January Board Meeting Recap

by | Feb 16, 2020 | Updates

The Board of Directors met in January to begin our planning for 2020. Here is our meeting recap.

Organizational Business

  • We welcomed David Raymond as our BuddyWalk Sponsorship Coordinator and Jessica Osmanson as our Medical Outreach Coordinator!
  • Hy-Vee has invited us to once again participate in their Operation Helpful Smile program for 2020. Each week, a different predetermined area non-profit organization receives a monetary donation from Hy-Vee. Donations boxes places at check stands in our Sioux Falls Hy-Vee Stores collect customer contributions for each weeks chosen organization. Hy-Vee, with the help of program sponsors, matches these customer contributions up to $1,000 each week. New Directions will be participating the week of March 11th through March 17th, 2020. Please help us spread the word to help support us at Hy-Vee that week.
  • Reminder to members that the NDSC Annual Conference is coming up in June and to apply for financial assistance if needed. Visit: https://newdirectionsdsa.com/financial-assistance-program/ for more information about our financial assistance programs.
  • The Board Member page of our website has been updated. There are open roles for Vice President, Secretary, and Regional Conference Director. If you’re interested in applying, please visit: https://newdirectionsdsa.com/about-us/meet-the-board/ and complete the Board Member Application for a member of our team to follow-up.

Membership Update

  • There are efforts underway to clean and organize our list databases.
  • We currently sit at just over 1,300 contacts and have already welcomed new members in 2020.

Donations Update

  • 2019 donations were over $4,300, nearly $3,000 more than was budgeted for the year. We’re thankful for the individuals and groups that chose to support us in the past year!

Resources Update

  • We’re in the process of updating our Financial Assistance section of the website to make it easier for members to submit an application.
  • The iCan Bike program will take place June 8-12th, 2020.
  • Planning for the next Regional Conference is on hold while we search for our next Regional Conference Director.

Community

  • Buddy Walk
    • Although the 2019 event was forced to be cancelled, our financial sponsorships, and cost savings from planned day-of expenses that were not utilized still allowed for the event to raise over $15,000 to our general fund.
    • Planning for the 2020 Buddy Walk event is already underway and we’ll share more information as it is confirmed by our Chairs and committees.
  • Activities
    • Planning for 2020 events has already begun with one of our first events Word Down Syndrome Day (March 21st) fast approaching. Follow our website and social media for further updates for that and other events throughout the year.

2020 Goals Discussion

  • The board discussed seeking new partnerships with other organizations who also support the Down Syndrome community. We hope to take some initial steps towards this effort in this first quarter.
  • We’re working on a marketing and communications calendar to increase our connection with our members and community.
  • We have some initial ideas on ways to add more resources to our website, and will work towards that throughout the year.
  • We’d like to explore additional programming and activities in the community and plan to run a series of tests this year to explore ways to engage with additional segments of our membership.

Have any thoughts to share with our board? Please email us at [email protected]!