July 24, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Our only guest today was Will Hanna.
In the interests of time, Tony did not do his Rotary trivia today.
The 50/50 was won by Lora, who donated it to the club.
Alex drew the 6 of diamonds in the card game. The game continues.
Steve and Alex attempted to teach us all the Rotary song, but the effort was truncated. They will try again next week.
Alicia reviewed club finances. We have $629 in the bank and $828 in dues still owed. We owe Rotary International dues of $880 but should have enough money to to cover this expense.
Next Alicia reviewed our statement of financial condition. She and Beth have revised the Foundation accounts to eliminate unused accounts and Common Man for Ukraine funds so that we could see just what we as a club have to spend. Our Foundation account contains approximately $66,000 available but much of this is in temporarily restricted funds (TRF). We just received a donation for last year’s HHC from Plymouth State University as well as some interest on the Vanguard account. The TRF funds include $1000 in the foam project, $10,000 for Friends of the Pemi, $12,000 in scholarship funds, 1$10,000 for the 100th anniversary grant and $20,000 for the100th year celebration. The money for the 100th year celebration came from zeroing out the Rainy Day Fund. We can choose to change the amount allocated to the 100 year celebration, but this way we are sure we will have the money. This means that of the $66,000 we have, about $53,000 is committed, leaving $12,000 available to spend.
The budget for this upcoming year was reviewed next. The board plans to raise $21,750K at the Penny Sale between Grand Prize sales and day-of-event ticket sales, as well as sponsorships for the events. Having multiple sponsorships may help bring in new donors and/or members. The hope is to have 4 sponsors each providing $1000 for the Penny Sale, as well as also having 4 sponsors for the Annual Fund and the Hometown Holiday Celebration. This would bring total sponsorship income to $16,000. We are hoping to bring in $1500 from cruise night and also $750 from the rabies clinic. Total income we hope for in the coming year is $36,500.
Annual expenses are expected to be similar to those in prior years, with the exception of accounting fees which are going up to $1200. In the past the accountant contributed the accounting services for free, but this year they will charge. Steve noted that this increase is in large part because the accounting has gotten more complicated since the inception of the Common Man for Ukraine. Steve also suggested that the Common Man for Ukraine could pay some of the accounting expenses, since they are responsible for some of costs. The Hometown Holiday Celebration costs us about $4000 per year and we hope to raise that same amount in sponsorships.
Steve also mentioned purchasing a 16-20 foot box trailer to leave at the recycling center so that we could haul foam. We could also put marketing on the sides of the trailer and it could be used in the Hometown Holiday parade. This will be discussed further at the foam committee meeting. Alex has a 16 foot trailer he is not using and can let us use it for a year and see how it works. We will need more helpers at the chill busters and we may want to show up earlier so we can start selling food earlier.
We also hope to fund $1500 in drivers’ ed scholarships with our earnings from the cruise night.
Donations to community nonprofits will come out on the expense side, as do the transition grants, and RYLA expenses.
Total expenses for next year should be $48,000, with a goal of spending this year’s $12,000 in uncommitted funds.
Walter requested that the proposed budget be emailed to all club members.
Sharon spoke about the Penny Sale. She will be running the mechanics this year, with assistance from Steve. The idea is that the sale is a big community event that has been held for over 70 years. Many community members look forward to the Penny Sale since they grew up doing it, just like their parents and grandparents before them went to it. It is our biggest fundraiser and is an all-hands-on-deck event. It takes the whole club, as well as high school and community volunteers, to get it done.
There are a couple of parts to the Penny Sale. The 8 grand prizes are worth at least $500 and these tickets are sold on the street in advance as well as at the actual Penny Sale. Winners do not need to be present during the event. Grand prize tickets are going up to $5 each and we will have fewer tickets this year.
This year’s Penny Sale will be held on November 2. We will start at 6 pm, instead of $7 pm as we have in the past. Rotarians should arrive a couple of hours early and plan to spend the evening. The High School puts on a food concession and they donate the revenue to our club. On the night of the event, there are 5 rounds, each containing 50 prizes. Tickets are $.50 each and when a ticket is drawn, it is thrown back into the bucket and could be drawn again.
The prizes come from local community business owners as well as individuals. Within the next 4 weeks, every Rotarian will receive a solicitation list and start going out to ask for prizes. Some organizations need a longer time frame to get prizes. Businesses get advertising out of their donations. Most of the local businesses are familiar with the program and are expecting to be asked for a donation.
Tony spoke about committees for Penny Sale.These committees will be the day of-event committee, the donation committee, the sponsorship committee and the marketing committee. Ken has agreed to head up the sponsorship committee.
The club membership committee reports that the Fireside chat for Will Hanna will take place immediately after this morning’s meeting. The board will meet on Friday, and the club can vote after that.
Cruise night is next Wednesday. Pac-a-Pac will be on August 21 and the board approved a $250 donation for this event. The downtown food truck festival will be held on October 20.
Happy dollars were shared by Mike, Denise, Tony, Steve, and Bill (who wished Sharon a happy birthday tomorrow).
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary