Lewis and
(**NOTE: This was a shortened meeting due to the marketing plan
presentation under New Business
below)
CALL TO ORDER:
President Lisa Peterson called the monthly meeting of the Lewis and
Clark Humane Society Board to order at 6:03 p.m. at the shelter. Present were board members Lisa Peterson,
Jane Benson, Debbie Irby, Jean Ketchel, Gail Beattie, Laura McArdle, Ruth Anne
Hansen, Jolyn Eggart, Ed Stipich, Lisa Mecklenberg Jackson, Esther
Suhr-Stewart, and Kaye Davis. Shelter
Manager Gina Wiest was also present. No
board members were absent. Guests Carrie
Stewart and Karla Ritten were present.
TREASURER'S REPORT:
Lisa P. suggested Jean Ketchel as the LCHS Treasurer. Motion by Ed; second by Jane. Motion passed. Jean stated that the shelter has received
$20,563.70 since November 9, 2004 (donations - $13,331.33; state employee's
through MT Shares for 2005 - $16,000;
SECRETARY'S REPORT:
Secretary Jolyn Eggart asked the board to approve the November 2004
minutes. Motion by Lisa MJ, second by
Kaye. Motion passed.
SHELTER MANAGER'S REPORT:
Gina provided statistics for calendar year 2004 and fiscal year
2004. The cat room is closed until Dec.
28, 2004, because of upper respiratory infection, distemper, FIP, and
ringworm. Gina said they will make sure
that staff, volunteers, and the public wash their hands before handling the
cats to prevent any transporting of the diseases. State fund (workers' compensation) will be
doing an audit, to make sure we are not being overcharged. As for the
PRESIDENT'S REPORT:
Lisa P. was sending out another sign-up sheet for committees. The Board was reminded that every board
member had to be on at least one committee, and that the committees should
begin meeting in January. Lisa MJ agreed
to send out the updated committee list to the board members. The board also encouraged letting volunteers
and members know they are welcome to be on committees. Gina said she would put a notice up on the
volunteer board. The board discussed
looking into a long-range plan, and what we wanted to do about the building
5-10 years down the road, due to the necessary repair work that has to be done,
as well as the construction going on in that area.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
1. Shelter: Kaye was chosen as the committee chair. Nothing to report.
2. Building/Grounds: Ed was chosen as the committee chair. Ed reported that Glenn Bohls, manager of
Power Chevrolet of Helena agreed to help do newspaper ads to aid in our kennel
repair. Ed was going to begin getting
quotes and bids on these repairs.
3. Fundraising: Lisa MJ retained her position as the
committee chair. Lisa MJ handed out a
status report on the current fundraising happenings. She said that Santa Paws was a great
success. Gina stated that Wal-Mart
donated $500 to LCHS from its employees.
Gail asked about thank yous after fundraisings, donations, as she felt
they were extremely important and would be willing to work on them. Gina said Robin was doing that as part of her
job. Lisa P. was sending thank yous to
large donors. Lisa MJ said we could get
a list of the MT Shares donors from 2005.
Jane was doing SNIP thank yous for the volunteers, and Lisa P. said an
ad was going in the paper on Tuesday thanking the community. The board agreed that updating the database
of donors (past/present) was a necessity.
Lisa MJ said she would approach Robyn about this. Thank yous were done for Santa Paws. Lisa P. will send thank yous to the pizza
places. About 8-10 businesses in town
still have donation jars for LCHS. They
are collected quarterly.
4. Education/Outreach: Lisa P. retained her position as the
committee chair. Nothing to report.
5. Governance: Jane was chosen as the committee chair. Nothing to report.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Website: Lisa P. met with a local PR firm (Lyon Group)
about fixing our website. It would cost
about $80. The board agreed to have the
Education/Outreach Committee look into this and report back with other quotes
by the next meeting. Debbie mentioned
that the business class at Helena High gets extra credit for doing community
projects, and that they should be approached about doing our website.
2. Disaster Plan: Currently there is no plan in place. Gina met with the Red Cross emergency
responder folks, who said they would notify us of a disaster, including animal
rescue folks. Kenneling at the Shelter
is tough, however, Christine and Gina are on-call, as well as foster care. They are working to have a plan in place by
June 2005. Red Cross is also sponsoring
a first aid for pets clinic in January, and people are asked to call if they
are interested in attending.
3. Legislative
Issues: Several animal-related bills
are being proposed during this upcoming 2005 session. Lisa P. will keep us updated on their
progress. The link to the bills is: www.leg.state.mt.us/2005
session/laws. Jane mentioned that
Rep. Gallik was writing the legislators to get state money set aside to hire a
SNIP operations director.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. KTVH Marketing
Plan Presentation: Carrie Stewart,
KTVH Marketing Specialist, presented a marketing plan proposal to the board,
with the objectives being fundraising, and reminding the community we are here. KTVH takes care of the production side;
non-profits are not charged as much as for-profit groups. LCHS would provide ideas for ads on what we
want portrayed. They like us to get
sponsors, which is usually a one-year requirement, and costs about $500/month
(she suggested vets, lawyers, etc.).
KTVH currently does "Fur Adoption" on Fridays, 6pm, and plans
on doing another "pet package" in conjunction with this program
(PAL). Lisa P. proposed that the
Education/Outreach Comm. could work on this.
KTVH is also looking for sponsors for the PAL program. She said to let Gina know of any potential
sponsors, and Carrie will sell the sponsorship to the sponsors. The board agreed to e-mail Gina with
suggested sponsors and ideas for ads by Dec. 29, 2004. Lisa P. will e-mail Carrie tomorrow to
clarify that the sponsors we provide would be for our ads, not the PAL
program. Lisa P. will let us know, and
then the board will make the decision whether Gina should provide the sponsor
names to KTVH.
2. Business Plan: Debra Hayden did not present a proposed
business plan to the board. Lisa P. will
contact her to see if she is willing to do the presentation, and will update
the agenda prior to the next meeting if we are having this presentation. Jean will contact Amy Palmer. The board agreed that logically, a business
plan has to come before a marketing plan.
3.
4. Meeting Time
Changes: No changes were made to the
time or day for having meetings. Debbie
discussed maybe moving to a larger place, such as
5. Donation
Envelopes: Lisa MJ said LCHS needs new
donation envelopes based on our change in the yearly dues. The board has to decide what size a business
is for the $100/$500 donation designation.
The envelopes also have to have the logo and MT Shares on it, as well as
credit card donation information. Esther
moved, Debbie second, to print envelopes with individual/family membership
available, and to say that business memberships are also available. Motion passed. Gina usually orders envelopes in bulk, and
the board decided that the Fundraising Committee would meet to determine the
levels and what they should get as a result of their donation.
6. Liason Roles: Ed stated that the East Helena City Council
would like to send a representative to the board meetings. The board also discussed liaisons and their
roles with the board. Lisa P. is meeting
with the
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Jolyn, second by
Esther, to adjourn the board meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m.
The next LCHS Board meeting will be at the shelter on Wednesday, Jan.
19, 2005 at 6 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jolyn E. Eggart
LCHS Secretary