Cougar Crew Alumni Association (CCAA) Cougar Crew Days Meeting March 17, 2012, 8:00 AM Lewis Alumni Centre, Pullman Washington

Transcription

1 Cougar Crew Alumni Association (CCAA) Cougar Crew Days Meeting March 17, 2012, 8:00 AM Lewis Alumni Centre, Pullman Washington Call to Order Tim Richards, CCAA Chairman at 8:08 AM Attendees: Tim Haole Richards; Josh Proctor; Lisa Curtis; Doug Engle; Kramer Wahlberg; Sean Martin; Peter Brevick; Ken Struckmeyer; Joe Lillis; Caitlin Aldrich; Eric DeMaris; Jeff Rhubottom; Breanna Trimble; Danny Brevick; Matt Shaw; Andrew King; Arthur Ericsson; Kathleen Hatch; Paul Lund; Dan Thayer; Joe Sudar; Mitch Williams; Mark Hoffman; Jazzmine Young; Kammi Moniz; Nancy Balin; Jimmy Johnson; Luke Jones; Julia Gamache; David Herrick; Nathan Mauren; Dustin Crossman; Sean Foster Approval of Fall Meeting Minutes Doug motioned, Andy King seconds. Agenda overview, changes Crew Reports and Updates 1. Arthur Ericsson Team update Going back to last spring, made a strong impression at ACRA s, where WSU made the grand final. Fastest club team in the west coast. Picked up new shell trailer from Pocock, needed to add capacity and replace the aging old trailer. Will be getting oar boxes. Acquired a new lightweight 4 Jaimeson Jones. Recently got a key to the fieldhouse. Implementing priority registration this year for the first time ever, will be important for retention and recruiting. Working to establish a graduate assistant coaching role. Would incur about $15k additional cost to the team, but would help add more coaching presence to the team. Estimated that Cougar Crew takes about 100,000 strokes any given practice, which takes a toll on the equipment. Wants to issue a reminder to alumni that team always needs new replacement shells. 2. Peter Brevick Novice Team Update Page 1 of 9

2 19 oarsman, 3 coxswains. Good working relationship with varsity team. Priority registration will be great for recruiting. Several current novice were nominated for officer positions for next year, speaking to the leadership of the group. 3. Dan Thayer Women s Lightweight Team Update Has 7 rowers currently, lost a few over the winter. Team has been focusing more on fundraising to ensure they support their costs. Group has been excelling with their leadership development to meet challenges of fundraising as well as rowing. 4. Andrew King - Commodore Team camaraderie is particularly high this year. Currently 23 oarsman, 3 coxswains. 5. Bree - Womens Lightweight Commodore Actively working on recruiting, including as a continuous activity to help improve numbers. Held 2 nd annual Halloween 5k run, made $1200 profit. Working with Pullman Kiwanis helping with Football parking, will make $11 per hour. Working on a Duck Derby fundraiser for the spring. Held a bake sale, plans to expand. Actively looking at other fundraiser ideas. Trying to reconnect with WSU women alumni. Trying to get more exposure to lightweight rowing, looking at other races where there are lightweight boats. 6. Joe Lillis - Financial Update Looking at about $8k ahead. Planning on paying an additional coach next year. Purchased ergs, lightly used from ergomania. Total budget for year: $260k $25k of this comes from UREC. Planned $8k from auction proceeds tonight. CCAA Reports and Updates 7. Doug Engle Financial Advisor - Financial Update (recap of accounts) Doug s Financial Summary (in Green): March 17, 2012 Class Day 2012 Financial Summary & Activity Report Page 2 of 9

3 Spring Board Meeting The following is a synopsis of the financial activity of donated funds to Cougar Crew. Particular detail is given to CCAA activities. The Endowment Expendable account has been closed and rolled into the Cristy Cook account. THE BIG PICTURE-- a snap shot of deposits to the accounts in 2010 and to date Account Deposits (July 2010-June 2011) Endowment ( main account) $ 975* Endowment Expendable ( ) $41,059 Cristy Cook ( ) $33,592 CCAA ( ) $ 720 *Direct deposits by donors does not include transfers 2011 Account Deposits to date (July 2011-March 2012) Endowment ( main account) $ 2,200* Cristy Cook Memorial ( ) $48,789 CCAA ( ) $ 0 ACCOUNT BALANCES As of February 24, 2012 Endowment ( main account) $108,735** Meinhart Endowment (closed to contributions) $ 79,394** Meinhart Expendable ( ) $ 3,623 Cristy Cook Memorial ( ) $ 7,482 CCAA ( ) $ -31 **4% per year of these funds are distributed to the team CCAA Activity (March 2011-Feb 2012) Class Day 2011 $ 678 Alumni Center Room Rental and Ice Breaker BBQ Virginia V Cruise $2,294 Page 3 of 9

4 Account Renaming Cristy Cook & Endowment Proceeds In order to simplify the number of crew accounts the team deals with a plan was proposed in the fall and is now fully executed. The Endowment Expendable account and Scholarship & Developments accounts have been closed. The newly named Cristy Cook Memorial account is the sole donation account that the team uses now. The Meinhart Endowment account proceeds was determined that it could not deposit to the Cristy Cook account. The Campaign Operating Fund was re-named the Meinhart Expendable account and will be used for this purpose. Power 10 Campaign The Power 10 campaign was started in June 2010 to provide a steady, longer term support for the team of basic operating costs. Since pledges are involved then future income can be more easily planned for. Initially it was envisioned that the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) system of donations would be the primary method for donations. As it has turned out many single donations have also been coming in under this campaign. To date this campaign has generated $23,728 since its inception. In the current fiscal year (since July 2011) we have 32 donors participating in the campaign through the Electronic Funds Transfer system on a monthly basis. 22 of those are continuous donors where their pledge is renewed automatically each year. These donations will total $7,840. In addition many one-time donations have been received for a grand total of $18,726. New donations through the current year will of course increase this number. The Power 10 campaign has proven to be a growing and dynamic fundraising vehicle for the team. As a note, if a donor has an active pledge the University will not contact the individual for any direct contact phone campaigns. Virginia V Event A west side alumni event was planned to be held on-board the Virgina V, a historic steam powered ferry that once took passengers to many points around Lake Washington and the Puget Sound before efficient roads were developed in the area. Andi Day, a crew alum, organized the event with the help many others. Six alums came forward with pledges of $250 to $1,000 to ensure basic operating costs were met. These alums were Lisa Curtis, Andi Day, Doug Engle, Ernie Iseminger, Tim Richards and Scott Studerus. The focus was to provide a community building event to get parents, team members and alums together. Fundraising was a secondary aspect. Joanne Greene of UREC helped immensely with setting up a ticket buying site for the event and an information page. Messages were sent though the crew lists and announcements made in the Pull Hard. Advance ticket sales at $100 each were slow however. Approximately three Page 4 of 9

5 weeks before the November 5 th event the activities were scaled back from a full cruise to a dock side event and ticket prices dropped to $35. The response was dramatic with a good crowd of approximately 30 alums and parents attending. All team members were invited as guests for a total attendance of approximately 80 people. The event was a big success with hopes of a similar event being staged on an annual basis. Through donations and a raffle $2,775 was raised for the team with three known enrollees to the Power 10 campaign. For next year we should budget the event to break even with a $75 price point for a cruising event, (as opposed to dockside). Sponsorship could then offset costs and additional activities (such as raffle, merchandise sales, etc.) could be used to create/expand the profit margin. PR needs to start earlier (we had some problems with the mass s last year and I didn't get access to the Booster data base until quite late) and we need to have a discounted sale incentive deadline ( for example, $69 if purchased by Oct 25th, $79 after) Cougar Crew Days 2011 The auction proceeds agreement was that $8,000 of the proceeds from the banquet auction will go straight to the team and the balance be split between the Endowment and team 50/50. Last year the ways to give were expanded and the accounting got more difficult. Many thanks to Joanne Greene and the staff of UREC for helping us navigate the University donation reporting procedures and make the appropriate account splits. Here is the summary: $29,228 Total Funds Available - 7,777 Cost of running CCD -15,260 Direct Donations to Endowment or Cristy Cook accounts made by individuals $ 6,191 Net Proceeds 50/50 split = $3,095 each to Endowment and team accounts WHAT TO DO WITH $ RAISED AT COUGAR CREW DAYS &2010 Endowment Obligation The endowment contribution from the 2009 and 2010 CCD auction were not made due to lack of communication. These funds totaled $17,008. It was agreed at the 2011 CCAA board meeting that this deposit needs to be made but can be accomplished over several years. In 2011 $3,095 of the team s auction proceeds was deposited to the endowment account. The net amount to the endowment account now is $13,913. Page 5 of 9

6 Cougar Crew Days 2012 For CCD 2012 we will make all splits to funds at the time of deposit. So, what do we do with this year s auction proceeds? Decreased need to use CCAA account, combined with University push for consolidating accounts. Doug recommends closing this account. Doug/ Tim: need to remember that the primary purpose of the CCAA is to grow the endowment. With current $250k budget, would need $6M in the endowment account. Andy: would feel comfortable designating tonight s auction proceeds over the $8k that was included in the budget to go towards the endowment. Lisa: has talked with the Dingman s about their goal to fundraise money for travel duffel bags for the varsity team. Motions that the CCAA board approves up to $400 from the proceeds to help fund the duffel bags for the men s varsity team. Doug seconds. Motion approved. Doug: need to address how to handle donations that are not earmarked for accounts, in regards to how it is distributed to LWT women. Bree: total budget for womens LWT team is currently $17k. Ken: agree with Doug, need to define how donations are handled for LWT women. Andy: a spreadsheet formula has been drafted that could be used as a method for splitting dontations and revenue. Haole: can use this as a starting point to help solve this in the future. Danny: would it be easier to have the Women t LWT program as their own organization? Haole: need to weigh options and not make a rash decision, there are many positives that are provided by the Women s LWT team that can help in the future. 8. Sean Martin / Lisa Curtis Alumni Representative New Alumni Representative will be Lisa Curtis, as appointed by Chairman Haole as outlined in the by-laws. Would like to expand alumni pay-for-a-seat in alumni boats Expand communication channels to include Facebook Continue engaging potential large donors Alumni in attendance this year are mostly younger alumni Next year want to do a campaign to expand attendance of Class Day. Haole: recommend having alumni representatives from each decade to help with reconnection. 9. Ken Struckmeyer Faculty Advisor Page 6 of 9

7 Next year could be critical year for class day 40 th anniversary of competitive rowing at WSU. Set goal to get 500 attendees. Should make a goal something like getting 2 new 8 s. Need to give thanks to Julia the registrar for helping make the priority registration possible. Looking into possible posthumous degree for Jaimeson Jones, working with the decision maker on whether his attendance meets the criteria set by the university. Acknowledgement to Kramer Walburg as the first cougar oarsman to be admitted to UW Medical School. Gives thanks to Mitch and Mark for taking on big job with the auction. 10. Joe Sudar Web Site CougarCrew.com New to the position this semester. Things are in pretty good shape. Mitch: cougarcrew.com is now blocked from Boeing, not sure if anything can be done to fix this. 11. Virginia Parents Booster Club Would like to extend parents booster club to the women s lightweight team. Main mission is to provide food for the students at the races, but also develop camaraderie with the parents of the current team. Lisa: would like to have the Parents club also be involved as a representative for the auction next year. Ken: the parents club really helps expand the presence of WSU at the races. At head of the lake the large contingent of rowers and parents helped WSU make a positive impression. Lisa: with additional donations from the parents may consider offering a travel scholarship that students can apply for to travel to 12. UREC Kathleen Hatch Congratulates the team and their successes and offers ongoing support. Challenges with facilities and move to Smith building. Looking into a new facility for the sports teams that the crew team can use. Budget challenges are such that no new Formed a PAC-12 consortium with other schools in the conference and new ideas are being discussed on how to leverage into greater publicity possibly including TV time. Analysis is in place to form a joint facility for Active Leadership Center and Sport Club use. This would be part of the replacement plan for the Field House. Arthur: could we pursue having a dedicated space for the rowing team? Kathleen: cannot make any promises for right now. The space is intended to be multi purpose. Currently in the feasibility stages, once that is completed can have more discussion. Page 7 of 9

8 New Business 13. Cougar Crew Varsity Status & Parity Haole: belief is that the desire of the organization is to remain self governed but has achieved many of the objectives set out to do with the Varsity Status. 14. Spring fundraising: Iron Chef Planning on weekend of the Seattle football game, on the Friday before the game. Would be a high ticket item event targeted to foodies. Objective to raise money (projected $10K to $50K) and expand awareness of Cougar Crew. Julia Gamache will be Seattle contact to help organize the event. 15. Bylaw changes: Voting on the by-law change to approve term limit change. All but one (Ken) approved. Haole motions another by-law change to make voting a super majority (6 or 7 of the 9). 16. Silent Auction - Lisa About $14k worth of items available for auction. A professional auctioneer will be conducting the live auction, agreed to do this for only the cost of hotel room. 17. Equipment Needs - Arthur Currently the 2 nd 8 is 9 years old. Acquiring new 8 s helps all team members by upgrading every level of the team. Priorities for new boats: hard to identify exactly what next priority. Priorities include: 4 pairs Heavyweight 4 Heavyweight 8 Can put in a request to UREC to see if they can acquire funds. Haole: women s LWT team should have a wish list. Andy: need to consider plan for expanding shellhouse. Page 8 of 9

9 18. Jaimeson Jones dedication Dedicating a 4 today that was named in honor of Jaimeson Jones. Held 2 nd annual run at St Edwards State park. Plans to make an annual tradition the week before Cougar Crew days. Team spread some of Jaimeson s ashes on the race course on the last 500 meters on his birthday this last week. 19. Communications Haole: need to establish a more frequent communication at least every 30 to 45 days. Kramer: volunteers to help with web site as an alumni Doug: need to have a maintained list of board member addresses. Next Meeting: Fall Head of the Lake Adjournment Doug motioned to adjourn, Josh seconds. Page 9 of 9