Notes from 7/2 meeting

The giving circle met on 7/2 to discuss operations.

Goals for 2007
We decided that our goal size would be 25 members raise $5,000.

Volunteering
We discussed what our goal would be in terms of what groups we organized volunteer outings for. Options were 1) groups we might give to
2) groups we have already given to
3) any group

This issue was not resolved. There was some concern that volunteering for a group we were considering giving to would unfairly sway the group to vote for funding for that organization. We did decide that we'd like to have quarterly volunteer outings.

Giving strategies
We decded tht we would begin by making semiannual gifts.
Nominations will be due one month before the end of the quarter.
Voting will take place in the final week of the quarter (likely via some online method such as Survey Monkey)
The membership will be asked to give $200/year. This may be done in quarterly installments.
We will distribute the nominations online for people to view, but we will also have social outings where people can get together for fun and also learn about the organizations we might give to.

Administrative costs
To begin with, we would like all of our money to go to donations - administrative costs will be paid for out of pocket.

Fiscal agent/community foundations
This was offered as an alternative to incorporating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Research will be presented by Tracy at the next meeting.

Pros/Cons to incorporating
The group discussed incorporating vs. not incorporating (under the assumption that having a fiscal agent or donor advised fund at a community foundation was not on the table at the time).

Pros: Ease of giving, tax deductibel, legitimacy, financial statements/giving history, accountability, can seek larger gifts, earn interest, encourage longevity, control.

Cons: Cost, the idea is unproven, paperwork, hassle, redundancy, less motivation to raise more money.

We did a five finger voting exercise and determined the group was slightly in favor of incorporating (a weighted score of 16.75 vs. 14.5) but still preferred to look into the option of a fiscal agent before making a decision.