Ĉeestas

• Filipo Dorcas
• Alex Miller
• Charlotte Burton
• Timoteo Boronczyk
• Hoss Firooznia
• Fred Meyer III
• Timoteo Rice

Ĉeestas sen voĉdonrajtoj

• Kinsey Favre
• Vilĉjo Harris

The meeting is called to order. A quorum is declared. The minutes of the previous meeting were already approved.The president calls for changes to the agenda, but none are requested. Voting has been wrapped up and results sent to the president. The jarraporto is still underway.

President’s Report

The treasurer has been receiving and sending out to fund managers the updated quarterly report on how much money each fund contains. This report has also been listed on our website under “Documents,” where it is open to all people who view the website. Discussion arises on how to increase transparency further, and the board settles on including a permanent link to the financials in the newsletter, for those who wish to know more about the organization’s financial information. This information is updated quarterly as that is when our investments update us, and this allows for the CO to double check the accuracy of the presented information. Hoss suggests that the CO might write a short report for the bulletin giving an overview of any fund expenditures and contact information for that fund manager. The treasurer does not directly control any of the funds, instead focusing on the general operational expenses of the organization. Our current treasurer, Jordan, is expected to continue managing the Goldman Fund when his term as treasurer expires this week. Action Item: Phil will speak to Jordon to confirm that he will retain management of the Goldman Fund.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer is not present in the meeting but has sent the budget document to the board.

Old Business

Old Business is broken into the following:

Community Groups

Action Item: Charlotte will create a Google Form for community group suggestions. Fred Meyer agrees to be community group coordinator.

Budget

Our current budget does reflect a deficit in order to be realistic and not overly optimistic. We have already cut costs as much as we are able to. There is also a suggestion on the table to include a line item for $2100 for our film contests for next year, to show our commitment and the value of donation. Part of the reason for the budget deficit listed is because the budget is based in part on our investments and donations, which were lower last year due to the pandemic.

Tim B states that he is not comfortable with the listed budget deficit and suggests that we change the budget to have a higher predicted amount for incoming donations, and then also set a plan in place to create a financial or fundraising committee, so that we have a group dedicated to making these higher donations happen, including fundraising/donation campaigns, grant-writing, etc. The CO clarifies that the expenses are based upon an average of the past 3 years, but the income is something the treasurer has to figure out how to predict. As the treasurer is not currently here, he cannot explain for us the exact methods by which he made these predictions for the budget on the table.

A fundraising committee is generally agreed to be a needed thing for Esperanto-USA, and Tim B reiterates his support for finding volunteers for such a committee, since he was very successful in finding programmers and graphic designers. Phil states that previously, E-USA had hired a consultant to look at our operations and suggest how we should change. That consultant had, among other things, really emphasized the need for a fundraising committee. Phil calls for anyone present to agree to take charge of creating a fundraising committee. Tim B agrees to take charge of seeing that a fundraising committee is formed but will not necessarily be able to chair or participate in said committee.

Based on this discussion and having a solid plan in place to solicit more donations, we therefore are increasing the predicted amount of donations, in order to reflect the hoped-for and anticipated results of having a dedicated fundraising committee focusing on getting grants and donations. The video contests will come out of the Goldman Fund. They are therefore not reflected in the budget, which is only to do with operational income and expenses. The Goldman Fund is specifically where people have donated to support projects such as the film contest. The discussion turns to whether we should present a negative budget to the members, or else increase the predicted donations to reflect our intention to undergo a major fundraising campaign.

There is a general consensus in favour of increasing the predicted donations, with the stipulation that we also emphasize to members that we really do need their donations in order to make this happen. Tim B has to leave at this time, and there is not unanimous approval. Therefore, the board continues to discuss how we can strike a balance between showing that we have a plan for moving the organization forward, while also being realistic about the organization’s financial needs. Bill suggests that we could predict the higher amount of donations, but include an asterisk on that item with a visible footnote on it stating that this number assumes a successful fundraising campaign and significant member support. A footnote to this effect is added to the proposed budget. Phil calls for a vote on the budget. There is unanimous approval by the members present, which includes a majority of the entire board.

The meeting is declared adjourned.