Attendees: Dennis Clower, Mark Crawford, Mario Gangemi, Holly Hannum, Doug Hill, Joe Janusz, Larry Klevans, Dan Schneckenburger, Hinda Smith, Dan Speakman, Rick Waterhouse

FYI - Joe Janusz’s new e-mail address is: jjats146@comcast.net

Dan Schneckenburger called the meeting to order at 6:39 P.M.

The minutes from the January Board Retreat were approved.

Spring Fest: Barb Snyder (reported by Dan Sc., since Barb is in California)
Dan reported about the meetings we have held. Dan has mailed out sponsorship letters to past and possible new sponsors. They are aiming at $15,000 in contributions. If anyone knows of other possible sponsors, please let Dan know. We will have a sponsor reception, with wine and cheese and the crafters present, on Friday night, April 30.

Hinda Smith will seek a donation of a prize for the Trails to Treasures. Hinda will send out tickets for board members to sell for this event.

President’s Report: Dan Schneckenburger
Nancy Simpers has sent a letter of resignation, which is effective tonight.

Dan would like names of any potential new board members that people may have.

Dan would like people’s comments on the items discussed at the Board Retreat. The main topic was reserving $25,000 to use to pursue a Director. We will go ahead with finding someone to fill this position in the fall. Dan, Hinda, and Mark will be meeting in the next few weeks to write a position description. This will then be put out on e-mail to the board to review. After this, it can be shown to Theresa Clower for any possible candidates she can give us.

Dan gave out new committee assignments:
Program:
Barb Snyder, Chair Rick Waterhouse Jo Anne Dawson Staff, as needed
Finance:
Larry Klevans, Chair Mark Crawford Dan Schneckenburger
Community Relations:
Doug Hill, Chair Dan Speakman Mario Gangemi
Personnel:
Hinda Smith, Chair Mark Crawford Mario Gangemi Dan Schneckenburger
Membership:
Joe Janusz, Chair Dennis Clower Pat Holeran

Finance Committee: Larry Klevans
Financial Report as of January 31, 2004
1 In January 2004 expenses ($5053) exceeded income ($1487) by $3564.
2. The majority of income items were a $875 United Way of MD, , $170 from Membership, and $36 from igive.com.
3. Major expenses for January 2004 were $3423 for wages, $464 for office expense, $391 for Workers Comp. insurance, $309 for payroll taxes, $240 teacher workshops, and $225 for accounting, .
4. As of January 31, 2004 our Year to date Income (YTD) totals $ 1487 vs a budget of $8541, while YTD expenses total $5053 vs a budget of $8542. Thus, our YTD net income is - $3564.
5. The Fund Balance as of Jan 31, 2004 was $12, 554, down $3576 from the end of 2003.
6. We are preparing a request for our regular $5000 appropriation from Cecil County Government.
Larry Klevans, Treasurer

Discussion:
Our United Way of DE contribution will be about $3,000 as opposed to the $5,000 budgeted.

Program Committee: Barb Snyder

Coming programs:

Personnel Committee: Hinda Smith
Hinda is collecting job descriptions for a director’s position from various non-profits. If anyone has access to one, please send it to her.

Nature School Report: Holly Hannum
Outreach programs are going well. We have had several cancellations due to weather. Our new date to complete outreach is March 4. Teacher evaluations have been very positive. Most of the feedback from this program goes directly to the Arts Council and to the United Way.

Teachers attended the MAEOE Conference in Ocean City on January 31. I attended sessions on writing a logic evaluation model, which is a requirement for the IMLS grant. I also attended sessions with environmental children’s author Lynne Cherry, one on ospreys, and one on raptors. Holly got autographed copies of several of her books to use at the Nature Center. Holly is interested in doing Saturday morning programs based on her books.

Outdoor classes will resume on March 18. Cecil County Public Schools have agreed to copy our spring handouts for this year only and have suggested that we make other arrangements for next year. I will get these to Karen Emery during the first week of March.

Summer Camp schedules are under development. We are planning to try a six-week schedule again this year. The camps will begin on June 21 and run through July. We will have the brochure printed at Copy Maven in Newark.

Suggested prices for this year’s summer camp based on price comparisons from the News Journal camp guide are as follows:

Chesapeake Bay Camp $120 M $150 NM
Fair Hill Friends $30 M $45 NM
Wilderness Adventure $85 M $105 NM
All other camps $60 M $80 NM

This increases the member/non-member differential to a minimum of $15 for the three-day camp and as much as $30 for the five day all day camp.

Also coming up in March will be the spring trail day on March 20 from 9 to 12 and the leadership conference on March 31. March 31 is a testing day for Cecil County students so there will be no classes on that day.

Holly will be doing training for teachers on April 14.

I set up the taps on the maple trees on February 4 but it has not been warm enough to run much yet. I hope that the weather will warm enough to collect sap before our March 6 program.

Community Relations: Doug Hill
Doug inadvertently left the road clean-up date, in April, out of the Buzz. He is planning to devote the last page of the Buzz to the Spring Fest ad, from now until the date of the event.

Doug will send out information about the wine and cheese reception, 5:00 to 8:00 at the Ed Walls Building. He would like board members to come, to greet and thank contributors, that night.

Doug will be checking with Pat to get a list of recipients of the Buzz. He would like the board to look this over. Doug will send this out to people before the March meeting.

Membership: Joe Janusz
I. Bookkeeping

A. Are we charging enough money for membership?

B. How is membership being tracked?

1. How can we improve to be more efficient?

2. Is there a better system than is currently being used?

C. Are we billing renewals annually or monthly?

D. What follow-up procedures are in place for members who choose not to renew?

1. Mailing

2. Phone calls

II. Current Membership

A. Referral Cards

1. Monetary incentive to provide referrals. (i.e. $10 discount on the following year's membership for each referral that
becomes a member.

III. Volunteers

A. Prepare mailings

1. Membership renewals

2. Member prospect mailings

B. Phone Calls

1. Past/current members to renew

2. Prospects from blue book to sell memberships

C. Flyering

1. Neighborhoods

2. Shopping malls

3. Sporting events

IV. Credit Card Payments

A. Sign up with a merchant vendor so that we can accept credit card payments

V. Calendar

A. Sell advertisements in calendar

B. Sell calendars

VI. Membership Prospecting

A. PTO's

B. Send membership information home with students who visit the nature center.

C. Mailings to target areas where homeowner's children attend school and/or nature center.

D. Telephone calling to areas where homeowner's children attend school and or nature center.

New Business:
Holly’s mother’s memorial tree was discussed. We have collected $180 for this so far. The board will cover the rest of the cost of the tree, plaque, and labor. The planting will be on Earth Day.

Next Meeting: March 9, 6:30 P.M., at the Nature Center.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 P.M.

Respectfully submitted by Rick Waterhouse

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