NCF Development Committee Meeting - April 23, 1996 Present: Natalie Bartlett, Rebecca Last, Michael Mason, Nancy Nadon, Andre Ouellette, Gordon Pearson, James Sharf, Donna Shaw, Indigo T. Sky, Michael Zahab Guest: Kim Brisebois (Good Companions) Kim Brisebois of Good Companions presented the details of the Walk of Ages. The Committee members unanimously agreed that NCF should be involved in this event. Andre suggested that the technical people set up a program for this event similar to the RSVP program. Kim Brisebois left pledge forms and brochures with Committee members. Kim will also provide a paragraph encapsulating the event and give this info to Gordon. Nancy will be the point person for the walkathon. 1. a) Introductions. 1. b) Approval of Minutes of last meeting. The minutes were approved. Some discussion centered around the location of the minutes on NCF. All the minutes from 1995 onward are archived in the Development Committee area (go development). The same is true of the Director of Development's reports. 2. Projects a) Pool tournament to benefit NCF. Donna explained that posters for this event were put up that day. The prizes have all been confirmed but need to be delivered. Twenty people have pre-registered. The on-site details have all been taken care of but Donna will collect money at the door. Gordon suggested that he and Donna send thank-you letters to donors. b) Great FreeNet Online Auction (Report by Mike Mason & Gordon Pearson) Gordon explained that the next Online Auction needs to have more bidders and attract non-members to NCF. The Auction also needs to raise more money and the items should have a higher dollar value. The strategies to attract more bidders include: i) giving one door prize a week to members who have placed a bid; these prizes will increase in value as the auction progresses; ii) more publicity offline; the Public Relations Task Force needs to find news angles of the auction itself and about individual items; iii) more publicity online (other than NCF) with: - Internet service providers (usually those who donate to the auction); - Web sites of donors with clickable NCF icons for an FAQ abot the auction, a highlighted list of items, and highlights of pictures/binaries of a few items; - Natalie suggested advertising NCF's auction with other Freenets; iv) more publicity online NCF; one or two Committee members would post relevant auction information to a relevant SIG; Rebecca suggested that the IPs should solicit items and get a split on the profit. This would build the online community. Discussion revolved around removing the time limits during auction time or stopping the clock when users enter the auction area. Gordon will field this idea to Lisa Donnelly and Ian Allen. The Committee decided the next auction should be held Oct. 26 to Nov. 16 because of the proximity to Christmas. The final decision will be made by Mike Mason and Gordon Pearson. 2. c) Community Fundraising Events Calendar. Gordon said it was in test mode. He then explained that the calendar would list fundraising activities from charitable and non-profit organizations. The information on the calendar will be submitted by these organizations. He has secured a $3,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton in support of the calendar project. 3. Fundraising Ideas Group Nancy is the new chair of FIG. The Sports Team initiative is waiting for a SIG discussion area. Miranda Gray is prepared to create the area, pending approval by Lisa Donnelly. Gordon has already forwarded his recommendation to Lisa that NCF go ahead with it. 4. Online Donor Drive. The Donor Drive will run for another six weeks and is going well. 4. a) Monthly Raffle. Includes items like the Survival Guide and a cake recipe. Gordon called for ideas for prizes -- suggestions may be e-mailed to au167. b) Contingency plan for meeting target - raffles, a series of login screen messages, and if necessary a second emailing to all members who logon to NCF. c) Discussion on comments from a member. The member's concern about donor categories was discussed along with Gordon's proposed solution about a no-name, generic donation category. Andre read another letter supporting the first complaint. The Committee agreed to create a general donation category for the next online funding drive. 5. Corporate Sponsorship. Skipped over this item owing to lack of time. 6. Other Business. a) Automatic Withdrawal Donations. Donna wrote to another non-profit organization asking about banking fees and if this initiative is worthwhile but is still waiting for a reply. Donna did a small online survey and discovered that 120f the members surveyed would agree to automatic withdrawal and would donate, on average, $6.67 per month. Gordon suggested doing a random survey of NCF donors. 6. b) Public Relations Task Force. The PRTF has an information area under the Development menu (go development). Andre Ouellette has agreed to be Co-ordinator of the Task Force. 6. c) Michael Zahab's Proposal. Michael explained that he would have a Web page where people could purchase merchandise ie. mousepads, key chains, stickers, t-shirts, etc. with the NCF logo. The space on the Web page would be shared with other non-profit organizations and Michael's own business. Michael would produce the items on demand. He would keep the costs of producing the items but would give all profits to NCF. Gordon liked the proposal because there was no investment, no maintenance of inventory. The Committee needed to approve all designs. Gordon also wanted an agreement re pricing. Rebecca expressed some concerns with the proposed method of payment, the use of the Freenet name. The accounting would need to be squeaky clean and NCF would have to give Michael a monthly charge. Gordon volunteered Indigo to do more research and tidy up this issue for the Committee. 7. The meeting was adjourned at 9:42pm. Andre L. Ouellette e-mail:andre_o@freenet.carleton.ca Vice-Chair, Development Committee Coordinator, Public Relations Task Force National Capital FreeNet URL:http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~xx766/