0
39
/ No / 25
Yes / 14
39
/ No / 2
Yes / 37
Not marked/No report / 0
39
The following suggestions were offered:
· Assistant Governors should submit the Memo of Club visits no later than the date PETS is held.
· AGs should be encouraged to submit suggestions for ways in which clubs can improve, even if they mark “Excellent” for a club.
· The District should track the number of presidents-elect who attend PETS.
· The District can gain a better view of club health by reviewing trends of clubs over time (e.g. 3 years of data).
THE FOUNDATION PROGRAM, INCLUDING MATCHING FUNDS
Annual Program Fund
Ken Reglin reported on behalf of Jerry Timm. He stated that the Annual Programs Fund goal for ’06-07 was $178,000 or approximately $85.00 per capita. The actual amount received was $158,091.62 or $75.90 p/capita. The average amount for our Zone was $109.00 per capita.
The Council discussed ways of encouraging club members to participate more fully in giving to Rotary International. It was suggested that by getting GSE teams and Ambassadorial Scholars into the clubs, perhaps members will gain a personal understanding of the importance of giving and a commitment to greater contributions.
We discussed the following ideas;
· We must challenge the district leaders to participate more fully through such programs as Benefactor, Bequest and Paul Harris Society. Kevin Learned stated that we must start with the leadership of the organization.
· The DLC will ask AGs to discuss “Every Rotarian Every Year” with the presidents and other club leaders.
· The District Governor must encourage members to give by informing the clubs in his visits that his family has decided to become Paul Harris Society members and give $1,000 each year to Rotary International.
· We must remember that if we don’t ask, we will not get.
Matching Funds
Richard Cook reported that we still have a total of $25,000 in matching funds The Council brainstormed ways to encourage use, as follows:
· Create and present a program to clubs regarding matching funds.
· Place matching fund news in the district governor’s newsletter.
· Ask the Foundation chair to send out a letter informing the clubs.
Timely Remittance of RI Monies
The Council expressed concerns about club treasurers understanding the importance of remitting RI monies in a timely manner. The Council desires that the AGs remind the treasurers to remit this money.
Foundation Giving Objectives for 2007-08
Our objective is to encourage each Rotarian to participate in “Every Rotarian Every Year,” by giving $100 to Rotary International. Upon achievement of that objective, our District would raise $205,800.
YOUTH PROTECTION POLICIES & PROGRESS ON CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS
The District is entering an implementation phase. Past District Governor Rusty Broughton has prepared a draft of by-law changes which will be submitted to clubs for adoption. Further Rusty is creating an informational guide for club leaders to use in case of an emergency. The guide will instruct leaders about whom to call and what to do and not do.
Gene Day said that he has not heard from Rotary International that District 5400 documents submitted to RI have been approved. Therefore, Gene will inform RI that we are operating under the assumption that we are in compliance and that if RI wants additional language or modification, they are respectfully requested to inform our district.
THE DISTRICT LEADERSHIP PLAN
District Governor-Elect, Gene Hoge stated that the objective of our work on the District Leadership Plan is to adopt clear policies. He recognizes that this is a work in progress and may undergo several changes as it evolves.
The plan will be e-mailed to the Terry Gilbert, district secretary, who will submit it to the Council as a Word document.
The plan will be submitted to the clubs for approval.
PLAN TO ENHANCE MEMBERSHIP: RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, EXTENSION
Gene Hoge, Jim Riley and Dick Sagness attended a recent RI meeting regarding membership. RI President Wilfred Wilkinson is emphasizing the need to grow our membership. Even though districts in North America gained 104,000 new members, we lost a total of 120,000 former members, for a net loss of 16,000 members.
Membership must be a priority for every leader and member. Clubs must become especially assertive not only about recruiting new members but also retaining members and creating new clubs.
Jim Riley submitted a plan to make membership a priority. The essence of the plan is listed here:
· He wishes to create a District 5400 Membership District Committee of 9 members who will meet on a quarterly basis. Kevin pointed out that Jim Hogge of Boise Sunrise, serves as head of the BSU Small Business Development Center, which has teleconference capabilities. We may be able to schedule meetings there without charge, thus cutting down on meeting expenses.
· Request assistance from the AGs to identify potential members.
· Those 9 will provide information and training to club membership committee chairs regarding goals.
· Emphasize retention as well as induction of new members.
· Conduct exit interviews of members who are dropping.
· Encourage clubs to budget for the membership campaign.
· Establish an internal and external PR campaign.
· Recognize top achievers.
· Direct efforts to young people.
· He requested a $3,000 budget for membership promotion with most of this going for travel expenses.
· Clubs will be requested to develop a budget for promotion of Rotary.
It was moved by Reglin and seconded Hoge to provide $3,000 for membership promotion by reducing the net income to the District by $3,000. The motion was approved.
DISTRICT 5400 FOUNDATION SEMINARS
The Council discussed the importance of encouraging strong attendance at Foundation Seminars (9/14/07 in Boise and 9/15/07 in Pocatello) in order to educate attendees about the issues facing our district (e.g. participation in RI, submission of timely remittances, necessity to build membership, direction of the District). Charles Tutor PDG, our Zone Membership Coordinator, has been invited to attend both days
The District will advertise the seminar and ask AGs to encourage attendance from each club, preferably 3 people, the president (for the entire day) a Foundation chair, and a membership chair.
District Governor Nominee Kevin Learned presented information about Club Runner.
· It’s basically a simple system that meets our needs, although it is not perfect.
· It’s advantages include the ease of placing items on pages, our ability to assign each committee its own page, the efficacy of including the district newsletter on the site, our ability to grant access to different levels of leadership, the ability to import every e-mail address from RI database into the system so the District can send e-mails and/or e-mail links to our members.
· Three clubs in our district are using Club Runner successfully now (e.g. Caldwell, Ketchum-Sun Valley, Boise Southwest)
· Club Runner also has an advertising component which if not used will require an additional $350 from the district.
·If the District can encourage eight clubs to use this program, Club Runner will waive one-half of the initiation fees.
· That if we adopt this system, someone will have to check data and that Marian Gentry of Boise Club could be asked to do this important clerical work with remuneration to her.
· Kevin stated he would serve as the initial webmaster.
· Kevin recommended adoption and funding of Club Runner at $2,000 for next 12 months plus up to $1000 for clerical help with the installation with a monthly charge thereafter of $129.
It was moved by Reglin and seconded by Sagness to adopt Kevin’s recommendations to adopt Club Runner and to provide a budget of $3,000 which includes the set-up fee. Motion passed.
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
The 2008 RI Convention is scheduled for June 15-18 in Los Angeles. Its theme is “Lights, Camera, Action - See the Stars!”