February Board Meeting Recap

by | Mar 21, 2020 | Updates

The Board of Directors met in February 2020. Here is our meeting recap.

Organizational Business

  • There were minimal updates to our financials outside of donations, with the most notable expenses related to our Christmas party.
  • We have a new email system in place for our organization through the Google for Nonprofit (https://www.google.com/nonprofits/) program. The program is free and provides the Board of Directors with a shared file system for collaboration internally, and also legitimizes our organization externally as all board members now have an @newdirectionsdsa.com email address.
  • We’re preparing our tax forms that are due May 15th.

Marketing

  • Communication
    • We’ve been made aware of a special sale pricing on print brochures and have a volunteer lined up to create a new introduction piece for New Directions. This has been requested from multiple sources and we’re looking forward to having these items on hand for various uses.
  • Membership
    • We’re cleaning up our membership database and intend to resume sending monthly Birthday cards to members of our community. Stay tuned – and if we missed your early 2020 Birthday, our apologies. We hope to get you on the next go around 🙂
    • State of membership – We had a discussion about the general state of membership in terms of both quality and quantity, and in both areas, we feel there is need for improvement, and we’re actively pursuing initiatives to better engage with our existing members and bring more members of our local Down Syndrome Community together. Stay tuned.
  • Donations
    • Scheels donated $1,500! A thank you note has been sent by the Board of Directors.
    • James Valley Telecommunications donated $100! A thank you note has been sent by the Board of Directors.
    • Sanford Health donated $500! A thank you note has been sent by the Board of Directors.
    • An individual who wishes to remain anonymous also donated $500!

Resources

  • Financial Assistance
    • We received 3 applications for financial assistance this month and the board is in contact with each family and evaluating/vetting the requests prior to disbursement of funds. We’re also taking a deeper look at our policies and requirements for applications to confirm they’re clear and accurate.
  • Programs
  • Education/Training
    • At this time, we do not have a regional conference chair on the board, and will postpone planning of the next conference until that role is filled. However, we have been in contact with the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota, and they will be having a statewide conference in November – and would love to welcome any New Directions members who can attend. Registration will open in June and more information will be posted here at a later date: https://dsamn.org/events/save-the-date-statewide-learning-and-youth-adult-conferences

Community

  • Buddy Walk
    • Planning for the 2020 Buddy Walk is underway and we look forward to having dates and other finalized information available to share shortly.
  • Activities
    • We held an event at Bloom this past month. You can checkout the photos on our blog here: https://newdirectionsdsa.com/young-kids-play-date-at-bloom-a-success/
    • World Down Syndrome Day
      • We had been planning an event for this date which has since been cancelled due to social distancing guidelines.
    • We’re working on the following events (and more) and will share details as they become available:
      • Family Potluck/Picnic
      • 4th of July Parade
      • Halloween Dance
      • Christmas Party

2020 Goals

  • New Partnerships
    • Other groups outside of Sioux Falls
    • Groups inside Sioux Falls
      • Initial meeting with Wonderfully Made Baskets and we hope more to come.d