Nov Board Status Report.

Many thanks to those that came out to supported Volunteer Ottawa and the NCF 
at this years Mayor's Walk. It was a beautiful day for a walk and helped keep 
the NCF visible to the City.  We raised a total of $284.50 for the NCF.

Finances:
             Donations       Budget       Expenses       Budget
Aug          $12,278         $10,649      $21,377        $19,425
Sept         $10,821         $13,465      $22,103        $24,100
Oct          $12,762         $18,433      $23,104        $24,100
Nov          $13,670         $16,765                     $24,100

Donations for September and October were was $12,762 and $13,670 for a total of $26,432 
as compared to a budget of $30,721 for the same period.  

Our current cash balance sits at $32K, approximately on target for this point 
in our year.  Although this is lower than I would like it should stabilise near this
level due if the expected renewals come through as expected.

Membership:

Membership is starting to grow again, up by about 150 over the past month.  

Funding Improvements:

We are close to finishing the technical and procedural side of last meetings
funding changes.  My impression is that it has been well received from members 
in that it is slightly clearer what is needed and appropriate for members to 
donate.  There have been very few complaints to this point in time.  

Apart from the donation guidance page, we have also upgraded the office tools to 
ensure that we follow up with members that promise to donate but do not get around
to mailing the cheque.

A big hand to Jim for his efforts in making our office tools so effective.  Glenn
has also made a substantial improvement to the help desk by replacing our discussion 
group with a real trouble ticket system.  As a result we have now reached a level of
service to which every call is returned (with at least a message left).  Volunteers 
can be assigned a call and track it through to resolution even if that is at a later
date.

Service Improvements:
We have also begun implementing both service improvements as discussed 
at the last Board Meeting.

- The mail throughput has been further enhanced with the implementation of 
baysian filters.  There has been a dramatic reduction of yellow mail as a result.

- the NCF file manager is in growing use and we are receiving some very positive 
from members.


Modems:
All three modem pools are working well.  We are getting close to capacity during
peak periods.  Fortunately more PRI should be available from our partner towards the 
end of November.

Volunteers:
The NCF is working with Carleton University Volunteer service to encourage 
students to volunteer at the NCF.    

The Ottawa Public Library:

The MOU is close to being signed.  The trial is now scheduled for January 4th
with a full launch toward the end of Feburary. The Library has also sent the NCF
their online tutorials for the NCF bookshelf.

Thanks all for now.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Board meeting

john