November 12, 2017 ZA Board Meeting Minutes

November 12, 2017 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis

Members in Attendance: Jacqueline Fallon, Chris Halaska, Daniel Lockley, Evelyn Mukwedeya, Alex Weeks, Janis Weeks
Members Absent: Rujeko Dumbutshena, David Simon
Non-voting member in Attendance: Claire Jones

Review/modify Agenda

No updates

Membership Update

We need updated information for end of year treasurer’s report and to send out to the community. We are hoping to have the information within the next few weeks.

Board Member Announcements (Evelyn)

Dana Moffett is looking to step away from the board effective today. Evelyn will be passing along her formal note of resignation. She is still involved in Zimfest. Someone else has shown interest in joining the board. We will be reviewing their letter. We are working at having the board member recruitment page in a more visible spot.

2016 Treasurer’s Report (Janis/Chris)

As of now, 2 members have been graciously donating the cost for the domain name and web hosting. These costs should be entered as expenses in the budget and, if members pay these fees, the amounts should be entered as donations. This will provide a more accurate record of actual costs. The Association Financial report came out almost even with expenses and income. The 2016 Festival Financial report showed that the festival approximately broke even but note that grant income to support the festival is recorded in the Association account.

New Future of Accounting

MoneyMinder is being replaced by QuickBooks with Gary Spalter’s recommendation. We will save money with that and it should be more streamlined than in the past. Claire remembered TechSoup discounts, which provide nonprofits a discount for software and other tech items. All of the MoneyMinder information will need to be transferred over to QuickBooks. The ongoing expenses in 2017 are mostly associated with the Association. There is a tech expense report.

Festival Coordinator Monthly Update (Claire)

Current Activities

WOU will waive the camping fee since we only have a small number of tent and RV spots. Head of dining retired, so there are some changes. The new director is very conscious of different needs, tastes, etc. He is very hands on compared to the last director. A meal plan needs to be purchased for those staying at WOU. Claire is suggesting 2 meal plans with an all meals plan option and an abbreviated plan (maybe just for the weekend). We do make money by how many meals we sell ahead of time. Note that we received 4% discount on all pre-purchased meals in 2016, and would be eligible for 10% discount if we sell 300 or more meal plans (max # pre-purchasing any one meal in 2016 was 210). We will double check to see if campers also need to purchase a meal plan. Completed and sent grant proposal to Dreyfus Foundation for tech needs. Signed up for free 14 days of Instrumentl database that was sent to board about grants and have gotten info on some possibilities for future years and one for 2018 (Sony!). Status of ZA Marimba Donation program from Margie S.: Zimfest use of one full set plus another set lacking bass and baritone; There was income from the sale of a donated hybrid bari-tenor marimba; a couple of drums to come. Site research: a) Bryce at Evergreen is working up an estimate based on rooms/facilities usage as opposed to fees per person. b) Fort Flagler reconsidered as a possible alternative site. Retreat center, dorm space, camping spot, still doesn’t have all the amenities that Ft. Worden does. We would have to bring in a caterer, cleaning, etc. There are a lot of camping spaces. There is a performance hall but it only holds 200. Can look into it again at the same time as Ft. Worden in January.

Upcoming Activities

  • Sending out a call for other volunteers
  • Any assistance needed from the board: Theme for 2018 festival.
  • Decide whether to increase registration fees. We have been charging $12 per person, required when signing up for workshops, housing or meals. This fee is waived for Zimfest Association members. Regular Membership fee $25 (Youth $10): see current fee structure. A suggestion of $15 reg fee. Some don’t feel like we have enough information yet to make that decision. There is still time to determine this.
  • Housing/dining subsidies for needy OC volunteers discussion: Limit the number of volunteers, about $200 per person. We are paying for the Zimbabweans and the sound people but not volunteers.
  • Membership and donations update needed
  • Where did the increase in revenue come from between 2015 and 2016? What was different from 2016 versus 2015? Research needed.

Update on Tech Initiative (Alex/Janis)

Implemented a working version in RegFox, but not with a full set of workshop data or new figures for 2018, application forms are being updated, everything is moving along and meeting the timeline, no roadblocks yet.

Review Zimfest Financial Model Spreadsheet (Alex + All)

Alex created a spreadsheet with financial input data (existing line items + new line items/financial levers to consider) and outputs. This will help us make a more rational decision on setting prices. The next steps for firming up the 2018 cost numbers, spreadsheet from WOU has the updated housing costs which Alex will add to the worksheet.

Continuation of Zimfest 2018 – Board Vision for the Festival (All)

Set festival theme – brainstorm and then vote. Finish the visioning exercise: What would ‘the best Zimfest ever’ look like? Do we want a 20% higher turnout? Is it that we can’t accommodate that number? We do want to increase turnout. We can accommodate bigger concert attendance but not necessarily workshop participants especially for marimba. Limiting factors are workshop size (limited by sets of marimbas and workshop sessions). If we could get more participation in dance workshops that would be great. 10% increase in festival goers. There was a lot of publicity done for the last festival, continue that. Advertised through city council, local paper, radio, Salem paper/radio, Wed. concert, there was more done this year than in the past. Opportunity to improve concerts/fundraisers in various communities e.g. a campaign for bands to donate proceeds of the concerts to Zimfest. Increase onsite and OC volunteers by 5-10%. Increase coverage of shifts throughout the festival. Have more volunteers sign up onsite – most effective way was to ask at the registration, continue.

Next Meeting

Goal-setting for each area:

  • Tech
  • Finances
  • Marketing, volunteering
  • Festival structure and content

Board calendar for the remainder of 2017
Action items to be completed by the year (year-end reporting, fundraising initiatives etc.)

December 10th 6:30pm PST