October 14, 2018 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis
Members in Attendance: Daniel Lockley, Jacqueline Fallon, Chris Halaska, Evelyn Mukwedeya, Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Alex Weeks, Janis Weeks
Members Absent: none
Non-voting member in attendance: Claire Jones
Review and Approve Village Meeting Minutes
Approved
Review and Approve September Meeting Minutes
Approved
Review/Modify Agenda (All)
Completed
Tech Initiative (Alex/Janis)
- The tech committee is working on the organization of the website and discussing the main item to focus on for this year. A possibility is around membership and getting a vendor for processing.
- Chris suggests donations be included in the conversation because it’s along similar ideas. Memberships and donations go towards the same things.
Wrap-up of Zimfest 2018
- Some ZF numbers: 419 registrants (including comped Zimbabweans); 1018 room-nights; 889 workshop enrollments in 96 sessions (= 9.3 per workshop)
- OC has met for de-briefing, Claire will consult with WOU folks week of Oct 15
- Received WOU bill in early October and have asked several questions before paying. $8000 more in 2018 attributable to greater Housing and Dining numbers and charges.
- Waiting for RegFox report breaking down revenue streams, need to know how much came in for workshops, housing and dining.
- Still working on compiling/collating Workshop Evals; very labor intensive because of additional written questions, but useful info is being obtained. Evaluating all teachers/workshops is not necessary. It is useful to have someone read them.
- All expenses paid and income received except for a marketplace commission.
- Completed L&I 3rd quarter report and payment including hours for WA State teachers.
- Need to follow up on the Cultural Appropriation panel and respond to some survey comments.
Align on Enforcement of Festival Vendor Policy (All)
We need to hold all vendors to the same standard, per the vendor contract.
Zimfest 2019 (All)
- Claire has spoken to all but a couple people on a list of 15 potential volunteers and was satisfied that we had enough for a well-staffed OC.
- Are we holding a festival next year? YES
- Claire will send an announce 2019 Festival – done
- WOU confirms in addition to our usual 2nd weekend of August (8/9/19 to 8/11/19) they have the weekend following July 4th open if we want it – July 4 is Thursday, so festival would be 7/5/19 to 7/7/19. Would we want Zimfest in July right after the 4th?
- Discussion around 4th of July weekend or our Aug. weekend – lets stick with the Aug. weekend
- FYI, Ft. Worden is out of the picture, no dates available in the summer for the foreseeable future.
- For ZF 2019, we need to make decisions about Zimbabwean travel reimbursement policy and budget asap, before opening applications in January
- Decision on renewing the Festival Coordinator role: Claire’s contract renewed by board vote. $8,400 salary increased by ~2.5% to align with inflation. Onsite room and board will be covered per Claire’s request.
Update on Potential New OC/Board Members (Daniel)
- Daniel shared links and advise with an interested candidate.
- Evelyn will also reach out.
Update on Zimbabwean Advisory Team (Evelyn)
- Evelyn reached out to Lucky to discuss who the Zimbabwean representatives could be. Lucky was thinking of having another Zimbabwean on the board as well.
- Goal is to have a group of Zimbabweans that the board could collaborate with throughout the year.
Discuss Request for Posting (All)
- A community member is asking for us to post a personal request since Dandemutande is not currently up and running.
- Recommendation is for community members to post personal requests on the Zimfest Facebook page as it is open to posts from all.
Fundraising Drive and Engagement (Jacqueline)
- Get okay on the Zimbabwean picture from a ZF concert for the donor thank you email to start sending – done
- Recommend thank you call from the board for our 15 high level donors. The calls will be made by the end of November. Board members will call 2-3 people each.
- Keep the 2018 Fundraising drive message on the website until we have the new 2019 messaging ready.
- The next Volunteer Spotlight for website, blog post, and FB of the OC. Include text with all support volunteers like in the festival guide. Carla retired from volunteer coordinator, highlight her along with the OC. https://zimfest.org/volunteer/why-and-how-to-volunteer/
- Start drafting the end of the year message with target send of the end of Nov. Include monthly donation option and TY for donors and members.
- Jacqueline commented that it would be helpful to have at least one other person to help with ideas and messaging since there is no committee. Mandy said she would help.
Update on Festival Finances (Chris)
- WOU bill just came in but we don’t have the RegFox report to have final numbers.
- As an estimate we will be making money given the numbers that Chris is seeing. Hopefully by next meeting we will be able to have them all put together.
- It does take a couple of months for Employer matches to show up in the system.
Update on Free Legal Services for Nonprofits (Evelyn)
- There are legal clinics every 3rd Monday in Seattle.
- A spot opened up in Oct. and Evelyn was able to attend a clinic on the 15th.
- Evelyn suggests a Non-profit Health check-up, a 2 hour consultation with a lawyer to review policies.
Next Meeting
November 11th, 6:30pm PST on Google Hangouts
